Interesting Literature

A Summary and Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, an 1892 short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, has the structure and style of a diary. This is in keeping with what the female narrator tells us: that she can only write down her experiences when her husband John is not around, since he has forbidden her to write until she is well again, believing it will overexcite her.

Through a series of short instalments, we learn more about the narrator’s situation, and her treatment at the hands of her doctor husband and her sister-in-law.

To summarise the story, then: the narrator and her husband John, a doctor, have come to stay at a large country house. As the story develops, we realise that the woman’s husband has brought her to the house in order to try to cure her of her mental illness (he has told her that repairs are being carried out on their home, which is why they have had to relocate to a mansion).

His solution, or treatment, is effectively to lock her away from everyone – including her own family, except for him – and to forbid her anything that might excite her, such as writing. (She writes her account of what happens to her, and the effect it has on her, in secret, hiding her pen and paper when her husband or his sister come into the room.)

John’s suggested treatment for his wife also extends to relieving her of maternal duties: their baby is taken out of her hands and looked after by John’s sister, Jennie. Jennie also does all of the cooking and housework.

It becomes clear, as the story develops, that depriving the female narrator of anything to occupy her mind is making her mental illness worse, not better.

The narrator confides that she cannot even cry in her husband’s company, or when anyone else is present, because that will be interpreted as a sign that her condition is worsening – and her husband has promised (threatened?) to send her to another doctor, Weir Mitchell, if her condition doesn’t show signs of improving. And according to a female friend who has been treated by him, Weir Mitchell is like her husband and brother ‘only more so’ (i.e. stricter).

The narrator then outlines in detail how she sometimes sits for hours on end in her room, tracing the patterns in the yellow wallpaper. She then tells us she thinks she can see a woman ‘stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern.’ At this point, she changes her mind, and goes from being fond of the pattern in the yellow wallpaper to wishing she could go away from the place.

She tells John that she isn’t getting any better in this house and that she would like to leave, but he tells her she is looking healthier and that they cannot return home for another three weeks, until their lease is up and the ‘repairs’ at home have been completed.

Despondent, the narrator tells us how she is becoming more obsessed by the yellow wallpaper, especially at night when she is unable to sleep and so lies awake watching the pattern in the wallpaper, which she says resembles a fungus.

She starts to fear her husband. She becomes paranoid that her husband and sister-in-law, Jennie, are trying to decipher the pattern in the yellow wallpaper, and she becomes determined to beat them to it. (Jennie was actually checking the wallpaper because the thought it was staining their clothes; this is the reason she gives to the narrator when asked about it, anyway. However, the more likely reason is that she and John have noticed the narrator’s obsession with looking at the wallpaper, and are becoming concerned.)

Next, the narrator tells us she has noticed the strange smell of the wallpaper, and tells us she seriously considered burning down the house to try to solve the mystery of what she smell was. She concludes that it is simply ‘a yellow smell!’ We now realise that the narrator is losing her mind rather badly.

She becomes convinced that the ‘woman behind’ the yellow wallpaper is shaking it, thus moving the front pattern of the paper. She says she has seen this woman creeping about the grounds of the house during the day; she returns to behind the wallpaper at night.

The narrator then tells us that she believes John and Jennie have become ‘affected’ by the wallpaper – that they are losing their minds from being exposed to it. So the narrator begins stripping the yellow wallpaper from the walls, much to the consternation of Jennie. John has all of his wife’s things moved out of the room, ready for them to leave the house. While John is out, the narrator locks herself inside the now bare room and throws the key out the window, so she cannot be disturbed.

She has become convinced that there are many creeping women roaming the grounds of the house, all of them originating from behind the yellow wallpaper, and that she is one of them. The story ends with her husband banging on the door to be let in, fetching the key when she tells him it’s down by the front door mat, and bursting into the room – whereupon he faints, at the sight of his wife creeping around the room.

That concludes a summary of the ‘plot’ of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’. But what does it all mean?

‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ begins by dangling the idea that what we are about to read is a haunted house story, a Gothic tale, a piece of horror. Why else, wonders the story’s female narrator, would the house be available so cheaply unless it was haunted? And why had it remained unoccupied for so long? This is how many haunted house tales begin.

And this will turn out to be true, in many ways – the story is often included in anthologies of horror fiction, and there is a ‘haunting’ of a kind going on in the story – but as ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ develops we realise we’re reading something far more unsettling than a run-of-the-mill haunted house story, because the real ghosts and demons are either inside the narrator’s troubled mind or else her own husband and her sister-in-law.

Of course, these two things are linked. Because one of the ‘morals’ of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ – if ‘moral’ is not too strong a word to use of such a story – is that the husband’s treatment of his wife’s mental illness only succeeds in making her worse , rather than better, until her condition reaches the point where she is completely mad, suffering from hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. So ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is a haunted house story … but the only ghosts are inside the narrator’s head.

‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ borrows familiar tropes from a Gothic horror story – it ends with the husband taking an axe to the bedroom door where his cowering wife is imprisoned – but the twist is that, by the end of the story, she has imprisoned herself in her deluded belief that she is protecting her husband from the ‘creeping women’ from behind the wallpaper, and he is prepared to beat down the door with an axe out of genuine concern for his sick wife, rather than to butcher her, in the style of Bluebeard or Jack Torrance.

Narrative Style

As we mentioned at the beginning of this analysis, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ has the structure and style of a diary. This is in keeping with what the female narrator tells us: that she can only write down her experiences when her husband John is not around. But it also has the effect of shifting the narrative tense: from the usual past tense to the more unusual present tense.

Only one year separates ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ from George Egerton’s first volume of short stories , which made similarly pioneering use of present-tense narration in order to depict female consciousness.

The literary critic Ruth Robbins has made the argument that the past tense (or ‘perfect tense’) is unsuited to some modes of fiction because it offers the ‘perspective that leads to judgment’: because events have already occurred, we feel in a position to judge the characters involved.

Present-tense narration deters us from doing this so readily, for two reasons. First, we are thrown in amongst the events, experiencing them as they happen almost, so we feel complicit in them. Second, because things are still unfolding seemingly before our very eyes, we feel that to attempt to pass judgment on what’s happening would be too rash and premature: we don’t know for sure how things are going to play out yet.

Given that Gilman is writing about a mentally unstable woman being mistreated by her male husband (and therefore, given his profession, by the medical world too), her decision to plunge us headlong into the events of the story encourages us to listen to what the narrator is telling us before we attempt to pronounce on what’s going on.

The fact that ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is narrated in the first person, from the woman’s own perspective and in her own voice, is also a factor: the only access we have to her treatment (or mistreatment) and to her husband’s behaviour and personality is through her: what she tells us and how she tells it to us.

But there is another narrative advantage to this present-tense diary structure: we as readers are forced to appraise everything we are told by the narrator, and scrutinise it carefully, deciding whether we are being told the whole story or whether the narrator, in her nervous and unstable state, may not be seeing things as they really are.

A good example of this is when, having told us at length how she follows the patterns on the yellow wallpaper on the walls of her room, sometimes for hours on end, the narrator then tells us she is glad her baby doesn’t have to live in the same room, because someone as ‘impressionable’ as her child wouldn’t do well in such a room.

The dramatic irony which the narrator cannot see but which we, tragically, can, is that she is every bit as impressionable as a small child, and the yellow wallpaper – and, more broadly, her effective incarceration – is clearly having a deleterious effect on her mental health. (The story isn’t perfect: Gilman telegraphs the irony a little too strongly when, in the next breath, she has her narrator tell us, with misplaced confidence, ‘I can stand it so much easier than a baby, you see.’)

In the last analysis, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is so unsettling because it plays with established Gothic horror conventions and then subverts them in order to expose the misguided medical practices used in an attempt to ‘treat’ or ‘cure’ women who are suffering from mental or nervous disorders. It has become a popular feminist text about the male mistreatment of women partly because the ‘villain’, the narrator’s husband John, is acting out of a genuine (if hubristic) belief that he knows what’s best for her.

The whole field of nineteenth-century patriarchal society and the way it treats women thus comes under scrutiny, in a story that is all the more powerful for refusing to preach, even while it lets one such mistreated woman speak for herself.

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10 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’”

I absolutely loved this story. read it a few times in a row when I first crossed paths with it a few years ago –

“The Yellow Wallpaper” remains one of the most disturbing books I’ve ever read. Excellent analysis!

Fantastic book.

I cringe every time this story appears on a reading list or in a curriculum textbook. It’s almost hysterical in tone and quite disturbing in how overstated the “abuse” of the wife is supposed to be. It’s right up there with “The Awakening” as feminist literature that hinders, instead of promoting, the dilemma of 19th century women.

How is it overstated?

To witness the woman’s unraveling and how ignored she is, to me, a profound statement how people with emotional distress are not treated with respect.

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Terrific analysis. Gothic fiction is always open to many forms of reading and particularly for feminist reading – as openly presented by Angela Carter’ neo-gothic stories (which I would love to read your analyses of one day Oliver!). ‘the Yellow Wallpaper’ I think is the go-to story for most feminist commentators on Gothic fiction – and rightly so. I can’t help notice the connections between this story and the (mis)treatments of Sigmund Freud. Soooo much in this story to think about that I feel like a kiddie in sweet shop!

Thank you as always, Ken, for the thoughtful comment – and I completely agree about the links with Freud. The 1890s really was a pioneering age for psychiatric treatment/analysis, though we cringe at some of the ideas that were seriously considered (and put into practice). Oddly enough I’ve just been rearranging the pile of books on the floor of my study here at IL Towers, and The Bloody Chamber is near the top of my list of books to cover in due course!

I will wait with abated breath for your thoughts! I love Angela Carter :)

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Literary Analysis of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Essay Example

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a seemingly personal account of female oppression during the 19 th century. At that time in history women were commonly seen as possessions or property, rather than an equal partner to their spouse. The story details the narrator’s journey as she explains many details about the people and places that surround her, which are very symbolic for a number of themes. Not only are relationships and society restrictive, but she also finds that her house and bedroom are particularly repressive to her physical being as well as her emotional growth. This paper will explore the various symbolic meanings found in Gilman’s story and also relate that to the oppressive nature of women during that time in history. The narrator identifies her feelings of oppression and imprisonment in her marriage just as the “woman behind the wallpaper” does; both women are looking for a way out, but unable to escape the physical restraints placed on them.

A Summer Retreat For Nervous Depression

The story begins with the account of both the house and grounds that the narrator and her husband will be staying at for a summer retreat. She is very expressive with her descriptions, but she spends much of her time explaining how she believes that there is something off or “queer” about the house and grounds. Once inside the house she begins to imagine and even describes the patterns in the wallpaper and walls of the home. The negative energy that she uses to explain could be from her being diagnosed with “nervous depression” by her husband, who is also a doctor. She states that she is prescribed “phosphates and tonics….and absolutely forbidden to work until I am well again (Gilman 1). In order to better understand the narrator and her feelings, one must understand the viewpoint and beliefs about women during this time. At this point in history, women that suffered from mood swings or other emotions were often to be said to be crazy or have depression that should be treated with rest and restricted activity. This is exactly what the narrator is supposed to do, rest, stay in her bedroom and is explicitly forbidden to write or express her thoughts. Her creative expression kept in her journal is considered badly John and she is forced to hide her journal from him as well as and others that enter the home.

One of the most symbolic meanings of the story is the restriction of the narrator’s ability to write in her journal or express her thoughts. This suggests that her thoughts and feelings are not important to her husband, John or anyone for that matter. She relates to the reader that John suggests that her writing is simply neurotic worry and that it is not good for her treatment. Her treatment of course is rest and staying out of the way of her husband for the most part, which causes her to see herself as a burden (Gilman 3). At this time in history mental illness was poorly understood and those afflicted were often locked away or isolated from others. It was believed, just like the narrator states that the afflicted individual must take control of their emotions and make the necessary changes. Women were often treated like children in the respect that they needed to be guided and were unable to make decisions for themselves. To further this train of thought, John commonly referred to his wife in the story as a “blessed little goose” and even a little girl (Gilman 7). While it seems that John is giving his wife pet names, these are more symbolic of a person that is unable to care for themselves or is childlike, which was consistent with the beliefs of the time.

Not only was he attempting to control his wife through their marriage, but he was also a doctor that could prescribe “treatment” for her, which further restricted her.

Bars on the Windows

The narrator was locked away on the second floor and her husband and sister in law, Jennie and a nanny were her caregivers. Her food is brought to her and the nanny tends to her child, while Jennie is said to be the perfect housekeeper. There is no reason for her to leave her room, as she is to rest and not engage in any work. The room that she is placed in is described as being lit by the sun and spacious, but she details that it may have been where children stayed.  The manner by which she describes leads the reader to believe that it is a nursery, as the windows are barred and there are rings and things in the wall (Gilman 2). She explains that there are bars on the windows, which likely were placed there because of the children that the room was used for. The symbolic bars on the window noted by the narrator represent the feeling of being held against her will with no escape. On one side she was faced with a repressive husband that refuses to hear her concerns and the only other way out was secured with bars. She sees her marriage and surroundings as a prison, bars on the windows and being confined to a room where her actions are dictated by others. She is not free to move about or engage in any activity under the pretext that it would worsen her condition. Ironically, depression is said to improve with a persons increased activity level, which is another form of symbolic oppression in the story and in society in general during that time period.

Women’s Oppression

At one point in the story she states that she likes to fantasize about people walking on the walkway or grounds of the estate, however is discouraged by her husband. This represents the disregard for her imagination or creative thought process. This can also be seen in his disregard for her writing as she states, “he hates to have me write a word” (Gilman 2).  A woman’s ability or right to work is an expression of herself and this story represents the way that it was stunted. Instead the only job that a woman was capable of was taking care of her family, and in this story that had even been taken from the narrator. It was the woman’s job to engage in domestic care of both the children and spouse, not work outside the home or have income of her own. Society placed many restrictive beliefs on females, giving them little freedom or rights as a citizen. During this time in history, women that divorced their husbands or did not obey them were considered second class citizens. In some cases they were not allowed to engage in society as they had broken the sacred code of marriage. In a sense the narrators physical being is trapped in her room, however her emotional being is trapped through the inability to write, work, care for her children or even explain her medical condition.

The Patterned Wallpaper

The narrator describes the wallpaper as yellow with a revolting and hideous pattern (Gilman 2). She sees bulbous images and what she describes as broken necks in the papers design. She asks her husband to change rooms; however he says that it is the best room for her recovery. Drawing from the fact that it was a child’s nursery one could make the comparison again that she is being treated like a child. Some of the wallpaper according to the narrator is already been picked or torn. Through the story, she begins to see figures behind the wallpaper that she believes is a woman who is trapped. This shadow or trapped woman is described as, “dim shapes that get clearer every day” (Gilman 10).

In the beginning, the narrator, was only able to see odd patterns, however not the females that she believes to be trapped. She says that the woman stays behind the bars as they bind her. The woman is silent or still during the day, however when night comes the woman rattles the bars that entrap her inside the wall or behind the wallpaper itself. Her beliefs about this woman can be seen as her own mental illness or struggle with being oppressed by her husband and society as well. She claims that this woman creeps and greatly desires to be set free from the constraints of the wallpaper.

Just as the narrator is hiding her journal and inner thoughts from her husband, the woman behind the wallpaper hides in the sunlight, but moves under the moonlight. This signifies the hiding of the female presence, but only expressing herself when no one is looking. Throughout the story, the narrator becomes more obsessed with the wallpaper, the figures and movement of the pattern. This is her only source of entertainment and she begins to identify with the woman that is trapped. As the story moves along and she becomes even more depressed, she begins to make plans to free the woman. Her goal is to do so within two days, which is their scheduled departure date from the house. She begins picking and tearing at the wallpaper to not only free the woman she sees, but also as a source of taking her own control (Gilman 11). She is defying her husband, as he certainly would not approve of her actions or thoughts. As she tears the wallpaper she hears shrieks, but is intent on allowing the woman to go free. During the time that she is peeling the paper, she contemplates jumping out the window, but is unable to because there are bars on the windows. She also notes that she is afraid of all the other women creeping outside. Some may feel that the narrator has been driven mad by the wallpaper at this point, however it seems that the meaning is that of her final decision not to care what her husband thinks. She is following what she feels and standing up for her own freedom by releasing the woman behind the wallpaper. When her husband learns of her actions, he breaks his way into the room and then faints at the sight of what she has done. He, of course believes that she has gone completely mad and faints. The story ends with the narrator creeping around the perimeter of the room, even stepping over his body in the process (Gilman 12). Again her stepping over his body is symbolic that she is no longer under his control, even though she has likely suffered a nervous breakdown and has lost her mind.

In conclusion, Gilman’s story is that of a personal account from a female’s perspective. The narrator comes to identify with the women in the wallpaper that she imagines. Of course these delusions are due to her illness, which is most likely related to depression and post-partum, as there is a baby referenced in the story. Medical conditions were not understood and the general consensus of the time was to use natural remedies coupled with rest. Those that suffered from depression or other mental disorders would likely be separated from the general community as they simply didn’t know what else to do with them. Along with the narrator suffering from depression, she was also a victim of historical oppression. During this time, women were seen as less than equal and not allowed to express opinions or take an active role in decision making. Their place was in a domestic role and nothing more. While some might say that the wallpaper drove the narrator crazy, others might see it as an escape from an oppressive reality in the only manner that she could control; her own thoughts and bizarre actions!

Works Cited

Gilman, Charlotte. “The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; The Yellow Wallpaper Page 1.” Page By Page Books. Read Classic Books Online, Free. . N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. <http://www.pagebypagebooks

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Literature › Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wall-Paper

Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wall-Paper

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on April 28, 2022

First published in New England Magazine in January 1892, and reprinted by Small, Maynard and Company as a chapbook (1899), “The Yellow Wall-Paper” is Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s most famous work. Depicting the nervous breakdown of a young wife and mother, the story is a potent example of psychological realism. Based loosely on Gilman’s own experiences in undergoing the rest cure for neurasthenia, the story documents the psychological torment of her fictional first-person narrator.

The narrator’s husband, John, a physician, prescribes isolation and inactivity as treatment for her illness, a “temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency” (10). John forbids her to engage in any kind of labor, including writing. Despite his admonitions, however, the narrator records her impressions in a secret diary.

literary analysis essay of the yellow wallpaper

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These diary entries compose the text of the story; they reveal the narrator’s emotional descent. As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that she is suffering an acute form of postpartum depression, a condition acknowledged neither by John nor by the late-19th-century medical community. So severe is the narrator’s depression that a nursemaid has assumed care of the new baby. Deprived of the freedom to write openly, which she believes would be therapeutic, the narrator gradually shifts her attention to the yellow wallpaper in the attic nursery where she spends her time. The paper both intrigues and repels her; it becomes the medium on which she symbolically inscribes her “text.” Soon she detects a subpattern in the wallpaper that crystallizes into the image of an imprisoned woman attempting to escape. In the penultimate scene, the narrator’s identity merges with that of the entrapped woman, and together they frantically tear the paper from the walls. In an ironic reversal in the final scene, John breaks into the room and, after witnessing the full measure of his wife’s insanity, faints. Significantly, however, he is still blocking his wife, literally and symbolically obstructing her path so that she has to “creep over him every time!” (36).

Critics disagree over the meaning of the story, variously arguing the significance of everything from linguistic cues, to psychoanalytic interpretations, to historiographical readings. While some critics have hailed the narrator as a feminist heroine, others have seen in her a maternal failure coupled with a morbid fear of female sexuality. Some have viewed the story, with its yellow paper, as an exemplar of the silencing of women writers in 19th-century America; others have focused on its gothic elements.

Since the Feminist Press reissued the story in 1973, “The Yellow Wall-Paper” has been widely anthologized and is now firmly assimilated in the American literary body of work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wall-paper. Boston: Small, Maynard, & Co., 1899. Reprint, Old Westbury, N.Y.: Feminist Press, 1973. Lanser, Susan A. “Feminist Criticism, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper,’ and the Politics of Color in America.” Feminist Studies 15, no. 3 (Fall 1989): 415–441. Shumaker, Conrad. “ ‘Too Terribly Good to Be Printed’: Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’ ” American Literature 57, no. 4 (1985): 588–599. Veeder, William. “Who Is Jane? The Intricate Feminism of Charlotte Perkins Gilman.” Arizona Quarterly 44, no. 3 (1988): 40–79.

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Analysis of 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by C. Perkins Gilman

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Like Kate Chopin's " The Story of an Hour ," Charlotte Perkins Gilman's " The Yellow Wallpaper " is a mainstay of feminist literary study. First published in 1892, the story takes the form of secret journal entries written by a woman who is supposed to be recovering from what her husband, a physician, calls a nervous condition.

This haunting psychological horror story chronicles the narrator's descent into madness, or perhaps into the paranormal, or perhaps—depending on your interpretation—into freedom. The result is a story as chilling as anything by Edgar Allan Poe or Stephen King .

Recovery Through Infantilization

The protagonist's husband, John, does not take her illness seriously. Nor does he take her seriously. He prescribes, among other things, a "rest cure," in which she is confined to their summer home, mostly to her bedroom.

The woman is discouraged from doing anything intellectual, even though she believes some "excitement and change" would do her good. She is allowed very little company—certainly not from the "stimulating" people she most wishes to see. Even her writing must happen in secret.

In short, John treats her like a child. He calls her diminutive names like "blessed little goose" and "little girl." He makes all decisions for her and isolates her from the things she cares about.

Even her bedroom is not the one she wanted; instead, it's a room that appears to have once been a nursery, emphasizing her return to infancy. Its "windows are barred for little children," showing again that she is being treated as a child—as well as a prisoner.

John's actions are couched in concern for the woman, a position that she initially seems to believe herself. "He is very careful and loving," she writes in her journal, "and hardly lets me stir without special direction." Her words also sound as if she is merely parroting what she's been told, though phrases like "hardly lets me stir" seem to harbor a veiled complaint.

Fact Versus Fancy

John dismisses anything that hints of emotion or irrationality—what he calls "fancy." For instance, when the narrator says that the wallpaper in her bedroom disturbs her, he informs her that she is letting the wallpaper "get the better of her" and refuses to remove it.

John doesn't simply dismiss things he finds fanciful though; he also uses the charge of "fancy" to dismiss anything he doesn't like. In other words, if he doesn't want to accept something, he simply declares that it is irrational.

When the narrator tries to have a "reasonable talk" with him about her situation, she is so distraught that she is reduced to tears. Instead of interpreting her tears as evidence of her suffering, he takes them as evidence that she is irrational and can't be trusted to make decisions for herself.

As part of his infantilization of her, he speaks to her as if she is a whimsical child, imagining her own illness. "Bless her little heart!" he says. "She shall be as sick as she pleases!" He does not want to acknowledge that her problems are real, so he silences her.

The only way the narrator could appear rational to John would be to become satisfied with her situation, which means there is no way for her to express concerns or ask for changes.

In her journal, the narrator writes:

"John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him."

John can't imagine anything outside his own judgment. So when he determines that the narrator's life is satisfactory, he imagines that the fault lies with her perception. It never occurs to him that her situation might really need improvement.

The Wallpaper

The nursery walls are covered in putrid yellow wallpaper with a confused, eerie pattern. The narrator is horrified by it.

She studies the incomprehensible pattern in the wallpaper, determined to make sense of it. But rather than making sense of it, she begins to identify a second pattern—that of a woman creeping furtively behind the first pattern, which acts as a prison for her.

The first pattern of the wallpaper can be seen as the societal expectations that hold women, like the narrator, captive. Her recovery will be measured by how cheerfully she resumes her domestic duties as wife and mother, and her desire to do anything else—like write—is something that would interfere with that recovery.

Though the narrator studies and studies the pattern in the wallpaper, it never makes any sense to her. Similarly, no matter how hard she tries to recover, the terms of her recovery—embracing her domestic role—never make sense to her, either.

The creeping woman can represent both victimization by the societal norms and resistance to them.

This creeping woman also gives a clue about why the first pattern is so troubling and ugly. It seems to be peppered with distorted heads with bulging eyes—the heads of other creeping women who were strangled by the pattern when they tried to escape it. That is, women who couldn't survive when they tried to resist cultural norms. Gilman writes that "nobody could climb through that pattern—it strangles so."

Becoming a Creeping Woman

Eventually, the narrator becomes a creeping woman herself. The first indication is when she says, rather startlingly, "I always lock the door when I creep by daylight." Later, the narrator and the creeping woman work together to pull off the wallpaper.

The narrator also writes, "[T]here are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast," implying that the narrator is only one of many.

That her shoulder "just fits" into the groove on the wall is sometimes interpreted to mean that she has been the one ripping the paper and creeping around the room all along. But it could also be interpreted as an assertion that her situation is no different from that of many other women. In this interpretation, "The Yellow Wallpaper" becomes not just a story about one woman's madness, but a maddening system.

At one point, the narrator observes the creeping women from her window and asks, "I wonder if they all come out of that wallpaper as I did?"

Her coming out of the wallpaper—her freedom—coincides with a descent into mad behavior: ripping off the paper, locking herself in her room, even biting the immovable bed. That is, her freedom comes when she finally reveals her beliefs and behavior to those around her and stops hiding.

The final scene—in which John faints and the narrator continues to creep around the room, stepping over him every time—is disturbing but also triumphant. Now John is the one who is weak and sickly, and the narrator is the one who finally gets to determine the rules of her own existence. She is finally convinced that he only "pretended to be loving and kind." After being consistently infantilized by his comments, she turns the tables on him by addressing him condescendingly, if only in her mind, as "young man."

John refused to remove the wallpaper, and in the end, the narrator used it as her escape. 

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literary analysis essay of the yellow wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte perkins gilman, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Yellow Wallpaper: Introduction

The yellow wallpaper: plot summary, the yellow wallpaper: detailed summary & analysis, the yellow wallpaper: themes, the yellow wallpaper: quotes, the yellow wallpaper: characters, the yellow wallpaper: symbols, the yellow wallpaper: literary devices, the yellow wallpaper: quizzes, the yellow wallpaper: theme wheel, brief biography of charlotte perkins gilman.

The Yellow Wallpaper PDF

Historical Context of The Yellow Wallpaper

Other books related to the yellow wallpaper.

  • Full Title: The Yellow Wallpaper
  • When Written: June, 1890
  • Where Written: California
  • When Published: May, 1892
  • Literary Period: Gothic
  • Genre: Short story; Gothic horror; Feminist literature
  • Setting: Late nineteenth century, in a colonial mansion that has been rented for the summer. Most of the story’s action takes place in a room at the top of the house that is referred to as the “nursery.”
  • Climax: The narrator suffers a complete mental breakdown, identifying herself with the woman she has hallucinated as being trapped in the yellow wallpaper and clawing at the walls as she creeps in endless circles about the room and over her fainted husband.
  • Antagonist: John, the narrator’s husband and doctor, could be considered an antagonist, although he is not a purely evil character.
  • Point of View: First person narrator, in a series of diary entries.

Extra Credit for The Yellow Wallpaper

Self-funded. To finance her education at the Rhode Island School of Design, Charlotte Perkins Gilman painted advertisements (trade cards) for soap companies.

Utopian lit. In addition to critiques like The Yellow Wallpaper , Gilman wrote utopian fiction through which she imagined a world in which social conditions reflected equality for women.

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General Education

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" tells the story of a young woman’s gradual descent into psychosis. " The Yellow Wallpaper" is often cited as an early feminist work that predates a woman’s right to vote in the United States. The author was involved in first-wave feminism, and her other works questioned the origins of the subjugation of women, particularly in marriage. "

The Yellow Wallpaper" is a widely read work that asks difficult questions about the role of women, particularly regarding their mental health and right to autonomy and self-identity. We’ll go over The Yellow Wallpaper summary, themes and symbols, The Yellow Wallpaper analysis, and some important information about the author.

"The Yellow Wallpaper" Summary

"The Yellow Wallpaper" details the deterioration of a woman's mental health while she is on a "rest cure" on a rented summer country estate with her family. Her obsession with the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom marks her descent into psychosis from her depression throughout the story.

The narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" begins the story by discussing her move to a beautiful estate for the summer. Her husband, John, is also her doctor , and the move is meant in part to help the narrator overcome her “illness,” which she explains as nervous depression, or nervousness, following the birth of their baby. John’s sister, Jennie, also lives with them and works as their housekeeper.

Though her husband believes she will get better with rest and by not worrying about anything, the narrator has an active imagination and likes to write . He discourages her wonder about the house, and dismisses her interests. She mentions her baby more than once, though there is a nurse that cares for the baby, and the narrator herself is too nervous to provide care.

The narrator and her husband move into a large room that has ugly, yellow wallpaper that the narrator criticizes. She asks her husband if they can change rooms and move downstairs, and he rejects her. The more she stays in the room, the more the narrator’s fascination with the hideous wallpaper grows.

After hosting family for July 4th, the narrator expresses feeling even worse and more exhausted. She struggles to do daily activities, and her mental state is deteriorating. John encourages her to rest more, and the narrator hides her writing from him because he disapproves.

In the time between July 4th and their departure, the narrator is seemingly driven insane by the yellow wallpaper ; she sleeps all day and stays up all night to stare at it, believing that it comes alive, and the patterns change and move. Then, she begins to believe that there is a woman in the wallpaper who alters the patterns and is watching her.

A few weeks before their departure, John stays overnight in town and the narrator wants to sleep in the room by herself so she can stare at the wallpaper uninterrupted. She locks out Jennie and believes that she can see the woman in the wallpaper . John returns and frantically tries to be let in, and the narrator refuses; John is able to enter the room and finds the narrator crawling on the floor. She claims that the woman in the wallpaper has finally exited, and John faints, much to her surprise.

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Background on "The Yellow Wallpaper"

The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, was a lecturer for social reform, and her beliefs and philosophy play an important part in the creation of "The Yellow Wallpaper," as well as the themes and symbolism in the story. "The Yellow Wallpaper" also influenced later feminist writers.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, known as Charlotte Perkins Stetsman while she was married to her first husband, was born in Hartford, CT in 1860. Young Charlotte was observed as being bright, but her mother wasn’t interested in her education, and Charlotte spent lots of time in the library.

Charlotte married Charles Stetsman in 1884, and her daughter was born in 1885. She suffered from serious postpartum depression after giving birth to their daughter, Katharine. Her battle with postpartum depression and the doctors she dealt with during her illness inspired her to write "The Yellow Wallpaper."

The couple separated in 1888, the year that Perkins Gilman wrote her first book, Art Gems for the Home and Fireside. She later wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" in 1890, while she was in a relationship with Adeline Knapp, and living apart from her legal husband. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was published in 1892, and in 1893 she published a book of satirical poetry , In This Our World, which gained her fame.

Eventually, Perkins Gilman got officially divorced from Stetsman, and ended her relationship with Knapp. She married her cousin, Houghton Gilman, and claimed to be satisfied in the marriage .

Perkins Gilman made a living as a lecturer on women’s issues, labor issues, and social reform . She toured Europe and the U.S. as a lecturer, and founded her own magazine, The Forerunner.

Publication

"The Yellow Wallpaper" was first published in January 1892 in New England Magazine.

During Perkins Gilman's lifetime, the role of women in American society was heavily restricted both socially and legally. At the time of its publication, women were still twenty-six years away from gaining the right to vote .

This viewpoint on women as childish and weak meant that they were discouraged from having any control over their lives. Women were encouraged or forced to defer to their husband’s opinions in all aspects of life , including financially, socially, and medically. Writing itself was revolutionary, since it would create a sense of identity, and was thought to be too much for the naturally fragile women.

Women's health was a particularly misunderstood area of medicine, as women were viewed as nervous, hysterical beings, and were discouraged from doing anything to further “upset” them. The prevailing wisdom of the day was that rest would cure hysteria, when in reality the constant boredom and lack of purpose likely worsened depression .

Perkins Gilman used her own experience in her first marriage and postpartum depression as inspiration for The Yellow Wallpaper, and illustrates how a woman’s lack of autonomy is detrimental to her mental health.

Upon its publication, Perkins Gilman sent a copy of "The Yellow Wallpaper" to the doctor who prescribed her the rest cure for her postpartum depression.

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"The Yellow Wallpaper" Characters

Though there are only a few characters in the story, they each have an important role. While the story is about the narrator’s mental deterioration, the relationships in her life are essential for understanding why and how she got to this point.

The Narrator

The narrator of the story is a young, upper-middle-class woman. She is imaginative and a natural writer, though she is discouraged from exploring this part of herself. She is a new mother and is thought to have “hysterical tendencies” or suffer from nervousness. Her name may be Jane but it is unclear.

John is the narrator’s husband and her physician. He restricts her activity as a part of her treatment. John is extremely practical, and belittles the narrator's imagination and feelings . He seems to care about her well-being, but believes he knows what is best for her and doesn't allow her input.

Jennie is John’s sister, who works as a housekeeper for the couple. Jennie seems concerned for the narrator, as indicated by her offer to sleep in the yellow wallpapered room with her. Jennie seems content with her domestic role .

Main Themes of "The Yellow Wallpaper"

From what we know about the author of this story and from interpreting the text, there are a few themes that are clear from a "Yellow Wallpaper" analysis. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was a serious piece of literature that addressed themes pertinent to women.

Women's Role in Marriage

Women were expected to be subordinate to their husbands and completely obedient, as well as take on strictly domestic roles inside the home . Upper middle class women, like the narrator, may go for long periods of time without even leaving the home. The story reveals that this arrangement had the effect of committing women to a state of naïveté, dependence, and ignorance.

John assumes he has the right to determine what’s best for his wife, and this authority is never questioned. He belittles her concerns, both concrete and the ones that arise as a result of her depression , and is said so brush her off and “laugh at her” when she speaks through, “this is to be expected in marriage” He doesn’t take her concerns seriously, and makes all the decisions about both of their lives.

As such, she has no say in anything in her life, including her own health, and finds herself unable to even protest.

Perkins Gilman, like many others, clearly disagreed with this state of things, and aimed to show the detrimental effects that came to women as a result of their lack of autonomy.

Identity and Self-Expression

Throughout the story, the narrator is discouraged from doing the things she wants to do and the things that come naturally to her, like writing. On more than one occasion, she hurries to put her journal away because John is approaching .

She also forces herself to act as though she’s happy and satisfied, to give the illusion that she is recovering, which is worse. She wants to be a good wife, according to the way the role is laid out for her, but struggles to conform especially with so little to actually do.

The narrator is forced into silence and submission through the rest cure, and desperately needs an intellectual and emotional outlet . However, she is not granted one and it is clear that this arrangement takes a toll.

The Rest Cure

The rest cure was commonly prescribed during this period of history for women who were “nervous.” Perkins Gilman has strong opinions about the merits of the rest cure , having been prescribed it herself. John’s insistence on the narrator getting “air” constantly, and his insistence that she do nothing that requires mental or physical stimulation is clearly detrimental.

The narrator is also discouraged from doing activities, whether they are domestic- like cleaning or caring for her baby- in addition to things like reading, writing, and exploring the grounds of the house. She is stifled and confined both physically and mentally, which only adds to her condition .

Perkins Gilman damns the rest cure in this story, by showing the detrimental effects on women, and posing that women need mental and physical stimulation to be healthy, and need to be free to make their own decisions over health and their lives.

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The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis: Symbols and Symbolism

Symbols are a way for the author to give the story meaning, and provide clues as to the themes and characters. There are two major symbols in "The Yellow Wallpaper."

The Yellow Wallpaper

This is of course the most important symbol in the story. The narrator is immediately fascinated and disgusted by the yellow wallpaper, and her understanding and interpretation fluctuates and intensifies throughout the story.

The narrator, because she doesn’t have anything else to think about or other mental stimulation, turns to the yellow wallpaper as something to analyze and interpret. The pattern eventually comes into focus as bars, and then she sees a woman inside the pattern . This represents feeling trapped.

At the end of the story, the narrator believes that the woman has come out of the wallpaper. This indicates that the narrator has finally merged fully into her psychosis , and become one with the house and domesticated discontent.

Though Jennie doesn’t have a major role in the story, she does present a foil to the narrator. Jennie is John’s sister and their housekeeper, and she is content, or so the narrator believes, to live a domestic life. Though she does often express her appreciation for Jennie’s presence in her home, she is clearly made to feel guilty by Jennie’s ability to run the household unencumbered .

Irony in The Yellow Wallpaper

"The Yellow Wallpaper" makes good use of dramatic and situational irony. Dramatic literary device in which the reader knows or understands things that the characters do not. Situational irony is when the character’s actions are meant to do one thing, but actually do another. Here are a few examples.

For example, when the narrator first enters the room with the yellow wallpaper, she believes it to be a nursery . However, the reader can clearly see that the room could have just as easily been used to contain a mentally unstable person.

The best example of situational irony is the way that John continues to prescribe the rest-cure, which worsens the narrator's state significantly. He encourages her to lie down after meals and sleep more, which causes her to be awake and alert at night, when she has time to sit and evaluate the wallpaper.

The Yellow Wallpaper Summary

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is one of the defining works of feminist literature. Writing about a woman’s health, mental or physical, was considered a radical act at the time that Perkins Gilman wrote this short story. Writing at all about the lives of women was considered at best, frivolous, and at worst dangerous. When you take a look at The Yellow Wallpaper analysis, the story is an important look into the role of women in marriage and society, and it will likely be a mainstay in the feminist literary canon.

What's Next?

Looking for more expert guides on literary classics? Read our guides on The Cask of Amontillado and The Great Gatsby .

Need important and interesting quotes? Check out these 18 To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes and 9 Great Mark Twain Quotes .

For help analyzing literature and writing essays , read our expert guide on imagery , literary elements , and writing an argumentative essay .

Carrie holds a Bachelors in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College, and is currently pursuing an MFA. She worked in book publishing for several years, and believes that books can open up new worlds. She loves reading, the outdoors, and learning about new things.

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“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A Critical Analysis

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in 1892 in the New England Magazine, was later included in a collection of Gilman’s works called In This Our World in 1893.

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A Critical Analysis

Introduction: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Table of Contents

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in 1892 in the New England Magazine , was later included in a collection of Gilman’s works called In This Our World in 1893. The story features a narrator who is struggling with what her husband believes is a nervous disorder, and he has taken her to a rented summer home where she is forbidden from working or stimulating herself in any way. The narrator becomes increasingly obsessed with the yellow wallpaper in her room, which she despises, and begins to see a woman trapped inside its pattern. The story is a powerful critique of the patriarchal medical profession and the oppression of women during the late 19th century. Its features include a first-person narrative, symbolism, and a sense of claustrophobia and desperation that builds towards a tragic conclusion.

Main Events in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

  • Introduction to the Setting and Characters
  • The narrator, along with her husband John, secure a colonial mansion for the summer.
  • John, a physician, dismisses the narrator’s illness as mere nervous depression.
  • Description of the Mansion
  • The mansion is isolated, with a beautiful but eerie garden, and has been empty for years.
  • The narrator senses something strange about the house.
  • Initial Observations and Discomfort
  • The narrator expresses dislike for their room, especially the ghastly yellow wallpaper.
  • She feels trapped by John’s control over her schedule and activities.
  • Analysis of the Wallpaper
  • The wallpaper is described as revolting, with a pattern that changes in the light.
  • The narrator starts to see a woman trapped behind the pattern and becomes fixated on it.
  • Deterioration of the Narrator’s Mental State
  • The narrator’s mental state deteriorates as she becomes obsessed with the wallpaper.
  • She feels increasingly isolated and begins to distrust John and the housekeeper, Jennie.
  • Attempts to Confront John
  • The narrator tries to communicate her distress to John, but he dismisses her concerns.
  • She becomes fearful of John and suspects he may be affected by the wallpaper as well.
  • Discovery and Liberation
  • The narrator discovers a woman creeping behind the wallpaper and believes she must free her.
  • She peels off the wallpaper in a fit of liberation and decides to confront John.
  • Climax and Resolution
  • The narrator locks herself in the room, determined to confront John when he returns.
  • She feels triumphant in her act of defiance and eagerly awaits John’s reaction.

Literary Devices in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Characterization in “the yellow wallpaper” by charlotte perkins gilman, major characters.

  • The Narrator: An unnamed woman with a rich inner life and intellectual curiosity. She suffers from what her physician husband John diagnoses as “temporary nervous depression” or “a slight hysterical tendency.” John dismisses her concerns about her mental health and the unsettling effect of the yellow wallpaper, which she feels is contributing to her condition. Confined to the upstairs nursery for a supposed “rest cure,” the narrator becomes increasingly frustrated and isolated. With limited outlets for her thoughts and feelings, the yellow wallpaper becomes an all-consuming obsession.
  • John: The narrator’s husband and a physician. John dismisses his wife’s concerns about her health and the unsettling effect of the wallpaper. He believes he is taking the best course of action by enforcing “rest” and disregarding her anxieties. John’s controlling and dismissive behavior contributes to the narrator’s mental decline.

Minor Characters

  • John’s Brother: Another physician who readily agrees with John’s diagnosis of the narrator’s condition, demonstrating the limitations of the medical field at the time.
  • Mary: The baby’s caretaker. The narrator seems to find comfort and trust in Mary’s kindness and competence.
  • Baby: The narrator and John’s child. The narrator expresses relief that the baby does not have to occupy the room with the yellow wallpaper.
  • Mother & Nellie: John’s mother and sister who visit the narrator for a week. Their presence likely restricts the narrator’s freedom and reinforces John’s control.
  • Jennie: The maid who helps take care of the narrator. The narrator becomes suspicious of Jennie’s behavior in relation to the wallpaper, hinting at the narrator’s growing paranoia.
  • Cousin Henry & Julia: The narrator’s relatives whom she expresses a desire to visit. John discourages this visit, further isolating the narrator and suggesting his desire to maintain complete control over her.

Major Themes in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

  • The Suffocating Effects of Patriarchy : The story critiques the limitations placed on women in 19th-century society. The narrator’s unnamed state reflects her lack of agency. John, her husband and physician, dismisses her concerns about her health and confines her to a room with the justification of a “rest cure,” a common but harmful treatment for women’s “nervous conditions” at the time. This enforced idleness fuels her descent into madness, highlighting the societal expectation for women to be passive and submissive.
  • Confinement and the Loss of Self: The yellow wallpaper becomes a symbol of the narrator’s entrapment. Initially, she describes it as “gross, uneven paper” with “odor of stale dead wood” (emphasis added). As her mental state deteriorates, the wallpaper takes on a life of its own, with its “repellent” yellow color and strange pattern seeming to crawl and pulsate. The narrator’s obsession with peeling back the layers of the wallpaper reflects her desperate attempt to break free from her confined existence.
  • The Power of Imagination and Perception: The story explores the blurring lines between reality and perception. John dismisses the narrator’s anxieties about the wallpaper as mere “fancy,” but the reader experiences the story through her increasingly unreliable narration. As the lines between reality and delusion blur, the wallpaper transforms into a monstrous entity that the narrator feels compelled to liberate. This raises questions about the validity of female experience and the power of a stifled imagination to manifest as madness.
  • The Thin Line Between Sanity and Madness: The story explores the descent into madness through the narrator’s journal entries. Initially, she expresses frustration with her situation and a longing for intellectual stimulation. Over time, her entries become fragmented and cryptic, reflecting her deteriorating mental state. The ending, where the narrator believes she has freed a woman trapped behind the wallpaper, leaves the reader questioning whether she has achieved liberation or succumbed entirely to madness.

Writing Style in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

  • Introspective Narrative Voice:
  • Example: “I am sitting here at the window now, up in this atrocious nursery, and there is nothing to hinder my writing as much as I please, save lack of strength.”
  • Fragmented Prose Reflecting Mental State:
  • Example: “The front pattern does move, and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it!”
  • Vivid and Descriptive Language:
  • Example: “The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight.”
  • Symbolism and Allegory:
  • Example: The wallpaper itself symbolizes the oppressive societal constraints placed upon women during the 19th century, while the protagonist’s obsession with it serves as an allegory for her own mental imprisonment.
  • Exploration of Gender Roles:
  • Example: The protagonist’s confinement to the nursery and her husband’s dismissal of her desires to write reflect the restrictive gender roles of the time, highlighting the lack of autonomy afforded to women.
  • Representation of Mental Illness:
  • Example: The protagonist’s gradual descent into psychosis, as evidenced by her fixation on the wallpaper and eventual hallucinations, provides a poignant portrayal of mental illness and its impact on individuals.
  • Engagement with Themes of Autonomy:
  • Example: The protagonist’s struggle to assert her own agency and autonomy in the face of her husband’s control and societal expectations underscores the theme of personal liberation.

Literary Theories and Interpretation of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Topics, questions, and thesis statements about “the yellow wallpaper” by charlotte perkins gilman, short questions/answers about/on “the yellow wallpaper” by charlotte perkins gilman.

  • Who is the real prisoner in the story, and why?
  • While the narrator is physically confined to the upstairs room, the story argues that John, her husband, is the one truly imprisoned. John clings to outdated medical practices and societal expectations, limiting his own intellectual and emotional growth. The narrator, on the other hand, embraces a more fluid and imaginative reality at the story’s end, even if it appears to be madness.
  • (Reference: John enforces the “rest cure” despite the narrator’s objections. The narrator, by the end, seems to find a strange liberation in her delusion.)
  • Does the yellow wallpaper actually have a hidden pattern, or is it a figment of the narrator’s imagination?
  • The story cleverly leaves this ambiguous. The narrator initially describes the wallpaper as having a “tortuous effect on the eye” but later becomes fixated on a hidden pattern that seems to creep and crawl. John dismisses it as her imagination. The lack of a definitive answer allows the reader to explore themes of perception, sanity, and the limitations of relying solely on a patriarchal viewpoint.
  • (Reference: The narrator describes the wallpaper as “un-patterned” but later becomes convinced of a hidden pattern.)
  • Is the ending a victory or a descent into madness?
  • The narrator’s triumphant declaration of finally freeing a woman trapped behind the wallpaper can be interpreted in two ways. On one hand, it suggests a complete break from reality. However, it can also be seen as a symbolic victory. The narrator, by embracing her unconventional perspective, finds a way to challenge the oppressive forces represented by the yellow wallpaper and John’s controlling behavior.
  • (Reference: The ending has the narrator creeping around the room, believing she has freed a woman trapped behind the wallpaper.)

Literary Works Similar to “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

  • “ The Tell-Tale Heart ” by Edgar Allan Poe – Like “The Yellow Wallpaper,” this short story delves into the psyche of its unreliable narrator, exploring themes of madness and obsession.
  • “ The Lottery ” by Shirley Jackson – While not directly addressing mental health, “The Lottery” similarly examines the oppressive nature of societal norms and the consequences of blindly adhering to tradition.
  • “ The Metamorphosis ” by Franz Kafka – This novella, like “The Yellow Wallpaper,” explores themes of alienation and the individual’s struggle against oppressive forces, albeit through a different lens of existentialism.
  • “ A Rose for Emily ” by William Faulkner – Faulkner’s story, much like Gilman’s, delves into the psychological complexities of its protagonist, exploring themes of isolation, decay, and the impact of societal expectations.
  • “ The Birthmark ” by Nathaniel Hawthorne – This short story, while focusing more on science and the pursuit of perfection, shares themes of obsession and the consequences of trying to control nature, similar to the themes found in “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

Suggested Readings about/on “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

  • Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings. Edited by Catherine Golden, Broadview Press, 2007.
  • Showalter, Elaine. The Yellow Wallpaper : Women, Madness, and the Gothic. Cornell University Press, 1981.
  • Herndl, Diane Price. “The Writing Cure: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Anna O., and ‘Hysterical’ Writing.” NWSA Journal , vol. 1, no. 1, 1988, pp. 52–74. JSTOR , http://www.jstor.org/stable/4315866. Accessed 1 May 2024.
  • Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper . The Victorian Web . [electronic text] https://crea.ujaen.es/bitstream/10953.1/10476/1/Garca_Jaenes_Mara_Jos_TFG_Estudios_Ingleses.pdf

Representative Quotations from “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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literary analysis essay of the yellow wallpaper

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Literary Analysis: The Yellow Wall-Paper Affects Us All

By Sara Barkat 1 Comment

The Yellow Wallpaper Flower

The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a horror story, a feminist text, a study of the relationship between author and character and writing itself—in a tale where the main character is a writer , creating the story the reader is reading, and where Gilman herself created the work based on her own experiences. It is deceptively simple in its execution, but it is complex for all that.

To begin, it may be alluring to imagine that the wall-paper, so hideous in its power, can be clearly delineated: that it is always in opposition to the narrator, always aligned with her antagonist, that there is an easy way to place blame, but the story purposefully defies this imagining.

The wall-paper, the narrator reminds us, “only interests me, but I feel sure John and Jennie are secretly affected by it,” referring to the three characters central to the text, and which the events of the story revolve around: the narrator, her husband, and her husband’s sister. Perhaps the reader might be interested in the idea that the narrator, who ultimately proves herself unreliable, can be discounted altogether—perhaps the reader might find the theory that she was always in a mental institution an attractive one. Yet the very structure of the story itself must , in fact, disprove that.

The unnamed narrator’s existence in the story is so carefully controlled. When the tale begins, she has been brought by her husband to a rented house where the three will stay the summer (along with the main character’s newborn baby and whomever is caring for the child), so the main character can recover from her nervous breakdown. She’s directed to take air and exercise and tonics, at her husband (also her doctor’s) bequest, and implored to get well for his sake, instead of for hers. She’s forced to lie down for an hour after each meal, in the room she never wanted to choose anyway, staring at the paper she hates, and not allowed her vocation of writing.

It’s easy, knowing the circumstances, to vilify her husband and see the narrator as the injured party, to empathize and root for her. The conversations the two have throughout the book add to that as well; as the narrator gets worse from the rest cure that’s meant to make her better, she tries multiple times to tell her husband that it isn’t working, and to plead for him to allow her friends over, or to go somewhere else, but everything he’s saying is so carefully calculated in order to dismiss everything she’s trying to get him to understand. Here the narrator shows that her voice is being dismissed. If that were the only facet to the story, however, it would not have the complexity and lasting power that it does.

Because, of course, the unnamed narrator is the narrator . The whole conceit of the story is that you, the reader, are reading what she has written, furtively, (slyly, the narrator herself will put it) though others don’t want her to write. The end power of how to frame the story belongs with the narrator, and thus any narrative tricks used must be understood as self-aware, purposefully crafted by the character in the story—so that even craft itself becomes plot.

The main character is not named. The only named characters are her husband John, and Jennie, his sister. Then there’s Mary: “It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby,” the narrator thinks early on, but this mysterious personage (perhaps a nanny?) is never mentioned again. Then, at the end, the narrator says to John that she’s gotten out of the wall-paper “in spite of you and Jane?” You as the reader may think “Jane” is meant to refer to Jennie; after all, the names start with the same letter—and we know Jennie as a player in the story, while there has been no Jane at all up till now.

This is the moment of the main character’s greatest break or disconnect from reality—and yet in remembering that she is in fact the narrator still, it brings a level of artifice. It reminds you that within the story this is all something the character is writing down: and near the end, where she’s totally of it, you still have to believe that she’s writing this down. It adds self-awareness to the ending, that I am writing this story and I made a mistake—or did I? It’s a textual way of showing how out of it she is, but it’s so precisely done that it almost does the opposite at the same time. It’s no accident that it appears in her last speech. There’s a calculated element in its appearance there. The question mark after it talks straight to the reader— it’s not Jane, you know it’s not Jane, right?

This is preceded by a much more coherent, at least in its narrative elements, passage where she thinks about the fact that soon John will be in the room. She is now alone, thinking to herself, but soon she will have a viewer, another actor in the play, another person to account to. And she thinks of John, “I want to astonish him.”

All through the story nothing she’s tried to tell him has gotten through. Nothing she’s done has ever managed to gain his extended interest, let alone his astonishment. She starts the narrative relieved that he says her case isn’t serious, but is also frustrated that he doesn’t believe she’s sick. (“Bless her little heart!” he says once, “she shall be as sick as she pleases!”) And her husband is constantly leaving her side to go tend to more serious cases—sometimes even overnight. She feels terrible at the way she’s being treated, yet constantly reminds the reader, and herself, that John loves her and is not trying to be malicious. Yet at some point that ceases to hold weight against the very fact of her own lived experience, which she is unable to verbally convey to him.

When she later writes out her thoughts and explains how she tried to talk to him, she says, “and I did not make a out very good case for myself, for I was crying before I had finished.” Her very frustration at being ignored is becoming another tool used to discredit her, and her feelings of overwhelm are minimized. He says he will whitewash the basement for her, but she is not living in the basement, she is living, mostly alone, in the room with the horrible wall-paper, which notably John does not have to stay and interact with as much. He has more relief from it, in that he can choose whether to be there, to stay out late, to avoid it. Symbolically, if the wall-paper is society, that “only interests [the main character] … but… John and Jennie are secretly affected by it,” you can see how he is dealing with his part in it—by pretending that the wall-paper can have no real affect: on her, or on him, or anyone. It’s a real blinding, purposefully, to himself. Interestingly, the main character points the way regarding this issue; when the wallpaper strangles the women, it “makes their eyes white,” or blinds them, as well.

Why Jane ? It’s literally erasing Jennie as a character—purposefully referring to her by the wrong name. And at the hands of our suffering hero, no less?

Consider this: why did the main character never pay attention to Jennie? They might have been able to support each other, but for various reasons, and partially because the main character was dismissive of Jennie, which you see in her description of her—so dismissive because Jennie is happy to be a housewife, “and hopes for no better profession”—they never were able to do that for each other. She thinks that Jennie believes it’s the writing that’s making her sick—that is, if she just conformed, and acted the right way, there would be no problem. Thus, she dismisses her out of hand as a source of help or solidarity. She never saw the woman as another person whose interior life might be worth encountering, and so, in effect, treats Jennie the same way John treats her.

Interestingly there is that moment very late on in the story where Jennie sees the paper half pulled off and “looked at the wall in amazement.” (Here, she is astonished by the main character as John isn’t until the end, but her reaction, and the entire interaction, is a positive one.) The main character tells her she pulled it down “out of pure spite at the vicious thing” and Jennie laughs and says she “wouldn’t mind doing it herself,” but that the main character “must not get tired.” This is interpreted by the now incredibly paranoid main character as a false statement, but consider, if it were true, both the plot ramifications, and the symbolic ramifications. It implies that though Jennie, it seems, would not have thought to start attacking the paper she would have happily done so if given the chance: but she never was.

Thus all characters are isolated from each other.

In the climactic scene, the main character locks herself into the room and throws the key down by the front steps, under a plantain leaf. When John tries to get in, he can’t, and the narrator tells the reader how she told him where the key was, and said it “so often that he had to go and see.” In the end she has forced him to listen to her, forced him to step through her own shoes of being directed in his movements by another, and in the end, yes, she manages to astonish him. Yet for what? She has not gained any real triumph. She still has to “creep over him every time!” As for him, he ends the story insensible—no longer able to speak, or stop her from speaking, but still, and more fully, blinded than ever before—the truth, it seems, was too much for him.

You, the reader, must know that the unreliability is part of the artifice of the story, but to throw out everything she is experiencing and conveying, even if it’s in coded, symbolic language, is to do the same to her as John did when she tried to explain herself: to add a completely other interpretation that wipes out everything about her own experience. This is why the theory that she was always in a mental institution—a cop-out as a writing device anyway, second only to “it was all a dream”—becomes really frightening, for it places you the reader in the position of antagonist toward the text. The whole problem is people aren’t taking the main character seriously. As an interpretation, that theory does her a disservice by saying that she was entirely wrong from the beginning of the entire sequence of events.

Maybe this summerhouse was a specific choice by her husband, and that room was a space that had previously housed a mental patient in its wall-papered confines, and he’s trying to frame it as something different. That could be plausible, but what is not plausible is to take small instances of the narrator’s unreliability that purposefully increase in unreliability throughout the text, and say she was in an institution the whole time. To do so throws out the text of the story itself, the narrative momentum of the story, and everything in it—and you are left with no story at all, only an excuse to disregard it, and any truth it has. (The text, you might say—the narrator’s literal, explicitly-written account of herself—had become hysterical—was crying before it had finished—so of course it could not have been making true observations on any matter, at any time whatsoever.)

The text itself rails against you for doing that very thing. You must believe the power of the main character’s experience or you are not actually reading the story at all, you are over-telling it with your own narrative, one that minimizes the “imaginative power and … story-making” of her narration out of fear of it.

Perhaps that is the true horror of the story of the yellow wall-paper. It would be so much more palatable if the blame could be pinned down: to John, for disregarding the main character; to Jennie, for helping him, to the main character herself, for being tricksy and unreliable and mad the whole time. But none of those simple answers are possible: the wall-paper, yellow and sinister and changing, affects not just one of the characters, but all of them: and, as the reader may well discover, all of us, too.

How to Do Literary Analysis: An Experimental Reflection Based on The Yellow Wall-Paper

The Yellow Wallpaper Characters List

The Yellow Wallpaper Summary

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I like my tea black (with a special love for Indian chai) and my novels long (give me sci-fi, fantasy, or 19th century to make me especially happy!)—though I’m always exploring beyond my known universe and will drink greens, reds, and oolongs, and read almost any genre or style that crosses my table. Speaking of the universe, I have a passion for learning about anything from black holes to the mysteries of time. When I’m not sitting by the window, sharing the sun with our little lemon tree, I can be found making lemon cupcakes and other confections, creating art (pen and ink, intaglio, and Prismacolors, please) or moving through the world on the toes of ballet or jazz dance.

Will Willingham says

February 29, 2020 at 10:07 am

Well, and see, this is why we need people like you around us. 🙂 I get caught up in one part of the story and missed altogether that Jennie had been misnamed in that critical moment…

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Critique of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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A critique of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” would delve into the psychological depth and feminist themes of this seminal short story. Here’s how such a critique might be structured and articulated:

Title and Author: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Overview: Published in 1892, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a first-person narrative that details the descent into madness of a woman suffering from what is now recognized as postpartum depression. The narrator is prescribed the “rest cure,” a common treatment in the late 19th century, which required complete rest and isolation from intellectual activities. The story unfolds through her journal entries, which describe her confinement in a room with yellow wallpaper that she grows increasingly obsessed with.

Themes: The primary theme of “The Yellow Wallpaper” is the oppressive impact of patriarchal control over women’s bodies and minds, particularly in the realm of health care and mental health. The story critiques the medical and societal dismissal of women’s experiences and the severe consequences of such disregard. It also explores themes of identity, freedom, and the thin line between sanity and madness.

Characters: The protagonist, whose name is revealed as Jane only at the story’s end, is both the narrator and central focus. Her gradual loss of sanity is intricately portrayed, making the reader privy to her innermost thoughts and fears. John, her husband and physician, embodies the paternalistic attitudes prevalent at the time. His dismissive and controlling behavior represents the broader societal norms that restrict women’s autonomy.

Setting: The setting in a secluded country home symbolizes the isolation and confinement imposed on the narrator. The room with the yellow wallpaper becomes a character in its own right, representing both a prison and a canvas for the narrator’s projections of her inner turmoil.

Symbolism: The yellow wallpaper itself is the most potent symbol in the story. It represents the domestic life that traps many women, its intricate and confusing patterns mirroring the complex and often contradictory expectations imposed on women’s behavior. The woman that the narrator believes she sees trapped behind the wallpaper symbolizes her own trapped state, both mentally and physically.

Writing Style: Gilman’s use of vivid, symbolic imagery and a haunting, introspective narrative style effectively conveys the deterioration of the narrator’s mental health. The journal entry format serves as a powerful literary device, allowing readers intimate access to the narrator’s psyche and emphasizing the personal nature of her experiences.

Impact and Reception: “The Yellow Wallpaper” was a landmark in the early feminist movement, highlighting the detrimental effects of the lack of agency women had over their lives and bodies. It has since been analyzed as a powerful critique of the medical community and a poignant psychological horror story.

Criticism: Some contemporary critics argue that the focus on the psychological aspects overshadows the feminist themes. Others believe that the story’s ambiguous conclusion can be frustratingly open-ended, leaving readers uncertain about the narrative’s reality.

Conclusion: “The Yellow Wallpaper” remains a crucial work in feminist literature, praised for its insightful depiction of the intersection of gender and mental health. Gilman’s story continues to be relevant today, as it encourages scrutiny of gender roles and the treatment of mental health issues.

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62 Essay Topics on The Yellow Wallpaper

literary analysis essay of the yellow wallpaper

Welcome to The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics page prepared by our editorial team! Here you will find an extensive list of essay ideas on the short story! Literary analysis, themes, comparison, characters, & more. Get inspired to write your own essay!

  • 🔬 Literary Analysis
  • 🎭 Character Analysis
  • 📊 Compare & Contrast
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🎓 References

🔬 the yellow wallpaper: literary analysis essay topics.

  • Irony and imagery in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • Symbolism in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
  • The Significance of First-Person Narration in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • The Window as a Symbol of the Yellow Wallpaper
  • Color Symbolism in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper: Point of View
  • Would The Yellow Wallpaper Be Different If Told from John’s Point of View?
  • What are the Meanings behind the Color of the Wallpaper?
  • Imagery and Allegory in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • The Yellow Wallpaper: Themes & Symbols
  • What Are the Examples of Irony in The Yellow Wallpaper?
  • Gothic Elements in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • The Yellow Wallpaper: Metaphor Analysis
  • Setting Symbolism of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
  • What is the Style of The Yellow Wallpaper?
  • What Instruments Does the Author Use to Create an Atmosphere of Suspense & Horror in The Yellow Wallpaper?
  • What Does the Mysterious Figure Symbolize in The Yellow Wallpaper?
  • Why Does the Description of the Wallpaper Change over Time?

🎭 The Yellow Wallpaper: Character Analysis Essay Topics

  • What is The Narrator’s Inner Conflict in The Yellow Wallpaper?
  • Is John the Villain in The Yellow Wallpaper? Why or Why Not?
  • Who is to Blame for the Narrator’s Descent into Madness? Why?
  • What is the Significance of the Minor Female Characters in The Yellow Wallpaper?
  • What Happens to the Narrator after the Story Ends?
  • Who is the Protagonist in The Yellow Wallpaper?
  • John in The Yellow Wallpaper: Character Analysis
  • Why Does the Narrator Remain Unnamed in the Story? What Does This Symbolize?
  • What Is the Connection between the Narrator & the Woman behind the Wallpaper?
  • How Does John Treat His Wife in The Yellow Wallpaper?
  • Is the Narrator Reliable in The Yellow Wallpaper?
  • Why Does John Faint at the End of The Yellow Wallpaper?
  • Jane’s Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper
  • What Does the Woman behind the Wallpaper Represent in The Yellow Wallpaper?

🌻 The Yellow Wallpaper: Themes Essay Topics

  • The Yellow Wallpaper: Insanity as a Theme
  • Postpartum Depression in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
  • The Yellow Wallpaper: Women & Mental Illness
  • Depression due to Repression in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • The Yellow Wallpaper: Feminist Critique
  • The Yellow Wallpaper: Perception Vs. Reality
  • Freedom of Expression in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • The Yellow Wallpaper: The Three Stages Towards Feminine Freedom
  • The Yellow Wallpaper as a Feminist Story
  • Creativity Vs. Madness in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • Marriage & Family as a Theme in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • Loneliness in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • How Does The Yellow Wallpaper Present the Conflict between Rationality & Creativity?
  • Feminist Theory in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • Does The Yellow Wallpaper Have a Happy or Sad Ending? Explain Your Answer
  • Marriage in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • Feminist Criticism in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper
  • Main Questions In The Yellow Wallpaper: Analysis Essay
  • Social Surroundings and Interactions in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • In What Ways Does the Wallpaper Embody the Theme of the Story?

⌛ Essay Topics on The Yellow Wallpaper’s Context

  • The Historical Context In Charlotte Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper
  • Victorian Gender Roles in The Yellow Wallpaper
  • The Yellow Wallpaper as an Autobiography
  • Describe the Time Period when The Yellow Wallpaper Was Written
  • What Was Gilman’s Intention When She Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper?

📊 The Yellow Wallpaper: Compare & Contrast Essay Topics

  • Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart & Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper: Mood Comparison
  • Solitude as a Theme in The Yellow Wallpaper & A Rose for Emily
  • Gender Roles in The Yellow Wallpaper & Trifles
  • The Need for Change in Ragged Dick and The Yellow Wallpaper
  • The Yellow Wallpaper & A Rose for Emily
  • Past Essay Topics – University of Warwick
  • CS Topic Generator – Purdue Computer Science
  • Literature Topics and Research // Purdue Writing Lab
  • What are the top research topics in literature? – Quora
  • Suggested research topics | English at Leicester
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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — The Yellow Wallpaper — Psychoanalytical Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper

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Psychoanalytical Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper

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Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 744 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Works Cited 

  • Gilman, Charlotte P. 'The Yellow Wallpaper.' The Norton Anthology of English Literature , edited by Robert S. Levine, ninth Edition, vol. Volume C: 1865-1914, W.W. Norton & Company, 2017, p. 844-855 
  • Gul, Sani. PSYCHOANALYTICAL READING OF THE YELLOW WALLPAPER , University of Swabi, Nov. 2013, www.vfast.org/journals/index.php/VTESS/article/view/133/167.

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literary analysis essay of the yellow wallpaper

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  1. A Summary and Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow

    The literary critic Ruth Robbins has made the argument that the past tense (or 'perfect tense') is unsuited to some modes of fiction because it offers the 'perspective that leads to judgment': because events have already occurred, we feel in a position to judge the characters involved. ... In the last analysis, 'The Yellow Wallpaper ...

  2. Literary Analysis of "The Yellow Wallpaper", Essay Example

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a seemingly personal account of female oppression during the 19 th century. At that time in history women were commonly seen as possessions or property, rather than an equal partner to their spouse. The story details the narrator's journey as she explains many details about the ...

  3. Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wall-Paper

    Categories: Literature, Short Story. First published in New England Magazine in January 1892, and reprinted by Small, Maynard and Company as a chapbook (1899), "The Yellow Wall-Paper" is Charlotte Perkins Gilman's most famous work. Depicting the nervous breakdown of a young wife and mother, the story is a potent example of psychological ...

  4. The Yellow Wallpaper: Essay Examples

    Here you'll find a heap of excellent ideas for The Yellow Wallpaper essay. Absolutely free research paper and essay samples on The Great Gatsby are collected here, on one page. We will write a custom essay specifically. for you for only 11.00 9.35/page. 808 certified writers online.

  5. Literary Analysis: The Yellow Wallpaper

    Literary Analysis: The Yellow Wallpaper. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a captivating and thought-provoking short story that delves into the complexities of mental illness, gender inequality, and societal expectations. Written in the late 19th century, the story remains relevant today and continues to spark discussions ...

  6. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: an analysis

    This analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892) highlights a long short story (or short novella) considered a feminist literary classic. This story starts with a mystery: the house seems to have "something queer about it." As we read on, it becomes clear that the house is not the only thing strange about this story.

  7. Analysis of 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by C. Perkins Gilman

    Catherine Sustana. Updated on March 29, 2020. Like Kate Chopin's " The Story of an Hour ," Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a mainstay of feminist literary study. First published in 1892, the story takes the form of secret journal entries written by a woman who is supposed to be recovering from what her husband, a physician ...

  8. The Yellow Wallpaper Study Guide

    Full Title: The Yellow Wallpaper When Written: June, 1890 Where Written: California When Published: May, 1892 Literary Period: Gothic Genre: Short story; Gothic horror; Feminist literature Setting: Late nineteenth century, in a colonial mansion that has been rented for the summer. Most of the story's action takes place in a room at the top of the house that is referred to as the "nursery."

  9. The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

    The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis. In "The Yellow Wallpaper," which was first published in 1892, Gilman extends the rigid gender roles of the time period to create an uncanny horror story of ...

  10. Literary Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte ...

    Overall, this essay demonstrates a clear understanding of the themes and literary devices used in "The Yellow Wallpaper". The essay is well-organized, with each paragraph discussing a different aspect of the story, and the writer's voice is clear and articulate. ... Literary Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gillman. [online ...

  11. Understanding The Yellow Wallpaper: Summary and Analysis

    The Yellow Wallpaper Summary. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is one of the defining works of feminist literature. Writing about a woman's health, mental or physical, was considered a radical act at the time that Perkins Gilman wrote this short story. Writing at all about the lives of women was considered at best, frivolous, and at worst dangerous.

  12. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A Critical Analysis

    "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in 1892 in the New England Magazine, was later included in a collection of Gilman's works called In This Our World in 1893. The story features a narrator who is struggling with what her husband believes is a nervous disorder, and he has taken her to a rented summer home where she is forbidden from working or stimulating ...

  13. The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis

    "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a haunting short story that effectively uses foreshadowing to build tension and create a sense of dread. Foreshadowing is a literary device that hints at what will happen later in the story, and "The Yellow Wallpaper" is rich with examples of foreshadowing that contribute to the story's ...

  14. The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis: It Affects Us All

    Literary Analysis: The Yellow Wall-Paper Affects Us All. By Sara Barkat 1 Comment. The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis. The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a horror story, a feminist text, a study of the relationship between author and character and writing itself—in a tale where the main character is a writer, creating the story ...

  15. Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper': Point of View Essay

    The wallpaper is "ripped," "soiled," "unclean yellow," "revolting," and "formless sort of figures.". These descriptions of the wallpaper are symbolic of the shapeless and suffocating life that the Narrator leads. It symbolizes a filled with life with harsh memories. "Soiled" symbolizes the burial act, thus representing ...

  16. The Yellow Wallpaper Essay

    The Yellow Wallpaper Informative Essay 🧐. Inform and educate your readers with these informative essay topics: 1. The historical context of women's mental health treatment in the 19th century; 2. The life and influences of Charlotte Perkins Gilman; 3. Psychological analysis of the protagonist's descent into madness; The Yellow Wallpaper ...

  17. Critique of "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    Published in 1892, "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a first-person narrative that details the descent into madness of a woman suffering from what is now recognized as postpartum depression. The narrator is prescribed the "rest cure," a common treatment in the late 19th century, which required complete rest and isolation from intellectual ...

  18. The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis Essay by EduBirdie

    This paper aims to identify and analyze those symbolisms prominent in "The Yellow Wallpaper" which represent the struggles of the oppression of females in the 19th century. "The Yellow Wallpaper" manages to represent the patriarchal society, specifically that of the 19th century in America, and is thus often read as feminist literature.

  19. The Yellow Wallpaper: Essay Topics, Questions, & Ideas

    685. Welcome to The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics page prepared by our editorial team! Here you will find an extensive list of essay ideas on the short story! Literary analysis, themes, comparison, characters, & more. Get inspired to write your own essay! We will write a custom essay specifically. for you for only 11.00 9.35/page.

  20. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Evolution of Community Thought: From The

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a prominent American novelist and feminist, well-known for her works The Yellow Wallpaper and Herland, which have drawn considerable attention from scholars at home and abroad and aroused wide discussion since their publication. In most cases, the former was regarded as a classic of gender politics and the latter, a feminist utopia. Through the detailed analysis of ...

  21. The Yellow Wallpaper: a Literary Exploration of Mental Health

    In that last line, the narrator states that she had to "had to creep over her husband every time" she went around the room. The use of the word "creep" is reminiscent of how the narrator described the woman in the wallpaper, and now that she has finished "freeing" her, the narrator has a moment of self-identification between herself and the women in the wallpaper.

  22. Psychoanalytical Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper

    The Yellow Wallpaper seamlessly depicts the concepts of the Id, Ego, and the Lacanian psychosis.The narrator's constant focus on writing and the yellow wallpaper portrays the exposure and taking over of her Id. It is evident that there is a disturbance "in the unconscious of the narrator. The id has been ruthlessly repressed; still, it is ...