Symbolism shown in the Yellow Wallpaper

In the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman there are many different objects that symbolism different things. The wallpaper in the room that the narrator stayed in symbolizes the bars of a cage or something that constrains you. In the beginning of the story the wallpaper is dirty, ripped, unpleasant, and unclean but as the story goes on she continues to stare at the wallpaper. Eventually the narrator sees a women in the wallpaper that is only seen by her and only seen in certain light. The story shows that the women in the wallpaper is looking for an escape just as the narrator is because the husband is constraining her from all regular activity. Gilman is trying show that in the time that this story was written women had no rights and had to answer to their husbands most of the time and they felt trapped behind society. Women are struggling with equality at this time showing that they are being ignored and not being given the attention they should as humans. In the story the author states "I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus - but John says the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition, and I can confess it always makes me feel bad." When the author writes this he is showing that men do not want equality in society and when women try to rebel or resist this the men try to take things away from them and try to contain them. Society saw women on the same level of children in the time that this story was written as they were restricted from many things and did not get any respect. Also when the narrator is tearing down the wallpaper near the end of the story it is showing that she is trying to regain sanity and get back to normal or healthy as her husband would say. The narrator tearing down the wallpaper shows that she is trying to get out of confinement or trying to escape from the restrictions that she has been put through. Another symbol that is being shown in the Yellow Wallpaper is the narrators notebook that she writes in. Her notebook is showing that she is trying to stay normal and not go crazy as it is the only thing that she is left with because her husband has taken everything else away from her. Although, her husband tries to stop her from writing in the notebook she still continues to do it behind his back because that is the only normal thing that she still has left in her life. Furthermore, the "nursery" symbolizes that the narrators husband is treating her like a child. John, her husband, takes all care away from her and insist on taking care of her because he is a physician and is supposed to know the kind of care she needs. He refuses to let her do anything herself and insist that she is continually taken care of by either him or his sister when he is not around. The narrator is treated like a child through out the story by everyone because she is said to be going crazy and so that would portray the meaning of the nursery. All in all, the Yellow Wallpaper symbolizes the cruelty that was shown to women in the time that this story was written.