Transitivity in The Yellow Wallpaper

Introduction

My essay is based on Grammar and Syntax. The analysis covers the transitivity position in The Yellow Wallpaper. When identifying ideologies behind a text, transitivity is one important factor. The concept goes a long way in providing a picture that is comprehensive of the ideological point of view of a text (Givón, 1993). Linguistics would say that no text is completely normal or neutral and that there is always some sort of a system of grammar veiled behind every text. Transitive verbs are related to verbs taking direct objects and how many such objects the verb can take. There is a close relationship between valence and transitivity. Valence puts other verb arguments into consideration in addition to direct objects (Matthiessen, and Halliday, 2009). In traditional grammar, binary distinction intransitive verbs that cannot take a direct object are for example, sit and fall, and transitive verbs that take one direct object are for example, kiss, injure and throw. Within functional grammar, transitivity is considered to be a continuum. A more semantic approach is taken by the continuum view. One way it achieves this is through taking into account the degree of effect it is brought upon an object by an action (Thompson, 2013).

In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman`s story is enormously rich with stylistic features. This is apparent through the layout, the text type and text form. Through the extracts interior monologue of a dramatised female, an I-narrator is used. The reader gets influenced by the panoramic mode of presentation in how the narrator talks about her surroundings and herself. Several issues are talked about throughout the extract for example the narrators wishes, longings, depression, her surrounding and John`s attitude. The use of anaphora and the personal pronoun “I” is used at the beginning of several sentences and also supported by the use of “Personally” at the beginning of a sentence.

The perspective of a first-person narrator is used in the story, and that is marked throughout the entire extract by the use of personal pronouns, “me” and “I.” Such a narration involves a closer relationship on the novelist-readers level than any other kind of narration even though it is limited to the impressions of one of the stories characters. On one hand, that gives the reader a feel and is able to comprehend to the narrator’s feelings and ideas, but on the other hand, has little insight into the characters position. The narrator also influences the perception of the reader of the fictional world the story takes place in, and so the reader has to rely on their own imagination of the descriptions of what the narrator perceives throughout the novel. In other words, the reader is looking through different lenses of the narrator’s descriptions and comments. The question of the narrator’s reliability arises because the points of view imply an increased limitation in comparison with other writing styles. What that means is that the narrator has limited perception and the reader following the stories remarks is also limited in the second instance.

Because language does not function in isolation, meaning it functions as text in the actual situation of use, there are always sources available for readers and hearers to interpret sentences that are combined within the sentences themselves (Kripperndorf, 2018). These sources, which usually are required, supplement words that are left unsaid, are of two different kinds: with only one of these being associated with the ellipsis, for example where there is a presupposition within the structure of what needs to be applied.

Background

In the description of temporal and spatial points of view, the linguistic concept of deixis proves to be rather useful. Whether a situation is encoded as intransitive or transitive depends first of all on the participants’ characteristics even though the correspondence between syntactic transitivity and semantic transitivity is never straightforward (DeLancey, 1987). Typically, transitive clauses are events that involve two participants. Even with that, transitive semantics depend on the participant’s distinctness as seen in The Yellow Wallpaper. This depends on the participant’s distinguishability and individuation (Davidse, 2017).

Transitive clauses typically involve agents that are characterised as instigating, accepting and non-affected. In the event the participants are not distinct in a clear way, the agent is affected, formally intransitive constructions are used. The formal marking of arguments is one of the most noticeable formal aspects of transitive clauses (Givon, 2017). As a morphosemantic feature, the two values of transitivity are intransitive and transitive. Whenever values of transitivity are looked at, one needs to think that the distinctions are drawn between valency and transitivity. Transitivity expresses the clauses core arguments.

Transitivity in the Yellow Paper

The transitivity model is made up of four processes- relational, mental, verbalisation and material. Gilman`s personal experience with mental illness forms the basis for the story. Her physical husband John recommends rest for the narrator, and she is restricted from writing about it, even in the event she gets tired of it. The narrator’s obsession with wallpapers pattern grows when she is deprived off stimulating activity and company. The obsession finally leads to her mental breakdown and being mad. Additionally, John’s character is used to epitomise or represent other men in society, and is used at the beginning of two sentences. The author’s description of her surrounding contains another anaphora combined with the deixis of place. Details, records and accounts are mentioned which the author uses to illustrate her daily routine. In this passage on page 4, there are five processes of invention, six material, and one of supervening. There are clauses in sentences 7, 9 and 10 where the intention processes` actor is John. In the 13th sentence, even though, John and his wife are observed to be the same processes actors, the level of involvement of his wife seems rather negligible. In a story where focus is on the repression of females, it does not come as a surprise that John is seen doing things, for example, in the passage, he is the speaker and the actor, while his wife, the narrator, is the sensor, which is a subject of mental processes. The passage`s structure goes something like this approximately: I get unreasonably angry…/But John says…Said he…/So we… The way the conjunctions ‘so’ and ‘but’ are used is quite interesting. John`s involvement cuts the narrator short every time she tries to explain herself. Also, the involvement of m John follows most of the constructions that begin with the narrator giving her views. The word ‘so’ is an indication that the wishes of John led to following a certain course of action. ‘So we took the nursery.’ The 5th and 6th sentences are indications of the wife`s desire to take a different room, and another to her decision to take up the nursery. Sentence 4`s transitivity brings out the real narrator’s character as the actor of an intention and a supervening process like the narrators action of controlling herself in the presence of her husband brings about the supervening clause of her tiring. Even when an intention processes` actor is the narrator, the undertaken action involves her controlling her actions and behaving in a way her husband would be okay with.

John takes up a more forceful role whenever he is the actor of an intentional process as seen in sentences 7, 9 and 10. He is shown to be both dominating and controlling. One sentence that particularly suggests this is the 9th sentence where the narrator tells of how John is a loving person and at the same time, careful. However, the phrase that follows would with no doubt be more suited to a description of a jailer who guards his prisoner than a husband who loves and cares for his wife. After looking at the text carefully and examining the text, numerous references to captives and prisons become obvious. That leaves the reader with the personal impression of lots of divisions and compartments with the prisoners or captives slotted into their own well-ordered cell. The narrator’s description of the garden also gives this impression. Everything is covered over or sectioned off. Even the passages that describe the view of the narrator through the large windows of the nursery refer to, in context, as a prisoner longingly gazes at the world outside. The extract contains four processes of verbalisation, and all of them belong to John. In different sentences in the story, both direct and indirect speech is used to represent his utterances. In the 4th sentence, John cautions his wife to control herself. In the 8th sentence, he explains why he does not want to take the room downstairs. In a different sentence, he tells his wife of how her account has troubled him, and in a different sentence, he is seen to take control of the wife`s diet, exercise regime and even breathing. Some of the remarks John makes are with no doubt aimed at making the wife feel guilty about herself of ingratitude to the husbands wish to take the nursery. The phrase “What is one to do?” is also used repeatedly in the story and goes a long way in characterising the narrator as helpless, confused and even oppressed by her husband. “You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?” (Page 1). “Personally, I disagree with their ideas. But what is one to do?” (Page 1). Through the continued use of these phrase, the narrator succeeds in establishing herself as weak and not able to stand up to her husband’s treatment that is unfair and negligent.

The author further makes use of antithesis to better describe the wallpaper`s chaotic nature and misshapen, as seen by the narrator. While she describes the lines as being dull, she goes ahead to say that they plunge off at angles that are outrageous and further destroy themselves. “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following…and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide. Plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions,” the wallpaper`s juxtaposed descriptions of the wallpaper paired with the macabre adjectives the narrator uses, help in development of an understanding of the perspective of the narrator.

It is possible to make a comparison of the wife`s reasoning for preferring the room downstairs and the reasoning by John for not wanting to take it. The reason the wife likes the room is because she finds it appealing to her eyes and also because it leads to the veranda which gives her access to light and the world outside. John, however, complains of the room’s size being small in addition to being poorly aerated. While such remarks from John are relatively reasonable, the other remark he makes is when he says that there is not enough room, but then only says this to see the reactions of his wife and how or if she responds back.

The important factor here is the principle of climax, where the third reason is given more prominence by having been placed last, giving the impression of a prisoner being guarded by a jailer. There are five mental processes, two being of cognition and three of reaction and the narrator possesses all of them. Reaction processes are contained in sentences 1, 5 and 10, while sentence 3 and 6 contain the processes of cognition. (1) I get unreasonably angry with John at times - A rather interesting choice here, is the use of the adverb ‘unreasonably.’ Reading the poem, I think of her anger as being understandable, and I myself begin to suspect that it may be that version of John`s voice that has been filtered that is being heard. His voice and his point of view from time to time interferes with his wife`s. The wife`s anger and sensitivity shows a nervous condition. The last phrase particularly, together with the slight hysterical tendency and the nervous condition, give the perception of a language that is male, a language used for conditions and illnesses affecting women.

Numerous adjectives and adverbs refer to the fictional world that describes the house and its surroundings, providing the reader with a mental picture of it. Here it is necessary to take into consideration that especially the world-class of adjectives can never be a definite entity for the reader because they are strongly subjective. For example, when the narrator describes her house and beauty, there is a possibility that it could also be rotten or a run-down structure or in another conditions. Descriptive elements are used throughout the text by the narrator to build a coherent image of the fictional world, which addresses the imagination of the reader and further creates a realistic picture. It is observed that Gilman manages this very well because her depiction is both reasonable and detailed. All that depends on what the reader perceives or attaches to beauty.

I think I would link the narrator as having post-natal depression as it appears that she is anxious to convey that her husband`s refusal to write brought about her illness, which is also seen in her ingratitude. John effectively manipulates the feelings of guilt in his wife and further encourages her to take her illness` blame. The narrator feels that her nervous condition is responsible for her anger which has been bought through her husband’s influence over her. Also, the fact that her scheduled prescription, which is prepared carefully is also a clear indication that John dominates her. On page 15, the mental condition of the narrator has at this point of the story deteriorated, and she even convinces herself that the wallpapers convoluted pattern in the nursery is holding a woman or some women prisoners. That marks the patterns of transitivity differently from those of the initial extract. Page 15 has a larger number of material processes, with 17 and 14 being processes of intention and three being supervening processes. At this stage, not only the narrator is the actor of the processes, but also the wallpaper, its pattern, the heads that break through the paper and the woman on the paper.

The extract also contains other processes like the mental processes of cognition with the narrator being the sensor and a relational-possessive process with the wallpaper being the carrier. I feel that the reality of the narrator is deteriorating rapidly. The narrator presents herself as a person who is highly imaginative right from the story`s early stages. The narrator imagines the paper as being alive. She says that the paper stares at her like it was aware of the influence it had on her. Towards the end of the story, events take a fresh turn when the narrator begins to identify herself with the woman trapped in the wallpaper and that is evident in the increased number of intention processes with the actor now being the narrator. For example ‘here I can creep smoothly on the floor’; ‘I wonder if they all come out of that wallpaper as I did.’ Her actions are irrational. She takes down the wallpaper believing that she is now going to be free, which can only mean she is expressing her desire to stay within the house in a mental-reaction process. She now wishes to remain in the nursery where it is possible for her to creep. The verb ‘creep’ is evidence, as she constantly moves in a circle around the room, pressing her shoulders against the wall. At this point, the narrator has taken over the actor’s position and freed herself of the influence of her husband, which cost her her sanity. The destruction of the wallpaper signifies her escape from its confines.

Conclusion

At beginning of the story, John plays a dominant role. In the verbalisation processes, as he is the speaker and the doer. The actions of his wife at this point are of self-control and acquiescence. The wife is not even given a voice to protest. All the speaking is done by John who further takes steps to prevent the wife from expressing what she feels through writing. The narrator explores the word fancy, which is repeated several times throughout the extract. Gillman intends to show how the domesticity of patriarchy considers the female writer as a threat and therefore, her creativity is presented as a tendency to madness and is silenced and controlled. The transitivity patterns, however, change with the deterioration of the mental condition of the narrator for example with the tripling of the material processes and there is also an increase in the ratio of intention and processes of supervening. These processes actors are however non-existent or entirely lifeless and are a reflection of the altered view of the reality of the narrator. The narrator only becomes an actor of the material only towards the end of the story. However, even though she might be the actor, the actions are seen as being irrational and can in no way possible be read as a form of empowerment.

The broad vocabulary of the narrator is a good indication of her right-mindedness together with her abilities to examine such conditions she does not agree with. The colour of the wall contrasts a lurid orange that is also dull with a sickly sulphur tint which shows different appearances dependent on where the narrator looks at the wall. The description, while being far from flattering, conveys the walls dual nature as a force that is both evil and compelling as a force that is both evil and compelling through use of contrasting words for the description of the wall.

Contribution

During this module there are numerous topics that have been of particular interest to me, with the one that stood out being the topic of grammar. The discussions we had in class led me to develop an interest in grammar and the roles it plays in daily student lives. Grammar is the study of the meanings behind sentences. It is the structural foundation of our abilities to express ourselves. With increased awareness of how grammar works, the better position we are in, in monitoring the meanings and effectiveness of the ways through which we make use of languages (Strawson, 2017). What makes grammar an important study area is that it is the language that facilitates the talk on language. Grammar names the word groups and the types of words that build sentences in any language and that includes English. I got to appreciate that, knowing grammar, that is, being able to talk about how sentences are built, about the types of word groups and words that build sentences, offers a window into the brains of human beings and their amazingly complex mental capacities. While most people tend to associate grammar with correctness and errors, having a good knowledge of grammar helps build an understanding of what makes up sentences and paragraphs clear and precise and interesting. Grammar formed part of our literature discussions as students, whenever we, together with our teachers, closely read different sentences in different poems and stories.

For me, I believe that the main basis behind the study of grammar is because knowledge of the structure of sentences is an important aid in literature interpretation because a student is influenced better sentences in his own composition by continued dealings with sentences.

Discussions in the class helped to raise my awareness of the importance of grammar in language constructions. The module further opened my eyes to the neutrality of language. I got to understand that with a good understanding of the nature of language, one gets to realise the ground for their linguistic prejudices and that helps in moderation of the prejudices. With a good understanding of the nature of language, one is put in a better position to assess any issues in linguistics that are of concern to the public, like worries about the state of a language. Before this module, I must admit that I never really appreciated the power and value of grammar within languages. I am now, however, very well aware of the influence grammar has and the way through which its applications have evolved over time. Having a good understanding of grammar helped me in analysing the sentences in The Yellow wallpaper and their meanings. Through the understanding of the meanings conveyed in the sentences, I was able to develop my personal abilities to express and further respond to the meaning. As such, the more a student knows about grammar, the better position they are in to carry out such tasks of sentence interpretation.

References

Davidse, K., 2017. Systemic functional linguistics and the clause. The Routledge Handbook of Systemic Functional Linguistics, p.79.

DeLancey, S., 1987. Transitivity in grammar and cognition. Coherence and grounding in discourse, pp.53-68.

Givon, T., 2017. The functional approach. The New Psychology of Language: Cognitive and Functional Approaches To Language Structure, 1, p.41.

Givón, T., 1993. English grammar: A function-based introduction (Vol. 2). John Benjamins Publishing.

Lee, C.S., 2016. A corpus-based approach to transitivity analysis at grammatical and conceptual levels. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 21(4), pp.465-498.

Matthiessen, C.M. and Halliday, M.A.K., 2009. Systemic functional grammar: a first step into the theory.

Strawson, P.F., 2017. Subject and predicate in logic and grammar. Routledge.

Thompson, G., 2013. Introducing functional grammar. Routledge.