One significant symbol in “The Painted Door” is literally, the painted door in the story, which represents Ann’s hidden desires to have control and more freedom in her life. It is utilized to reflect her fluctuating emotions for her husband and her intimate, impulsive relationship with Steven. Primarily, painting is a symbol of loneliness, and inner struggles that Ann experiences, but is not fully able to express. Even though it is winter, and the “frost in the wall” would “crack and peel [the paint] as it dried”, she continues as a way to fill the time in her repetitive life, and to “starve off the gathering cold”. The paint can also act as a symbol of her desires to brighten up her life, which is described when she tells John that by painting,