Topic > Psychoanalytic Analysis of the Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper features a unique format that can be interpreted in many ways. Gilman adds purpose to his writing by bringing awareness to overlooked topics and issues. One way the author does this is through her descriptive writing style. The yellow background perfectly describes the concepts of Id, Ego and Lacanian psychosis. The narrator's constant focus on the writing and the yellow background portrays the exposure and taking control of his Id. It is evident that there is a disturbance “in the narrator's unconscious. The id was ruthlessly repressed; however, he is trying to “get noticed.” The narrator experiences “certain ripples in her unconscious that she is afraid to confront openly. That's why he wants to write about it and feels good when he does. However, when this emotional and intellectual source of outlet is denied, the person deteriorates mentally rapidly. Throughout the story, she says, “I think sometimes that if I were only good enough to write a little, it would relieve the pressure of ideas and give me rest” (Gilman 846). The narrator's desire to write and be able to freely express her emotions shows her desire to satisfy her basic needs. Because of John's restrictive control over the narrator, she is forced to take internal revenge and hide what she believes will truly help her. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The narrator is bound by repressive gender roles and oppression (superego), but she can't do anything about it, she takes revenge where she can through her repressed feelings/irritations of the psyche. She is fighting an internal battle and repressing her id, "the superego is what is morally required of her to please her husband and breastfeed her baby, but some aspect of her id prevents her from doing so. It is because of this pull to the tightrope between Id, Ego and Superego that she is inert. She is tormented by the endless struggle to maintain balance; becoming unstable she begins to see a pattern on the wallpaper of her room. Her obsession with these patterns reveals that she is becoming more and more consumed by her repressed emotions, finally feeling like she has escaped what had helped keep her captive, the narrator shouts, “I'm out at last,” “In spite of you and Jane!” of the paper, so you can't put me back! (Gilman 855). Using her name in the third person shows her subconscious resentment towards her roles as a wife and mother. The narrator experiences a constant struggle between understanding herself and feeling free in such a controlled environment. As a result, she dissociates from her roles as mother, wife, and patient and in a sense loses her identity to escape what she feels held her captive. Lacanian theory clarifies the narrator's attempt to constitute himself through the yellow wallpaper and his diary. The fact that she crawls all over the room on all fours “testifies to the fact that she is now a case of psychosis. “Wallpaper” according to one critic, Hume, represents his “repressed other or repressed self.” It is the desire that torments her to confirm herself socially. The desire for a mysterious and forbidden self; the illegible and lawless”. His severed disconnection from reality and from others showed that constant restrictions and isolation led to his instability. The narrator's inability to differentiate himself from fantasy and reality in the context of self-constitution portrays the effect of the “mirror phase”. He is returning to his mirror stage returning to an infantile state. He constantly explores the nature of reality – tactile and visual stimuli, hence his obsession with wallpaper patterns. Coming back:/133/167.