Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Repetition
Gilman uses a variety of literary devices to better characterize and identify the setting, meaning, symbols, and protagonist in "The Yellow Wallpaper".
The repetition of the phrase "What is one to do?" helps characterize the narrator as confused, helpless, and even oppressed by her husband. By continuously repeating this phrase, the narrator establishes herself as weak and unable to stand up to her husband's seemingly unfair and negligent treatment.
Gilman uses personification to compare the wallpaper and its stench to an annoying, creepy matter that seems to always be one step ahead of the narrator. The use of personification establishes the wallpaper and its attributes to be stalker-like, as if the narrator will never be free from it.
Antithesis
Here, the author uses an antithesis in order to better describe the misshapen and chaotic nature of the wallpaper, as the narrator sees it. The narrator describes the lines as "dull" yet immediately goes on to say that they "plunge off at outrageous angles" and "destroy themselves". The juxtaposed descriptions of the wallpaper paired with the macabre adjectives the narrator uses all help the reader develop an understanding of the narrator's perspective.
The woman in the wallpaper is the major metaphor in "The Yellow Wallpaper". The woman represents the narrator, and her struggles through dealing with her husband's oppression. The woman is behind bars in the wallpaper, which draws a parallel to the narrator, who constantly feels trapped because of her husband's treatment.
Cacophony
In this passage, cacophony is used to create imagery and establish mood and tone in the story. Gilman's word choice consisting of strong, descriptive words establishes a tone of disgust and detestation toward the wallpaper. Words such as "repellent", "revolting", "sickly", and "fungus" are all examples of cacophony that influence the reader to understand how the narrator feels about the wallpaper, and how she sees it. The use of cacophony in this passage also contributes to the imagery established. Gilman uses strong words to create a visual for the reader, and to portray the repugnance and distastefulness of the wallpaper itself.