Intentional and Symptomatic Readings on “the Yellow...

Intentional and symptomatic readings on â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† On starting my reading on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, I found it very amusing to understand the feeling of the narrator, whose name is revealed as Jane at the very end of the story. She is constantly restricted in many ways by her husband John, yet many of her description describes him as â€Å"caring† and â€Å"loving† even though he disappoints her in most of her wants. The contradiction, I suspected, was due to that the authorial intention is not projected on the spot, and that through interpreting the story with intentional reading and symptomatic reading different ideology may be revealed respectively. I therefore decided to study the†¦show more content†¦But he said I wasn’t able to go.†) John is at a superior position to Jane in every decision he makes. Jane has no say in all these scenarios. Also, John is often depicted with arrogance, though not serious (â€Å"I am a doctor, dear, and I know†; â€Å"Can you not trust me as a physician?†), but often we find that he does not understand Jane’s need (â€Å"John does not know how much I suffer†; â€Å"it is worse in the morning when you are away†). We see a woman, despite having decent knowledge (â€Å"I know a little principle of design†; being able to name Latin words), oppressed by the man in this narrative, and the oppressions are repetitive over the narrative even the narrator herself does not often recognise these as behaviours against her. We see flaws or indecent characters in the man, possibly a projection of dissatisfaction towards men. We also see, the woman, unsatisfied in her position, attempts an escape from her â€Å"imprisonment†. We further discover a hermeneutic closure in which the men’s method of treating women eventually fails, resulting in damages in both of the gender. We can conclude