1 Why does the narrator
give a series of different names to the house? What does this say about
the narrator? What do these names suggest about the house?
The words "ancestral" and "hereditary"
both suggest that the house has a history? How could this relate to the
rest of the story?
2 Notice that the narrator uses extreme
qualifiers (both adjectives and adverbs) to describer her husband. What
might this suggest about her opinion of him?
Notice she repeats the notion of ridicule.
How might this be important? What assumptions about the nature of marriage
are revealed here?
3 What does her repetition of "perhaps"
reveal about the narrator?
Why is the paper "dead"? Does paper have
to stay "dead"?
4 Why is the narrator using "one" instead
of "I"? What do the questions she asks say about her current state of mind
and her relationship to her husband?
5 Why is "work" in quotation marks? What
sort of work is she "forbidden"?
The narrator switches only momentarily
to "I" here. What does this suggest?
6 Notice how the narrator sets up an "me"
versus "them" opposition. How does she characterize each side with her
choice of "spite," "sly," and "heavy"?
Instead of thinking of her condition,
the narrator talks about the house. What does this say about her? Could
the two acts be related. Take note of how she describes the house.
7 What do all of the words in this passage
that refer to enclosure and solitude suggest about the way the narrator
sees the house? Notice the idea of inheritance introduced in the opening
recurs.
8 Notice how she uses the qualifiers "unreasonably"
and "so" to describe herself. What does this suggest about her self-opinion?
Why might the narrator link "pain" to
"control"?
9 Why might the narrator repeat "he said"
so many times?
10 What does this choice of bedroom by
the husband suggest about the narrator's and her husband's relationship.
Note as you continue to read Gilman's references to both "jail" and to
being placed in a "childish" situation.
11 Why is she talking about the paper
being stripped within her reach? Is it possible that she is stripping it?
Or that someone else in the past--and not boys--stripped it? Look carefully
at her descriptions of the room, especially the condition of the wallpaper
and the furnishings of the room. Do they sound appropriate for a nursery?
Why might the choice of "artistic sin"
be important here? Is this related to the pattern's "unheard of contradictions"?
How is she "reading" the wallpaper at this point and what does this show
about her frame of mind?
12 What might "yellow" symbolize in this
story?
13 Why do you think he would feel this
way? How would writing disrupt her prescribed rest cure?
14 Is the narrator consistent in her
opinion of her husband? Why or why not?
Are there inconsistencies in his treatment
of her?
15 What "duty" is she blocked by her
sickness from doing? What expectations would there be on her now that she
is a mother? She barely mentions the baby in the story; why is that? Why
might she change the subject so quickly to the wallpaper ?
16 He does know what aspects of the room
disturb her; why does he discount them? What would be your reaction if
someone called you a "blessed little goose" and then ignored what you said?
17 Why does she change her opinion of
the room?
In what ways are the notions of "writing"
and "fancy" being presented here?
18 What is the importance of the "eyes"?
Why might she see these in the paper and get angry?
19 What kind of child was she? Relate
this to the nursery environment she is confined to and the fact (?) that
she has just had a child.
20 Note her recurring descriptions of
the room's furnishings and its history. What do her explanations show about
her? What other explanations might there be for the condition of the room?
Why is she disturbed only by the wallpaper?
21 Do you believe the narrator when she
calls John's sister [later named as Jennie] a "dear girl"? Does she have
mixed feelings about her 'happy' domesticity? Look carefully at what she
says about her. Some film interpretations of the story see her as a kind
of foil for the narrator.
22 In the last few passages, the narrator
goes from looking out the window to seeing a sub-pattern in the wallpaper.
Could these two activities be linked? How? Why?
23 She isn't confined to her room or
isolated, though she is relieved of domestic and maternal duties.
24 Gilman herself was one of Dr. Mitchell's
patients (after giving birth to her child), undergoing his "rest cure"
for "hysteria" (or postpartum depression?).
25 What double meaning could the phrase
"turn my hand over" have?
26 Her isolation is both voluntary and
involuntary.
The narrator's changing attitude toward
the wallpaper is coupled with a new tone of self-assurance reflected in
the her use of "I know." However, what is it she knows about the wallpaper?
What is she discovering about its pattern? Why might this be important?
27 Continue to look at details of the
wall-paper and especially how she interprets them. What do these interpretations
reflect about her state of mind?
28 Notice that the narrator feels she
must talk to her husband. She must have a "real earnest reasonable talk"
with him. Is this the way in which she best communicates? How is she communicating?
Why is she so tired?
29 How does John treat her? Is this helping
her? Why doesn't he mention the baby?
30 Notice the odd syntax in this passage.
Why might she say "such a room for worlds"?
31 Does the narrator sound confident
here? Why or why not?
32 She is now looking beyond the surface
of the paper. What type of emotions do you associate with "stooping" and
"creeping"?
33 Why is the moonlight introduced here?
The creeping figure is starting to take
positive action? Is the narrator taking positive action?
34 Is the husband being sympathetic here?
What is his attitude toward her and her illness?
35 What "laws" are being defied at this
point in the text? What might a "normal" mind be?
36 Notice the violence that she is reading
into the wall-paper. What ideas and sensations do you associate with "fungus"
and "toadstools"?
37 Note the times when the bars and the
woman are visible to her. Why is full daylight so different?
What does keep the narrator "quiet"?
38 How is her attitude about John changing?
Is he changing? Is she becoming paranoid?
39 The narrator seems to be reversing
the role of observer with her husband and Jenny. What significance might
this have in the story?
40 The report of the "yellow smooch"
is coming from Jennie, who seems reliable. Why is the "smooch" on their
clothes?
Notice the narrator sense of power. She
thinks that she frightens Jennie and notes that "nobody" but she will find
out the pattern. What type of "power" is she claiming? Is it selfish? Does
it give her any "real" power?
41 Is there any "healthy" laughter in
this story? What does "laughter" represent in this text?
42 Note the differences in the wallpaper
in the daylight and other light. The yellow of the wallpaper seems to be
seeping off of the wall in the form of a smell that stalks the narrator?
What could this scene mean? Notice how it affects her.
43 Again, she mentions the "smooch" but
as if she is seeing it for the first time. Where might it have come from?
Has she been creeping around the room?
44 Why might the narrator sometimes see
only one and at other time see many women?
When the narrator compares the action
of the creeping woman behind "very bright" and 'very dark" spots are you
reminded of any other times in the text that lightness and darkness have
made a difference? When?
45 Why would the women get through and
then be strangled? Why might anyone be "better off" without a head?
46 Notice that the narrator uses "my"
to refer to the windows. What might this imply?
47 When do most women creep? What might
"creeping" mean?
48 This foreshadows the last scene in
which the narrator lets her husband unlock the door on her creeping.
49 What tone does the use of "fast,"
"open," "as fast as a cloud in a high wind" create?
50 The narrator is even withholding information
from the reader. Does this make you distrust her?
51 Is the narrator becoming paranoid?
How could John and Jennie also be "secretly affected"?
52 The narrator and the women trade actions
in this passage? What might Gilman be suggesting?
53 Look at her relationship with Jennie
at this point.Is she making a threat? Is the narrator becoming dangerous?
Or could this link back to her first reference to "dead paper" at the beginning
of the story?
54 Why might the narrator enjoy the room
more when it is bare? What does the word "bare" suggest to you when you
read it?
55 Why has she not mentioned the "gnawed
bedstead" before? Or the rope? Why might the narrator want to tie up the
woman whom she is trying to free?
56 Has the narrator been reduced to an
animal state? Is this good or bad? Has she been gnawing the bed before?
57 Would a sane person say that the reason
for not jumping out the window is because it is "improper" and might be
misconstrued"? How concerned is she about what other people might think?
58 Why does the number of women suddenly
multiply? Why are they all creeping?
59 What does the fact that she wants
to stay in the room tied up suggest? Why does she want to do this? What
does she fear about being both outside or inside the wallpaper?
60 This is the first time the narrator's
words have been able to control her husband's action. What circumstances
were needed before the husband listened to the narrator?
61 What does the narrator's use of "that
man" suggest?
The meaning of this ending has been the subject of a great deal of critical debate. Some critics see this as a point where the narrator triumphs over her husband and the wallpaper. Others see this as a point where the narrator fails since she has finally been driven insane by the paper and not escaped the room. What do you think?