Its funny that while I read The Yellow Wallpaper, I highlited in yellow. Yellow is most often associated with the sun which makes us happy, so why was the narrator so sad and going "crazy" in a room which was covered in yellow wallpaper? I found a website called Color Wheel Pro, which defines what colors mean and how they effect us. I found it interesting where the artical says, "When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect; it is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms." If it can have a disturbing effect on babies, why would it be a "nursey" as the narrator tells us. Also it says that a dingy yellow represents caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy. The dingy yellow of the wallpaper that the narrator describes represents her decay of her marriage and life, her "sickness", and even her jealousy of men because she cannot escape the boundries of a woman. Another site colors with confidence, claims that yellow can be beneficial for peoples with depression. The website claims yellow ," has a beneficial effect on mental activity, focusing the mind, sharpening thought processes, increasing concentration and improving memory." If yellow , as this sight claims, is suppose to make you happy, then why did the woman not progress and get better, rather she got worses and went crazy.
Do you think that if the color were a different color it would have made any difference?
Did Charlotte Perkins Gilman have a purpose for making the wallpaper yellow? or was it just simple a choice?
On a humurous note, i found one section of the story rather funny and made me think of a persona experience. The narrator begins to talk about this smell of the paper. she says:
" But now I am used to it. The only thing i can think of that it is like is the color of the paper! A yellow smell."
When most people read this they probably think, How can yellow smell? But I laughed because of a story i remembered in high school.
One day me and my friend were in study hall, and our teacher truely was crazy.. every day she would bring a book and sit there with a yellow highliter, basically highliting EVERY sentence. what's the point in that?Well, we found it funny and every day she would do that and we could hear the highliter, we would say " It sounds a little bit yellow today." (guess you had to be there), but it made me think about the narrator when she said it has a "yellow smell."
Erin,
You did some excellent research about the color "yellow". It's pretty obvious that the color the author picked had some significant meaning, but I didn't realize it until you mention it in your blog. I like the website (Color Wheel Pro). It gave great descriptions of each color and told the meaning of them.
I think that the author might have picked the color "yellow" because some how it is connecting with her life. Perhaps, the things that were yellow in her life gave her bad luck, so that's why she picked yellow as a distrubing color.
-Nabila :)
Posted by: NabilaUddin at November 4, 2004 03:56 PMMy bedroom walls at home are BRIGHT yellow, and they were a sort of pale yellow while I was growing up. Wonder if THAT's my problem. ;-)
That's very interesting, how colors can affect thinking. Perhaps we should tell Seton Hill to paint the dorm room walls blue since it "produces a calming effect"...
Posted by: Valerie Masciarelli at November 4, 2004 09:48 PMNabila,
thanks for your comment. thats an interesting thought whether the author used yellow to represent things in her life which were "yellow" and bad. Do you think the story would have been different if she would have used a different color?
Erin,
I think the story wouldn't neccesarily be different. It would be the same concept as if the color were yellow, but just the things were either be more or less depressing depending on the color, if it's bright or dark.
-Nabila
Posted by: NabilaUddin at November 5, 2004 04:59 PMNice blog. I like the fact that you question the color's meaning to the story. Somehow I don't think that "The Violet Wallpaper" has the same ominous ring to it... :)
When I read this last year, I didn't really focus on the color. But the time period, that I did focus on, could have an effect on the actual "yellowing" of the wallpaper, expecting that it is, indeed, old wallpaper.
A yellow smell. Nice. Reminds me of PineSol, which can feel sickening after cleaning, I suppose. I enjoyed your anecdote about "sounds yellow today"--a great personal touch.
Posted by: Karissa at November 10, 2004 10:38 AMGah, I had made a link to my old blog but the HTML didn't take... here's the link: http://blogs.setonhill.edu/KarissaKilgore/001877.html
Posted by: Karissa at November 10, 2004 10:39 AMErin,
Good question! Why didn't Gilman choose red or green or any other color? I do wonder if Gilman chose yellow for a reason or just picked it randomly? Also, I liked the links you included. It always amazes me to read about how different colors effect us. Colors are something that are insignificant, yet are so powerful at the same time!
the book is soooo good you should
write more man
was -up so coolagdja
rad
from the ages 6 to like 11 my room was bright yellow and i dont have any problems. So i many cases i guess that the color yellow could make ppl have problems but not me so it must only be like that for some ppl. NO i have one Blue and One green room so I dont know!
Posted by: Jena B at October 22, 2005 05:44 PM