What Does It Really Mean: Symbolism

In the story The Yellow Wallpaper, the author uses a lot of symbolism to portray how she feels.  I think the stripes on the wallpaper represent bars.  Bars are used to hold people back, and this shows how women were held back by society.  Also in the story,  when Jane fist got to the house, she noticed a broken green house.  Women are usually associated with gardening and flowers.  So, if the green house was broken, does this symbolize that Jane is also broken? (Gilman 1)  "All those strangled heads and bulbous eyes and waddling fungus growths just shriek with derision." (Gilman,11) I believe that Gilman is trying to say how she was judged by people in her life time.  She was judged when she wrote this book, also just for being a women she was judged.      

                                   

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symbolism- this tells the definition of symbolism

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/liselle.htm- this talks about symbolism from the yellow wallpaper
 

Symbolism:  the use of symbols to express or represent ideas or qualities in literature, art, etc.