Psycholinguistic Analysis of the Narrator's Mental State in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Abstract

This paper examines the psycholinguistic assessment of the narrator's nation-mind in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story "The Yellow Wallpaper." It discusses language as a paradoxical means of representation and perception, used by the writer to analyze verbal productivity and individuality. The paper focuses on the repetitive usage of words and ideas that reflect the narrator's tone, analogizing her to a girl in captivity. The semantics of similes refer to the servitude systems imposed on her. The paper also highlights how deixis and temper are used to describe the decrease in the mental world. The paper argues, "The Yellow Wallpaper’s language can be a strategy for addressing gender issues and social oppression, highlighting its longevity in feminist and literary criticism.