Critical Analysis Essay on “The Yellow Wallpaper”

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a popular literary piece for critical analysis, especially in women’s gender studies. It focuses on several inequalities in the relation between John and his wife. It was published for the first time in 1892 in a New England magazine and is considered to be one of the earliest and essential feminist literary pieces in America. The story illustrates the physical as well as the mental deterioration of women during the 19 century due to a medically prescribed treatment of being allowed to do nothing. Gilman created a very effective fictional narrative based on her personal experience with depression, and this had a strong impact on other women. This story was written to condemn the sexual politics, which make the medical treatment prescribed possible.

The story is critically acclaimed because it brings into focus the unequal relationship the males and females in the society. The male gender is perceived to dominate society while the female gender is not given the space to make decisions independently of men. This is seen in the instances when John belittles his wife’s creative endeavors. John does not respect his wife, and so he treats her like one of his children by calling her a little girl.

This makes the wife dislike her house. To her, the environment seems too isolated, making her unhappy. The story portrays women in Western society as deprived of their rights. Instead, they are treated like objects or men’s possessions. They have nowhere to exercise their personal freedoms, and they feel belittled by the male counterparts. For instance, John keeps on dismissing his wife’s thoughts and opinions. He believes that his wife should depend solely on him for almost everything. This is why this story has enjoyed such popularity, mostly by women who feel that they deserve a better place in the society, that they need space to exercise their creativity and productivity. Women feel they have strong potential and the ability to do anything, just like men do, and they should not depend on men for everything. Rather, they should depend on men as much as men depend on women.

Women should have their decisions respected, and no one should dismiss their ideas. Instead, ideas should be shared and debated, regardless of gender. Moreover, men should support women as equals rather than belittle them.

In Gilman’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” John acts as the mirror through which women are viewed negatively in the society, a society in which women are not perceived to be full citizens. They are not supposed to be anywhere near the political arena or in the public eye. Instead, they should remain in their homes. This view has led to women fighting for their rights through creating women movements to fight for their place in the society.

Tips on Writing a Critical Essay over a Literary Piece

First, it is important to understand that a critical essay is not a criticism of the literary piece or of its author. It is your reaction or response to the piece. When you know how to get the job done properly, you have an opportunity to express your thoughts and provide an analysis of any literary piece, including the ones like “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Your analysis essay not only shows the level of your writing skills, but also reveals if you’re well-aware of the written piece.

If you want to learn to write a quality analysis essay, ensure to check and follow these tips – a short guide containing useful information about how to deal with the literary analysis.
Begin by reading the piece several times, if possible. Highlight and make notes on anything that captures your attention. That could be a phrase, a character’s thought or action, or an event. Make sure to take notes as you go. Underline or circle what you know should be placed into the essay. Do not hesitate to approach your college tutor to ask for an explanation of the issues that aren’t clear.

In case with the critical analysis essay, it’s important to review all literary terms that were possibly mentioned in the essay. Wherever the terms occur, you will have to read up them in the books, vocabularies, or your textbook. To know more about the existing terms, ensure to co-work with the academic experts of an essay service. They know the field of literature from A to Z.

Don’t skip reading the literature piece more than once. Or, in case you lack time for it, make sure to re-read the sections that, you believe, are important to your essay. Taking notes in the margins is a must. Come up with new questions. Flag passages or pages that are relevant to your topic and might be interesting to include in the text later. Then analyze why that interests you. What is the significance? What is the writer trying to achieve? Knowing the writer’s background and the social or historical time period in which a story takes place is helpful in understanding the significance of characters or story events.

Then, create a thesis statement that reflects your opinion about some aspect of the literary piece. Next, utilize evidence from the piece to support your opinion. Finally, organize your writing in a logical fashion. Do not retell the story or present details in chronological order. Assume your reader knows the literary piece being discussed and is interested in your opinion and how you support it.

Think about the content of your critical analysis essay. The point here is that there is no standard set of paragraphs that your piece should comprise. It’s up to you to decide how many sections should be presented (also, ensure you know the set of requirements given by the tutor). When you’re analyzing a poem, your critical analysis essay will be based on one content, and when it is a novel that you work with, you’ll have to consider a completely different approach. What is more, the length of the critical analysis essay may also differ from case to case.
Despite the type of literature, the most standard list of points that a student should include in the critical analysis essay are here:

• Genre/type of the literature piece.
• Analysis of the characters.
• Analysis of the plot, key ideas.
• Review of the theme.
• Description of symbolism traces in the work.
• Writing style, content.

Develop your paper thesis statement. It is important to produce the main thesis statement in order to show why your arguments are crucial, how they connect to the thoughts and ideas of the novel or book author.

1. Create an intro. It’s the first paragraph of your critical analysis essay. It’s better to start it in a creative way to hook your readers and make them wonder what is going to happen next. The introductory sections is usually short, but it should work well as an attention-grabber and inform your readers of what you’re talking about in the body part.
2. The body section goes right after the introduction. It represents your ideas about the poem, book, or novel that you’ve analyzed. Besides, you place your statements, explanations, evidence, and reflections within the body – anything required to support your statements.
3. The conclusion ends up your critical analysis essay. It is the final section of your work, and it serves to make it perfect and logically complete. Ensure to demonstrate how your work is connected to the literary piece under analysis, as well as how it reflects the ideas of the author and the plot.

The final argument that you make in your critical analysis essay must be both – effective and strong. Thus, you can’t make your concluding part longer than the body. End up your critical analysis essay with a few sentences retelling the main idea of the project and letting your readers know what your attitude to the topic is.