УДК 82.32

The features of psychological realism with the use of the story “The yellow wallpaper”

Novikova Victoria – student of Moscow Pedagogical State University

Abstract: this article provides an analysis of the psychological realism genre within the novel “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The paper explores the key features of psychological realism, including the realistic setting, portrayal of complex characters, and the use of stream of consciousness as a literary device. The novel is examined in the context of the late nineteenth century, a period marked by significant social and cultural changes that influenced literary movements.

Key words: psychological realism, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, key features, stream of consciousness, literary device.

Новикова Виктория Сергеевна – cтудент Московского педагогического государственного университета

Аннотация: настоящая статья представляет анализ жанра психологического реализма в романе "Желтая обои" Шарлотты Перкинс Гилман. В статье рассматриваются основные особенности психологического реализма, включая реалистичную обстановку, изображение многогранных персонажей и использование потока сознания в качестве литературного приема. Роман рассматривается в контексте конца девятнадцатого века, периода, отмеченного значительными социальными и культурными изменениями, влияющими на литературные движения.

Ключевые слова: психологический реализм, “Желтые обои”, основные особенности, поток сознания, литературный прием.

The end of the nineteenth century was rich in events, influencing every sphere of people’s lives. In fact, this period turned out to be remarkable for the Industrial revolution, birth of feminism and rising popularity of imperialism, which had an impact on politics, science and art. Thus, changes in society have resulted in the appearance of new unique literary genres and movements. One of them is called psychological realism for being focused on such mental traits of a character as their thoughts, feelings, desires, incentives and internal conflicts. Charlotte Perkins Gilman can be considered as a significant representative of the writers, exploring this genre within prose. Published in 1892, The Yellow Wallpaper became her most well-known book, vividly reflecting peculiarities of the human psyche.

Being an important work of early feminism, the novel tells a reader about a woman, suffering from postnatal depression after giving birth to a child, and her husband who moved to an old mansion for summer. The girl appeared to be imprisoned in a room with yellow wallpaper as a part of her mental and physical health treatment. The woman’s husband assured his beloved that isolation in a quiet and deserted place is the only valid therapy, while she was gradually going crazy, obsessively describing wallpaper’s patterns, rings and its endless lines in the diary. As a result, at the end of the story she completely lost touch with reality, watching animated figures captured behind the walls, imagining herself in their place and behaving in a manner that made her husband faint.

In order to dig deeper into the character's inner feelings and thoughts and emphasize them, The Yellow Wallpaper contains a large number of features, belonging to psychological realism. For instance, realistic setting, lacking mystification and fabulousness, is a crucial element of this genre, ordinarily utilizing to ground the narrative. Furthermore, such an aspect as the portrayal of the complex characters with their unique behavior is assumed to be essential because it makes up a large part of the plot and gives readers food for thought. Additionally, stream of consciousness as a literary device is often used by authors to delve into a human's psyche and better understand their motives and stimulus to act. This article is primarily focused on identifying and analyzing the mentioned features of psychological realism within the novel The Yellow Wallpaper.

To begin with, it is important to shed a light on the definition of psychological realism. According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, it is a literary method that is concentrated on characters’ inner emotions, thoughts and motives to act and behave in a specific manner. The focus of this genre is on the psychological reasons of circumstances and events happening to a hero or heroine during the story. At times the plot of such novels might be considered to be character-driven as external factors and forces are less important than a character’s inner incentives predetermining the narrative.

First and foremost, being immensely crucial, the technique of a realistic setting is utilized by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in The Yellow Wallpaper. Basically, realistic settings tend to mirror the time period and location, having existed in the actual world (Wood). They can not only create valuable and detailed surroundings but also shape a character’s personality and point out their moral strengths and weaknesses. The novel The Yellow Wallpaper serves as an example of narrative, written in a realistic setting. Taking place in the end of the nineteenth century, the story occurs in a large isolated house in the countryside that resembles an ordinary mansion of the Middle Ages, of which there were many in England at that time. The realistic review of the house is steadily replaced by an overly detailed description of the wallpaper allowing a reader to immerse into the tangible world and see the surroundings through the main heroine’s eyes. The characteristics of the wallpaper’s “yellow” smell, “sickly” color and bizarre patterns “committing every artistic sin” make the setting precise and vivid, linking it to the mental state of the main character (Gilman 6).

In addition, The Yellow Wallpaper performs as a reflection of the historical period when women had few rights and they were not eligible to possess their own property, vote and work outside her husband’s house. The novel clearly demonstrates that in the eighteenth century, being not discovered completely, women’s health was not a priority, as women were assumed as hysterical inferior beings and medically treated accordingly (Crowder). The book demonstrates the atmosphere of patriarchal norms and customs, where a man underestimates the feelings and emotions of his wife and independently decides on ways to treat her disorder. Therefore, the tone of the book might be defined as not only dark, anxious and psychotic, but also feminist. As it can be notable, the setting of The Yellow Wallpaper includes an analysis of the real political, social and cultural life experiences at that time which represents an essential prerequisite for the exploration of a character’s mental state within psychological realism.

Secondly, psychological realism requires to depict round literary characters with their goals, ambitions and aspirations which make the plot smoothly move. Complex heroes usually drive the narrative with their decisions, motivating a reader to reflect on the consequences of their choices. The multifaceted traits of the characters implement the depth and lifelikeness in the story which is typical of psychological realism. In particular, in The Yellow Wallpaper the protagonist is a bright example of a round heroine who transmits her thoughts and feelings directly, telling the story from her own point of view. The first-person narration helps to understand the woman’s gradual descent into madness, showing her internal conflicts and reflections.

Moreover, a critic and editor of the second half of the twentieth century Gary Scharnhorst points out that within the story the main character’s personality is revealed in the description of the wallpaper patterns. The more days the girl spends in a room studying the yellow walls, the more objects she starts noticing. Scharnhorst emphasizes on the importance of the woman-figure, captured behind the walls, who turns out to be a “doppelganger” of the main heroine. Being not free, the protagonist wants to get out, comparing herself to a silhouette imprisoned behind an ugly drawing. This symbolizes the social way of life at that time the main character cannot accept, as well as the lack of freedom caused by marriage and the recent birth of her child. The protagonist expresses her true desires and deep feelings with the development of madness; such gradual changes of a protagonist’s personality is typical for the psychological realism genre.

Finally, internal monologues also play a significant role in forming psychological realism. They are frequently used to help a reader to gain insights into characters’ thinking. One of the most well-known techniques of interior monologues is called stream of consciousness, a term which is usually attributed to William James. In his book The Principles of Psychology the philosopher described the mentioned notion as continuous flow of character’s feelings or emotions. At times stream of consciousness writing lacks logical connection and punctuations, still being a vivid narrative device aimed at demonstrating the thoughts of a character whose personality is constantly changing.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses this technique in order to shed a light on a protagonist’s mental state. The author allows a reader to follow the woman’s disease formation. In the beginning of the novel she was able to reason logically and control her thoughts (“So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise…”), willing to recover, while with the development of the story her psychological and emotional well-being deteriorates (Gilman 10). It is possible to measure her state by looking at the change in her mindset and speech patterns: “I think that woman gets out in the daytime! And I'll tell you why - privately I've seen her! I can see her out of everyone's windows!” The abundance of exclamation points, as well as repetitive words and phrases, highlights the progression of the protagonist’s disorder. According to Monika Fludernik, within the development of the main heroine’s madness the narrator gradually becomes more unreliable and unworthy. Being noticeable, this technique, revealing interior characteristics of the protagonist, is a distinctive feature of the psychological realism genre. It helps to fully understand the motives and actions of a hero or heroine, focusing on their psychological peculiarities.

In conclusion, The Yellow Wallpaper demonstrates a wide range of psychological realism features, playing an important role in driving the plot. The realistic setting of the story mirrors the real world, being infinitely helpful for readers in connecting on a profound level with the characters, who have their strengths and weaknesses as all humans. Complex portrayal of a protagonist delves deeper into their mind, reflecting on the background, incentives and motives to behave in a particular manner, while stream of consciousness explores the main hero or heroine’s thoughts and emotions, estimating their mental stability. The described features of psychological realism capture the complexity of human’s ambiguous and ambivalent personality. They are crucial to emphasize the uniqueness of an individual, paying much attention to their interior world and mentality.

References

1. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
2. Crowder, Sarah L. "Feminist Symbolism in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’" Composite 5, 1998. Fludernik, Monika. “Defining (in)Sanity: The Narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper and the Question of Unreliability.” Transcending Boundaries: Narratology in Context, edited by Walter Grünzweig and Andreas Solbach, Verlag, 1999, pp. 75–95.
3. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories, Dover Publications, 1997.
4. Hume, Beverly A. “Gilman’s ‘Interminable Grotesque’: The Narrator of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” Studies in Short Fiction Vol. 28, no.4, 1991.