“The Yellow Wallpaper” Study Guide Name: Amy Do The narrator of “the Yellow Wallpaper” undergoes profound changes from the beginning of the story to the end. How does she change and how are the changes revealed in relation to her response to the wallpaper? At the beginning of the story, the narrator shows little sign of being “sick” with nervousness. She is capable of expressing her ideas coherently and does not seem too agitated. However, as the story progresses, the narrator becomes more and more insane and begins to see shapes and figures out of the wallpaper. As she sees more within the wallpaper, her mental conditions until towards the end she completely rips off the wallpaper and completely loses her sanity. This ultimately shows how her obsession with the wallpaper was the only thing that kept her occupied in her confinement and once it is off completely she is gone completely as well. The narrator describes the room as having been a nursery for small children. How is this room thematically relevant and how does it help communicate the author's intentions? The room is thematically relevant because it connects to the idea that John treats the narrator like she is a child. The author intends to show how men believe they are superior to women and that it is their duty to make decisions in the household even for their wives. As a result, their wives cannot do anything all day besides sitting around and eating, and thus, they are a child. Thus, the author has the room be a nursery because it shows how men baby women and drive them to insanity. The story is narrated in staccato style sentences and uses diction both for denotation (descriptive) and connotation (symbolic or figurative). It is also written in an epistolary or journal type style. Discuss the effects of these stylistic elements on the story and its themes. The stylistic elements are an excellent choice in the story because it adds to the idea that women do not have extensive knowledge and writing skills since their only objective is to manage the household instead of forming thoughts and expressing themselves. Thus, the elements create a style where it is as if a child is writing or in our case, a very mentally ill woman. The story has intense feminist undertones. What is the story trying to say about the power dynamic between men and women in this time period? Be sure to consider the narrator’s use of verbal irony to make your points. Use specific evidence from the text to support your response. The story is trying to explain that men and women are unequal. Men are considered superior and women must obey what men tell them despite women knowing much more for themselves. For instance, in the story, the narrator feels completely confined in her house and has no way of socializing with others besides her husband. Yet, when she wishes to write, he denies her the ability to do so because resting should be her priority; nevertheless, the narrator has to hide the fact that she is journaling even though it is “such a relief… [to] say what [she] feel[s] and think[s]” because she knows “John would think it absurd” (Gilman 6). John has control even on her freedom to write and express herself. The narrator’s husband, John, maintains his composure and single mindedness for nearly the whole story. Characterize his change at the end. How does his fainting add another level of subversion to the early feminist story? At the end of the story, John completely acts out of character, because upon seeing his wife’s madness, he faints. As fainting is usually a feminine act and a show of weakness, by having John faint, the author shows a feminine weakness in John and man. Thus, as the narrator finally achieves her freedom and liberation, John turns into a woman. Originally people believed the story to be just a classic Gothic tale. Discuss the elements of the Gothic present in the story and how they function to create the mystery and suspense that drive the narrative. How do they also further the feminist agenda of the tale? THe gothic elements include the gothic setting which is the ancestral estate. Also, the narrator is nameless and like other gothic literature, is powerless to her predicament. As the narrator becomes more obsessed with the wallpaper, she sees more gothic images from it such as a woman stooping down behind the pattern and bars that symbolize prison and confinement. Furthermore, confined in her room, the room becomes a haunted space personally to the protagonist as she sees all these images coming from the wallpaper. This furthers the feminist agenda of the tale because it shows the unfortunate state of a woman’s mind when they are confined by their marriage and not allowed to do anything that they wish to do. Last year you read “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. It was written in the same time period and for a similar purpose. Compare the two tales. In Chopin’s “Story of an Hour,” a woman finally experiences freedom and liberation once her husband is dead, but because she now has to live alone without guidance from a man who has been controlling her all her life, she is stressed and dies. Only in death is she completely liberated. The story is similar to the Yellow Wallpaper because John completely controls the narrator’s life and makes little of her mental health. Thus, the two stories correlate because of the dominance of male over female and how much of their life is not in their control but only through death or mental insanity can they achieve that liberation. “Conformity and Rebellion” is the theme for this unit. How does this story exemplify this theme and what is the point of placing it in this unit? This story exemplifies the theme, because it shows that although conformity is needed in order for a society to function, there are cases where rebellion is the only answer. In the story, the woman is driven to insanity as she is locked inside of her house without any social interactions and barred from escaping from the orders of her husband. The husband, although loving, finds her troubles as nothing and thus neglects her mental health. As she is locked up, she tries to find something to do and the only answer is to obsess over the wallpaper and patterns since her mental images are the only things she can control in her life. Ultimately, the woman is driven to insanity because of her discontentment with her marriage and inability to take the reins of her life. Thus, in the case of women fighting for equality, rebellion is necessary in order to ensure women receive the same quality of life as men instead of sulking and turning insane.
