The Yellow Wallpaper

What is the larger meaning of the story? How do the symbols in the story contribute to this larger meaning?

Like The Story of an Hour, Gilman's piece The Yellow Wallpaper also represents the subordination of women in marriage. It was published around the same time as Chopin's short story, so again we can view the story from the context of a male dominant society. The key symbol that dominates the story is the yellow wallpaper. Through the progression of the story we come to find that the main character deciphers a sub pattern of a trapped woman behind bars constantly trying to free her self of the constraints of the main pattern, but is only strangled in her attempted escapes. This caged woman, as well as the numerous heads barred in with her, represents the repressive inclination of women during this time, and on a more literal level, the trapped feelings of the main character. The room itself, previously a nursery, can be seen from a symbolic standpoint as the main character is treated like an ignorant child who can't treat her own anxieties. Even the "unclean yellow" color of the room can represent the decay of self-assertion, intellect, and imaginative power.