Question

theme: psychoanalytic lens (blue)
theme: madness functions as both destruction & resistance.
find an example within the story where each of the following is represented. highlight within the text and identify while briefly explaining how meeting.

• what does the woman in the wallpaper represent?

• how does repression affect the narrator?

• is madness a collapse or a form of escape? explain.

Explanation:

1. What does the woman in the wallpaper represent?

In "The Yellow Wallpaper", the woman in the wallpaper represents the narrator's repressed self, her desire for freedom, and the societal constraints (like gender roles) that confine her. The narrator projects her own suppressed identity onto the wallpaper woman, showing her internal struggle against oppression.

Repression (of her thoughts, desires, and sense of self) makes the narrator’s mental state deteriorate. She is forced to conform to societal expectations (like being a “good” wife), which suppresses her creativity and autonomy. This leads to her obsession with the wallpaper, as she starts to project her repressed self onto it, and her madness (a form of resistance and also a breakdown) intensifies as she can no longer keep her true self hidden.

Madness in the story is both a collapse and an escape, but more of an escape. As a collapse, it is a breakdown of her “normal” identity under repression. But as an escape, it allows her to break free from the repressive societal roles. Her madness lets her reject the constraints placed on her (like being a submissive wife) and assert her true self (even in a distorted way, through her obsession with the wallpaper and identification with the woman in it). So while it involves a collapse of her socially - constructed identity, it is ultimately an escape from the oppressive norms that were repressing her.

Answer:

The woman in the wallpaper represents the narrator’s repressed self, her longing for freedom, and the societal (especially gender - based) oppression she faces. She is a projection of the narrator’s own constrained identity, reflecting the internal struggle against the restrictive roles imposed on women.

2. How does repression affect the narrator?