Literary Devices in The Yellow Wallpaper
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
It’s definitely not a coincidence that the woman in the wallpaper is trapped behind a pattern. We can conceive of societal norms and mores as types of patterns that metaphorically restrict our mo...
Setting
The setting of "The Yellow Wallpaper" reinforces all of the intangible feelings and attitudes expressed in the story. What do we mean by this? Let’s start with this passage: [The house] is quite...
Narrator Point of View
This is a tough perspective when the narrator is slowly sinking into madness. Is there really a woman creeping around outside in the bushes? Probably not. Is there really a woman trapped in the wal...
Genre
When "The Yellow Wallpaper" first came out, the public didn’t quite understand the message. The piece was treated as a horror story, kind of like the 19th Century equivalent to The Exorcist. Nowa...
Tone
If we took the narrator’s words at face value, we would believe that her husband is kind and loving, that she really is physically ill...and that women really do get trapped in wallpaper. This is...
Writing Style
Over the course of the story, we witness the narrator gradually losing her mind. In the beginning, she can offer calm and logical descriptions of her surroundings. Soon, however, she attempts to ha...
What’s Up With the Title?
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 spe...
What’s Up With the Ending?
Sorry, guys: this isn't one of those "they get married and live happily ever after!" endings.In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the (by now super-mentally ill) narrator has stripped off all the wallpaper i...
Plot Analysis
The narrator feels uneasy on the estate she and her husband have rented for the summer.Do you sense the beginning of a horror story? We do: a woman moves into the house; the house is spooky; the...
Three Act Plot Analysis
The narrator and her husband arrive at a country estate for a "rest" vacation. She is bothered by their room’s ugly yellow wallpaper.Stuck in the room with orders to do nothing but rest, the nar...
Trivia
Charlotte Perkins Gilman sent a copy of "The Yellow Wallpaper" to the physician who had prescribed her a "rest cure." He subsequently altered the way he treated women for depression. Gilman divorce...
Steaminess Rating
Clearly the narrator and her husband must have had sex at one point—when the story begins, the narrator has just had a baby. But they don’t seem to be having any right now, and sex is definitel...
Allusions
Weir Mitchell (3.4)