Illustrations Courtesy of Cornell University Library,
Making of America Digital Collection
Gilman, Charlotte. "The Yellow Wallpaper"

1. "Then she said that the paper stained everything it touched, that she had found yellow smooches on all my clothes and John's and she wished we would be more careful!

"a long, straight, even SMOOCH"

What is a "smooch?" Isn't a "smooch" a kiss?

Why would John have yellow stains on HIS clothes?

What are the implications of this passage?

2. "Life is very much more exciting now that it used to be. You see I have something more to expect, to look forward to, to watch."

What would you say is happening here? What has brought about this change in the Narrator, and what is it she looks forward to? What does this mean for her life with her real family?

3. "and [John} said I seemed to be flourishing in spite of my wall-paper."

Apparently she has told John about the wallpaper, should that not have caused alarm in him? Here is where we might enter the Ethical Fiction area, where circumstances are brought up that seem to require a response but there is none, nor is any given by the author, what would be a normal response by a husband to a wife who thinks the wallpaper is oppressive?

What does it mean that she keeps secret from him the fact that she thinks it's BECAUSE of the wallpaper she has gotten better?

4. "I don't want to leave now until I have found it out."

This is in direct contrast to Page 7's "I wish John would take me away from here!" with which Gilman ends one of her sections. What has happened between Page 7 and Page 9 which could have caused this change?

What is the it she needs to find out?

5. "I find it hovering in the dining-room, skulking in the parlor, hiding in the hall, lying in wait for me on the stairs."

The wallpaper has become animate with the use of all of these examples of personification, and the wallpaper takes on the guise of another character, more alive to Narrator than her own family. Is it clear what relationship this new character will have to the author? Who or what is the real antagonist in this piece?

6. Page 10 has three divisions put there by the author in the form of ***, each one ends with a startling sentence:

Division One: "Round and round and round-round and round and round—it makes me dizzy"

Division Two: "If those heads were covered or taken off it would not be half so bad"

Division Three: "I have watched her sometimes away off in the open country, creeping as fast as cloud shadow in the high wind."

What is "creeping?" What does the author mean by "creeping?"

Is Narrator happy or sad that the woman has gotten out?

What does the revelation by Narrator that SHE is also creeping to do her veracity as narrator?

What can it mean that the woman is outside and hiding her creeping but may be seen from any window?

What seems to be the Narrator's feeling toward the woman/ or women? Does the Narrator seem to identify with her/their desire to get OUT?

7. Why is there a sudden smell and what might it be? Sulfur?

What is the smell of sulfur usually connected with?

8. "I have found out another funny thing, but I shan't tell it this time! It does not do to trust people too much."

What "people" is the Narrator referring to?

Narrator indicates that she no longer trusts the reader of the journal (and, by extension, the reader). What implications does this have for the story and what element does it add to the issue of communication running throughout the entire story?

9. Do you see a turning point in these two pages? If so what line or lines indicate the turning point for you?

A climax is the point to which all the action in the piece builds up and from which everything changes irrevocably, have you seen a turning point yet, and if so, what is it and why?

10. Why are there no men creeping behind the wallpaper, only women? (Phyll)

11. Was John so confident of his method of treatment that it has taken him until too late to realize that it isn't working?

Or is he gauging how well it is working?

Is he concerned for her mental health or smugly satisfied? (Phyll)

12. "On a pattern like this, by daylight, there is a lack of sequence, a defiance of law, that is a constant irritant to a normal mind. "

What law is Narrator referring to here? (Barbara)

13. Since she won't let anyone else see what she's writing, what audience does she have but herself?

Is she trying to keep secrets from herself in her madness?

What's Gilman talking about here?

She was a published author when she wrote this story.

Is there anything here that says the narrator was? Did Gilman put too much of herself into her character? (Malryn)