Characters
What is the name of the main character who is dissatisfied with how society expects a woman to act?
The Narrator (Jane)
How does the story's theme of women becoming inferior in a marriage apply?
The narrator of the story goes to John to talk about how she is feeling, showing how the wife becomes dependent on her husband for assistance. John always dismisses the Narrator, despite the Narrator begging him to listen, which also shows how much control the husband has over the wife.
Whenever the Narrator tells John how she is feeling, John always dismisses her concerns and tells her. How does this suggest that women were confined to social roles?
Since John is easily able to dismiss what the narrator said throughout the story and how the narrator did nothing but obey shows how society expected a woman to obey her husband.
What period is this story taking place?
The late 19th century
True or False: After the falling actions of the story, the conflict is resolved in the conclusion by how John finally realizes the situation of the Narrator and gives her proper treatment by letting her do work.
False. When viewing the Narrator's descent to madness, John faints, and the Narrator's madness is unresolved at the end of the story.
What is the name of the person who wants to help the Narrator but because of not understand her situation, he just makes things worst?
John
How is the theme of the importance of self-expression shown in the story?
Because the Narrator has to hide how anxious and nervous she feels to make it seem she is feeling better, she never gets to express how she feels about herself and has to repress her thoughts. By doing so she becomes insane near the end of the story due to her having repressed her feelings for so long.
True or False: The color in the wallpaper, being “a smouldering unclean yellow”, represents how the Narrator failed to be what society expected her to be.
True. Since yellow is usually associated with joy and brightness, having the color yellow being degraded shows how the meaning of the color doesn't exist anymore. This connects to the story of how society expected the Narrator to be a proper woman but instead, the Narrator ended up as an insane woman.
Along with being the author, what was Charlotte Perkins Gilman also well known for?
She was a feminist and lecturer who in her other book, Women and Economics, says that economic independence could bring true freedom for women.
What is considered to be the climax of the story?
The Narrator starts to tear down the wallpaper after describing how it "began to crawl and shake the pattern"
What is the name of the person who is the opposite of the Narrator in that she is fine with how society has structured what women should be?
Jennie
True or False: The story contains the theme of how important it is to rebel against orders that limit self-expression.
False. Despite there being the theme of how self-expression is important, there are no aspects in the story that suggest that rebellion is needed.
What does the woman in the yellow wallpaper symbolize?
The woman who is trapped inside the wallpaper represents the narrator itself and how she is confined to the roles they are assigned by society.
True or False: The story is based on the true events of the author's (Charlotte Perkins Gilman) life.
False. The story is semi-autobiographical (dealing partly with the writer's own life but also containing fictional elements.)
What are the rising actions that occur in the story? (List at least 2)
- The Narrator is told to not partake in any activity and only rest, leading to the narrator's confinement feeling.
- The Narrator sees the yellow wallpaper where at first she despises how the paper is torn but later becomes intrigued by the patterns and the features of the wallpaper
- The Narrator starts to notice the movements and figures on the wall, showing how the narrator is slowly deteriorating into insane when she later identifies herself with what she sees as a woman trapped in the wallpaper.
- After the Narrator tells John that she wants to move out of the mansion after seeing a figure move in the wallpaper, John dismisses her and tells her to go back to sleep, which leads to more obsession with the wallpaper and descent into madness.
True or False: The Narrator is the wife who despite having resentment for her husband's orders, still rests all day doing nothing.
False. The Narrator writes in her journal which is how the story is told.
How is the theme of how assumptioms of people leads to the worse shown in the story?
Despite the Narrator explaining that is she work, she will feel better from her nervous depression, John still suggest she must rest all day and not partake in any activity. This leads into the Narrator's feeling of confinement and later, descent into madness.
Near the end of the story, the Narrator says that she has escaped from John and Jane. If we assume that Jane is the name of the narrator, what does it mean that she escaped from herself?
When the Narrator says that she escaped from Jane, who is herself, it shows how the Narrator has escaped the confinements that women had during the time and escaped the role of women.
When the Narrator first enters the nursery room, how does she describe it? (the group with the closest description gets the points)
"a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore."
What happens during the falling action?
After tearing the wallpaper, she finally feels free from John and Jennie too and she begins to think of what to do when John comes in. She later begins to creep around the room until John comes in.
Mary
True or False: The theme of how self-expression is important is shown in the instance when John tells the Narrator that she needs self-control to feel better about her nervous depression.
True. This moment shows how the husband wants to limit what a woman wants to do as he claims it's for the better. This advice would later cause the Narrator to go insane due to her trying to repress her feelings.
True or False: The Narrator herself knew the situation she was in and how she was confined to the role of women that were placed by society at the start of the story.
False. The Narrator was unaware of her conflict with society at the start of the story and as she began to become obsessive with the wallpaper, to where she identifies herself with the woman in the wallpaper.
DOUBLE POINTS
How does the Narrator know that the nursery room was also a playroom and a gymnasium? (Direct text from the story)
"for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls."
Why doesn't the Narrator agree with her husband's idea for her to rest all day and not do an activity?
The Narrator believes that if she wants to feel better, she will start doing activities that are exciting and bring changes.