Name:
Date:
“The Yellow Wallpaper”
Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the mansion the couple is staying in. What is its history? What is
the narrator’s initial feeling about the house?
2. What does John diagnose his wife with? Why does the narrator say his
profession is "perhaps… one reason I do not get well faster”? What do
you think she is really suffering from? Is her “treatment” working?
3. What clue does the narrator's repeated lament, "What can one do?" give
us about her personality? What conflicting emotions is she having toward
her husband, her condition, and the mansion?
4. How does the narrator initially describe and react to the wallpaper? How
does her description of the wallpaper change?
5. By the Fourth of July, what does the narrator admit about the wallpaper?
What clues does Gilman give about the narrator's state?
6. How does the narrator try to reach out to her husband? Is this her last
contact with sanity? Do you think John has any comprehension of the
seriousness of her illness?
7. By the final section of the story, what is the narrator's relationship to her
husband? To Jennie? To the wallpaper?
8. What is the central irony of the story?
9. The yellow wallpaper is a very important symbol throughout the story.
What does it represent at the beginning of the story? What does it
represent at the end?
Name:
Date:
“The Yellow Wallpaper” Quiz
1) What is the narrator been diagnosed with?
2) What is John’s profession?
3) What is the narrator forbidden to do?
4) How does John react to his wife’s concerns about the wallpaper?
5) What does the narrator think is trying to get out of the wallpaper?
Name:
Date:
“The Yellow Wallpaper” Quiz
1) What is the narrator been diagnosed with?
2) What is John’s profession?
3) What is the narrator forbidden to do?
4) How does John react to his wife’s concerns about the wallpaper?
5) What does the narrator think is trying to get out of the wallpaper?