# data[].attributes.body
While it may seem almost humorous to compare this story to "Diary of a Madman" by Ozzie Ozbourne, the two actually share quite similar themes. Not only is the structure of The Yellow Wallpaper almost like a diary (along with multiple mentions of her writing while she is alone), the song also seems to discuss the story of a man who struggles from a similar issue of trying to break free from a mental illness. At one point of the song, the lyrics state "A sickened mind and spirit, The mirror tells me lies, Could I mistake myself for someone, Who lives behind my eyes? Will he escape my soul, Or will he live in me? Is he trying to get out, Or trying to enter me?" These lines show that the man in the song shares quite a bit in common with the protagonist of the story: he has a sickness that is progressively getting worse and wishes to break free. The last few lines, "Will he escape my soul, Or will he live in me? Is he trying to get out, Or trying to enter me?" in particular seem to imply that he wishes for the sickness to go away, and that he can manage to make himself push through and save himself, but struggles to prevent it from coming back to him. In other words, if he can overcome the sickness, or if it will overcome him. This struggle is very similar to Jane, as she tries to overcome her sickness on her own after being locked up alone by herself without any proper treatment, but struggles to keep it from completely taking her over.

# data[].attributes.body
Each of the details previously mentioned are very symbolic, and serve a big purpose in understanding the meaning of Jane's sickness and why she lost her mind. Essentially, the wallpaper represents her sickness. Considering the previous descriptions of the wallpaper being revolting and sickening, and the fact that yellow is sometimes used to symbolize sickness, this implication seems justified. And in terms of the pattern of the woman inside the wall, it represents her desire to try and break free from her sickness to no avail. Later in the story, she states, "The front pattern DOES move—and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one" (188-189). The way she describes the pattern moving as "shaking" implies an attempt to escape or break free from being trapped inside the wall. And the fact she states that she sometimes sees more than one woman represents how multiple other people have suffered and do suffer from the same or similar sicknesses, attempting to break free but cannot without any help. In terms of the wallpaper itself, near the end of the story she states, "Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. It sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it! All those strangled heads and bulbous eyes and waddling fungus growths just shriek with derision" (241). At this point, she is trying to tear off the wallpaper to let out the woman trapped behind, which symbolizes how her sickness has almost completely consumed her after being kept in solitude for so long and her wanting to break free of it before it completely takes her over. Freeing the woman from behind the yellow wallpaper would essentially mean Jane could free herself from her sickness. However, as previously stated, her sickness manages to win in the end, and she states she cannot be "put back"; or in other words passed the point of getting any kind of serious help.

# data[].attributes.body
The narrator provides many descriptive details about the wallpaper throughout the course of the story. She describes it as  having "One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin. It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide—plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions. The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight. It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others" (34-37). Her description is very vivid, revolting, and invokes a feeling of sickness. Saying it commits "every artistic sin", calling it unclean, and repeatedly referring to it as dull invokes a feeling of disgust both in the reader and the narrator. However, there is more to the wallpaper than one may think, as the narrator also states, "There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern" (121-124). At a certain time of day and at a certain angle, there is a pattern on the wallpaper that appears to look like a woman, according to the narrator. She never noticed this initially, but after being stuck with the wallpaper after a certain amount of time began to notice it little by little.

# data[].attributes.body
Taking these points into consideration, the setting becomes all the more significant to the story as it ties perfectly to Jane's mental illness and serves as a likely cause of her mental downfall. She was essentially put into solitary confinement because she was seen as crazy, and performs the same actions that caused the room to end up being the mess it is. And because just stuck in a room all by herself without any proper treatment, especially one that is specifically tailored to "help" the mentally insane, it is no wonder that she ended up losing her mind the way she did.

# data[].attributes.body
Most of the story takes place in the nursery where Jane is kept in, and based on the details she provides it can be inferred that she is being kept in some kind of old, abandoned asylum. While explaining it for the first time, she states, "I never saw such ravages as the children have made here. The wall-paper, as I said before, is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother—they must have had perseverance as well as hatred. Then the floor is scratched and gouged and splintered, the plaster itself is dug out here and there, and this great heavy bed which is all we found in the room, looks as if it had been through the wars" (71-73).  The room, clearly, is in horrible condition; however, it is not the fact it is in bad condition that matters, rather how she describes how it looks like it ended up that way that helps the reader obtain a better understanding of where she might be. Her comparisons between certain aspects looking as if they have been through wars and the "ravages" of young children conveys the idea to the reader that the room has been through a lot of trauma and hard times from patients that have lost their minds due to being stuck in solitary confinement. Her comment about never seeing anything like the mess the children made in the room, in particular, hints towards this, as it becomes clear that the decay was not from age, but rather from patients losing their minds in a fit of blind rage. Some other details that hint towards the house being an asylum are, "...there is nothing left but that great bedstead nailed down, with the canvas mattress we found...This bedstead is fairly gnawed!...This bed will NOT move! I tried to lift and push it until I was lame, and then I got so angry I bit off a little piece at one corner—but it hurt my teeth. ...To jump out of the window would be admirable exercise, but the bars are too strong even to try" (228-242). The bedstead being previously gnawed and nailed down implies that other victims have also made attempts to move the bed and, once getting frustrated enough after realizing it could not be moved, ended up biting it as an angry reaction, just as Jane did. This along with the fact that the windows are barred allowing for no way to escape serves as evidence to hint towards the idea that she is being kept in solitary confinement in some old, abandoned asylum.

# data[].attributes.body
One of the most prominent symbols throughout the story is the Yellow wallpaper itself and the woman trapped inside, as it represents Jane's mental illness and her struggle to keep it from consuming her and making her lose her mind. And thanks to the various descriptions she gives regarding the wallpaper, the reader is able to have not just a clearer understanding of what it looks like, but also why it serves as the symbol it is supposed to be.

# data[].attributes.body
The narrator (Jane) is a vital asset to this story, as her mental illness is the root cause for how the events in the story unfold. It is because of this that many of the details she presents to the reader are altered due to her overall misperception of the world. These shifts in perspective are crucial to the true understanding of this story, as it is through her imagery, language, and tone that she conveys her rapidly declining mental state to the reader.

# data[].attributes.headline
Her shift in perspective regarding the wallpaper through diction and imagery.

# data[].attributes.subject
Her shift in perspective regarding the wallpaper through diction and imagery.

# data[].attributes.body
One of the main things the narrator alters throughout the course of the story is her description of the wallpaper. When she first discusses the design of the wallpaper, she states it is, "One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin. It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance, they suddenly commit suicide—plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions. The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight" (34-36). Her overall tone in this passage is very negative, as she uses Words such as "sin", "irritate", "lame", "revolting", and "unclean" to invoke her distaste and disgust to describe the wallpaper. Particularly with her dark comparison of the lines in the pattern "committing suicide", it is clear that she initially finds the wallpaper unpleasant. However, later in the story, she states the following: "I kept still and watched the moonlight on that undulating wall-paper till I felt creepy" (129), "John is so pleased to see me improve! He laughed a little the other day and said I seemed to be flourishing in spite of my wallpaper…I had no intention of telling him is was BECAUSE of the wall-paper…" (167-168), and "But I am here, and no person touches this paper but me—not ALIVE!" (226). Each of these lines are not only much more positive in tone towards the wallpaper, but also reflects the narrator slowly becoming absolutely obsessed with it. Watching it until she "felt creepy" and even going as far to say that she was flourishing mentally because of the effect it had on her, especially considering she previously believed it was causing her problems because she disliked it so greatly, shows that she has an intense newfound admiration for and connection to the paper. Alongside this, her extremely defensive attitude proves that this connection is quite dangerous, as she is totally obsessed with it and does not want anyone else but herself to be able to look at it and know all of its secrets it hides.

# data[].attributes.headline
Her gradual mental decline portrayed by story details.

# data[].attributes.subject
Her gradual mental decline portrayed by story details.

# data[].attributes.body
Throughout the story, the protagonist's mental state gradually declines, as she becomes more paranoid and psychotic as a result of being neglected despite her underlying condition. At the beginning of the story, she states, "I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes. I’m sure I never used to be so sensitive. I think it is due to this nervous condition" (25). Not only does the audience learn that she already has an underlying emotional disability, but her diction in these sentences is relatively normal. She seems sane, open to her problems, and realizes that she needs help by stating that her emotional outbursts are unreasonable. However, there are signs of her becoming gradually more upset throughout the story; one example being when she states, "John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no REASON to suffer, and that satisfies him” (44). Again, she is aware of her issues and has attempted to seek help; however nobody, including her own husband, takes the issue seriously. Through techniques such as the capitalization of "reason" and stating that him being ignorant to her issues is "satisfying to him", it is clear that she is much more irritated but not to the point of being irrational. However, as the story progresses, she only continues to get worse and worse until she is passed the point of being helped. This is proven right at the end of the story when she states, "'I've got out at last,' said I, 'in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!'" (264). At this point, she has completely lost her mind. She is being superstitious about John: thinking he is trying to harm her by simply doing what she initially wanted, that being taking down the wallpaper for her. Along with this, claiming that she can't be put back not only refers to her releasing the woman trapped behind the wallpaper, but that there is no saving her at this point as she is passed the point of being able to get the help she needed; all because John and everyone else neglected to take care of her serious mental struggles.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Consequences of Neglecting Mental Health

# data[].attributes.subject
The Consequences of Neglecting Mental Health

# data[].attributes.body
There are many instances throughout the story where the narrator's husband, John, is seen not taking her issues seriously, brushing it off as something unimportant. One especially important example of this is when the narrator states, "John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no REASON to suffer, and that satisfies him" (44). What she states here is precisely her issue: she has tried to convince John many times that she suffers from some serious issues, yet he simply refuses to and doesn't believe anything she says about her problems. His ignorance to her issues is, in part, what leads her to her rapidly declining mental state, as by the end of the story she eventually comes to accept her condition, becoming fully enveloped in her madness. Near the end of the story, she states, "I wonder if they all come out of that wall-paper as I did" (245). As described in the section on symbolism, the yellow wallpaper represents the narrator's sickness and the struggles she faces because of it. This quote ties to the overarching theme, as it implies that she is not the only one who has struggled from being neglected by her husband; there are many others who have experienced nearly the same thing with various other issues. Along with this, by stating that she came "out of that wall-paper", she is referring to the fact that after not being able to get help for her sickness, she had no other choice but to allow it to come out and completely consume her, driving her to the mental state she is currently in. Another instance this is clearly proven in is right at the end where she states, "'I've got out at last," said I, "in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back'" (264). At this point, she has completely lost her mind and allowed her sickness to completely take her over. By stating that she cannot be put back, and referring to Jane (herself) as another person essentially proves that she is passed the point of any help for her mental health, and does not even associate herself as herself anymore. When taking into consideration this could have been avoided if John had taken her seriously instead of just thinking she was crazy while he had a chance, the message becomes even more clear and powerful.

# data[].attributes.headline
Setting: A Nice Colonial Mansion, or a Rugged, Abandoned Asylum?

# data[].attributes.subject
Setting: A Nice Colonial Mansion, or a Rugged, Abandoned Asylum?

# data[].attributes.body
Thanks to the Narrator's various descriptions throughout the story, the reader is able to obtain a sense and understanding of the setting and enforce some of the reasons behind her declining mental state.

# data[].attributes.body
Considering this short story was written in a time where women were treated as inferior to men and not taken seriously, it can be easily inferred that Gilman's message to the reader is not taking someone's (particularly women's) issues or struggles seriously has the potential to destroy their mental health.