What is the significance of the title The Yellow Wallpaper?
The title refers to the (you got it—yellow) wallpaper in the room where the protagonist spends pretty much all of her time. Since she’s essentially trapped in her room with nothing to do, she spends her time staring at the pattern of the wallpaper, becoming more and more obsessed with the paper.
Does the main character in The Yellow Wallpaper have a name?
The narrator (main character) of “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Throughout the entire story the narrator’s name is unknown. The other characters, Jennie and John, do not refer to the narrator by her name. This has caused controversy on why Stetson would leave the narrator unnamed.
What are the themes of The Yellow Wallpaper?
The Yellow Wallpaper Themes
- Mental Illness and its Treatment.
- Gender Roles and Domestic Life.
- Outward Appearance vs.
- Self-Expression, Miscommunication, and Misunderstanding.
What does yellow symbolize in the Yellow Wallpaper?
The wallpaper symbolizes the mental block mean attempted to place on women during the 1800s. The color yellow is often associated with sickness or weakness, and the narrator’s mysterious illness is an example of the male oppression on the narrator. It symbolizes women being out of the public eye in the time period.
Why is the yellow wallpaper a feminist story?
Charlotte Perkins-Gilman had a feminist approach to this story, due to the protagonists’ struggles against male thinking and society norms. The story tells of the close-mindedness of how postpartum depression was treated and dealt with by society.
How does the narrator describe the house at the beginning of the yellow wallpaper?
The narrator describes herself in the opening sentence as “ordinary.” This is an important detail in relation to the way she then goes on to describe the house: as “ancestral halls,” which suggests a grand house that would have been passed down through generations of a noble, aristocratic family.