Madness with Marriage At the time Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” she was considered an important feminist writer. This background information allows readers to see Gilman's views on women's rights and roles in the 18th century; “The Yellow Wallpaper” suggests that women in the 18th century were repressed into society's marital gender roles. Gilman uses setting and figurative language, such as symbolism, imagery, and metaphors to convey the theme. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is set in the 18th century, and this specific era helps substantiate Gilman’s vision. In the 18th century, women did not have many rights and were often considered inferior to men. Women often had their own opinions. As the narrator's mental state changes, so does the way he perceives things in the house. The most obvious example of this is the background imagery and how the narrator's opinion of the background slowly changes over the course of the story; this directly reflects what is happening in the narrator's mind. At the beginning of the story the narrator describes the wallpaper as "Repellent... revolting... a foul, smoldering yellow" (Gilman 377). As the story continues, the narrator begins to become obsessed with the wallpaper and his opinion about it has completely changed from what it was at the beginning. Symbolism also plays an important role in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. This short story hides a multitude of symbols, but there are a few specific ones that stand out the most. The anniversary of the wallpaper certainly makes it a symbol. An interesting interpretation is that the wallpaper represents women, in the sense that the 18th century woman was considered almost decorative and this is exactly the purpose of the wallpaper. Another important symbol that runs parallel to the background are the women the narrator would see in the background. Women appear trapped behind bars in the newspaper and it could be argued that the women the narrator sees represent all women of her time, continually trapped in their gender.