Plot
What is the narrator's name?
Trick question: she never states her name
Name all the elements of the bedroom that symbolize a prison. (4)
1. Scratched floor
2. Barred windows
3. Nailed down bed
4. Locked door
WHAT THEME DOES THIS CONNECT TO?:
"But I can see that she is trying to get out. She shakes the pattern, she struggles to get out. The faint figure behind shakes it, and more of the color comes off and more of the paper peels."
appearance vs reality // insanity vs sanity
what is the "sisters" name
Jennie
what is the name of the illness that women were diagnosed with during the Victorian era?
Hysteria
What profession does the narrator's husband have?
He is her doctor
The barred windows and nailed bed symbolize a prison for the narrator. Those things are typically seen in prisons, so this emphasizes her confinement.
WHAT THEME DOES THIS CONNECT TO?:
"John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage. John is a physician, and perhaps—(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is the pleasurable part)—perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster. You see he does not believe I am sick!"
gender roles & oppression
What is the husbands name?
John
What was the prescription for women who were labeled "hysteric"?
The rest cure
What did the narrator's room use to be?
A nursery
The woman in the wall begins to "shake" the pattern behind the wall paper. What does this symbolize?
It symbolizes the narrator's desire to escape herself. The woman in the wallpaper is trapped just as she is trapped within the room.
Describe the final major turning point in the narrator’s mental state where she completely transitions from sanity to delusion (the end of the story)
The narrator fully descends into her madness during the last scene. She begins to rip down the wallpaper, admits to being the woman in the wallpaper, and crawls over her husband
Victorian era, USA, rented summer house
Explain what the rest cure was?
The rest cure was the prescription given to women who had any time of mental illness. Forced to be locked in a room, be bed-ridden, eat fatty foods to gain weight, have no contact with family and friends, massage their husband, and listen to everything he says. No intellectual stimuli
When the narrator first sees something in the wallpaper, what does she believe it is?
"A faint figure" or "a lady creeping behind the pattern"
What does the yellow wallpaper symbolize in the story? (Think about how the narrator sees something different each time she looks at it)
The yellow wallpaper symbolizes her descent into madness. The Insanity vs Sanity theme.
In what ways is the "rest cure" an oppressive measure, and how does it specifically reinforce the gender roles of the late 19th century as portrayed in the story?
The rest cure prevents women from doing anything intellectual. It takes away their freedom. Gender roles come into play here because all the doctors are men and control/oppress the women.
Explain how John is not a good husband
He does not listen to her needs. He blows off her concerns. He thinks he is smarter than her.
Why did Charlotte Perkins Gilman write "The Yellow Wallpaper?"
She wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" not to drive people insane, but to show how traumatic the rest cure is and to save people from having to go through it.
In what way does the narrator rebel against the rules of her husband/doctor?
She writes! (her journal entries)
What does writing in the journal symbolize for the narrator?
It symbolizes what freedom she has left. Her desire to write, work, and NOT follow the rules of the rest cure.
The narrator's attachment to the wallpaper progresses from disgust to obsession. Analyze one specific stage of her evolving description (e.g., the color, the pattern's sub-pattern, or the smell) and explain how that stage reflects her increasing confinement or her search for freedom.
If you chose any quote that shows the narrator explaining the wallpaper in a way that shows she is crazy, you were correct.
(the wallpaper being suicidal)
(seeing a faint figure)
(Seeing a woman)
Where does the narrator hide the key to her bedroom in the last scene?
By the steps under a plantain leaf.
What was the name of the doctor who invented the rest cure?
Dr. Weir Mitchell