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Jungian/Archetypal Interpretation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”or This Yellow Wallpaper with all its archetypes is driving me INSANE!

Although every culture has its own distinct folklore and mythology, there are certain image patterns that seem to be universal. These image patterns, or archetypes, are closely related to both oral and written storytelling, and strike “’some very deep chord’ in human nature” (Guerin 158), eliciting a common response, whether conscious or subconscious, from the reader or listener. Archetypes appear time and time again in literature; their presence can determine whether or not a piece of writing is considered a classic. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, is a voyeuristic examination of the psyche of a woman suffering from “temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency” (Gilman 1), who is driven to full-fledged hysteria after being trapped in a yellow-wallpaper-ed prison. Jungian Archetypal theory is an offshoot of psychological analysis, as Jung was one of Freud’s students, a...

Posted by: Garrick Christian

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