Summary Of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-paper" is a cautionary tale that warns readers against the misdiagnosis of mental illness. Gilman uses subtle clues to build a suspenseful plot that outlines a woman's descent into madness. Gilman's skillful stylistic choices highlight certain ideas and behaviors that invoke concern and fear in the reader, and reinforces the intended lesson. I argue that Gilman's stylistic choices, which induce fear and uncertainty, allow the lesson of the story to truly resonate with the readers. The beginning of the short story sets a rather pleasant scene. The narrator and her husband John are introduced, and the setting of the story is established, but the first stylistic choice that gives the reader pause occurs early in the introduction. The narrator's descriptions of the house and her circumstances are immediate concerns. She mentions that "there is …show more content…
Gilman shows this progression by increasing the pace of the story and highlighting the most concerning behaviors. Although Gilman does not write a definitive timeline, the length of each section gives the sense of time. The sections get shorter and less coherent until the conclusion of the story. The climax of the story is the most concerning and fear inducing. At this point in the narrative there is one final, subtle shift. The narrative changes from a journal entry into a real-time account. Gilman shifts the story when the narrator says "It is so pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around as I please" (803). This sentence appears to be saying that the narrator is speaking in real time. She is speaking about the room as she admires it in that exact moment. Gilman chooses to change the time and format of the work to truly emphasize the horror of the moment. The only way to capture this insane behavior was to detail it as it happened. This is a subtle but powerful
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