The Yellow Wallpaper

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman




Themes to Watch Develop

  • Her illness
  • John's role: helping or hindering
  • Societal commentary
  • The Yellow Wallpaper itself
  • The medical treatment of mental disease
  • The writing
  • The infanticizing of the Narrator
  • A cry for justification
  • Imagery and symbolism
  • Changing perspectives of the Narrator
  •     what triggers them
  •     what they mean
  •     when they occur
  • Ethical issues raised
  • POV: The Narrator's Voice Versus Reality?
  • Male Power and Marriage