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Theme Of Isolation In The Yellow Wallpaper

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In the late nineteenth century, when someone was inflicted with a mental illness, they were placed in solitary confinement. But with someone with a mental illness like depression, is solitary confinement really the answer? As we see in Stetson’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, that was not the answer. In fact, it worsened her depression. In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, setting and style of narration helps develop the theme of isolation through the distance from society, the narrator’s description of the room, the ability to see what is outside of your confinement, and the limited point of the mentally disabled narrator. First, Stetson builds on the physical separation from society as a key part of the theme of isolation. The house that the narrator and her husband were living was “three miles from the village” (Stetson 648). Being away from the rest of society is bad for multiple reasons. Being …show more content…
We can see this because at the beginning she says she has “temporary nervous depression” (648). As she describes the room with “rings...in the walls” and “barred windows”, she draws a conclusion that the room was a “nursery first”, next a “playroom”, and later a “gymnasium” (648, 649). This conclusion is soon followed up with her stating that “[her] case is not serious” (649). We can tell that is not the case because the description of the room point to solitary confinement for someone else who was mentally disabled.
In conclusion, “the Yellow Wallpaper” was tricky to discover the hidden meanings that some of the descriptions point to. However, the narrative was intriguing considering it is classified as feminist literature. In the story, Stetson states in a hidden way that setting and style of narration helps develop the theme of isolation through the distance from society, the limited point of view, and the description of the

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