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62 Essay Topics on The Yellow Wallpaper

Welcome to The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics page prepared by our editorial team! Here you will find an extensive list of essay ideas on the short story! Literary analysis, themes, comparison, characters, & more. Get inspired to write your own essay!

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• 🎭 Character Analysis
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🔬 the yellow wallpaper: literary analysis essay topics.

• Irony and imagery in The Yellow Wallpaper
• Symbolism in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• The Significance of First-Person Narration in The Yellow Wallpaper
• The Window as a Symbol of the Yellow Wallpaper
• Color Symbolism in The Yellow Wallpaper
• Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper: Point of View
• Would The Yellow Wallpaper Be Different If Told from John’s Point of View?
• What are the Meanings behind the Color of the Wallpaper?
• Imagery and Allegory in The Yellow Wallpaper
• The Yellow Wallpaper: Themes & Symbols
• What Are the Examples of Irony in The Yellow Wallpaper?
• Gothic Elements in The Yellow Wallpaper
• The Yellow Wallpaper: Metaphor Analysis
• Setting Symbolism of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• What is the Style of The Yellow Wallpaper?
• What Instruments Does the Author Use to Create an Atmosphere of Suspense & Horror in The Yellow Wallpaper?
• What Does the Mysterious Figure Symbolize in The Yellow Wallpaper?
• Why Does the Description of the Wallpaper Change over Time?

🎭 The Yellow Wallpaper: Character Analysis Essay Topics

• What is The Narrator’s Inner Conflict in The Yellow Wallpaper?
• Is John the Villain in The Yellow Wallpaper? Why or Why Not?
• Who is to Blame for the Narrator’s Descent into Madness? Why?
• What is the Significance of the Minor Female Characters in The Yellow Wallpaper?
• What Happens to the Narrator after the Story Ends?
• Who is the Protagonist in The Yellow Wallpaper?
• John in The Yellow Wallpaper: Character Analysis
• Why Does the Narrator Remain Unnamed in the Story? What Does This Symbolize?
• What Is the Connection between the Narrator & the Woman behind the Wallpaper?
• How Does John Treat His Wife in The Yellow Wallpaper?
• Is the Narrator Reliable in The Yellow Wallpaper?
• Why Does John Faint at the End of The Yellow Wallpaper?
• Jane’s Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper
• What Does the Woman behind the Wallpaper Represent in The Yellow Wallpaper?

🌻 The Yellow Wallpaper: Themes Essay Topics

• The Yellow Wallpaper: Insanity as a Theme
• Postpartum Depression in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• The Yellow Wallpaper: Women & Mental Illness
• Depression due to Repression in The Yellow Wallpaper
• The Yellow Wallpaper: Feminist Critique
• The Yellow Wallpaper: Perception Vs. Reality
• Freedom of Expression in The Yellow Wallpaper
• The Yellow Wallpaper: The Three Stages Towards Feminine Freedom
• The Yellow Wallpaper as a Feminist Story
• Creativity Vs. Madness in The Yellow Wallpaper
• Marriage & Family as a Theme in The Yellow Wallpaper
• Loneliness in The Yellow Wallpaper
• How Does The Yellow Wallpaper Present the Conflict between Rationality & Creativity?
• Feminist Theory in The Yellow Wallpaper
• Does The Yellow Wallpaper Have a Happy or Sad Ending? Explain Your Answer
• Marriage in The Yellow Wallpaper
• Feminist Criticism in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper
• Main Questions In The Yellow Wallpaper: Analysis Essay
• Social Surroundings and Interactions in The Yellow Wallpaper
• In What Ways Does the Wallpaper Embody the Theme of the Story?

⌛ Essay Topics on The Yellow Wallpaper’s Context

• The Historical Context In Charlotte Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper
• Victorian Gender Roles in The Yellow Wallpaper
• The Yellow Wallpaper as an Autobiography
• Describe the Time Period when The Yellow Wallpaper Was Written
• What Was Gilman’s Intention When She Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper?

📊 The Yellow Wallpaper: Compare & Contrast Essay Topics

• Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart & Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper: Mood Comparison
• Solitude as a Theme in The Yellow Wallpaper & A Rose for Emily
• Gender Roles in The Yellow Wallpaper & Trifles
• The Need for Change in Ragged Dick and The Yellow Wallpaper
• The Yellow Wallpaper & A Rose for Emily
• Past Essay Topics – University of Warwick
• CS Topic Generator – Purdue Computer Science
• Literature Topics and Research // Purdue Writing Lab
• What are the top research topics in literature? – Quora
• Suggested research topics | English at Leicester
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IvyPanda . "62 Essay Topics on The Yellow Wallpaper." August 13, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/lit/the-yellow-wallpaper/essay-topics/.

146 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on the yellow wallpaper, ✍️ the yellow wallpaper essay topics for college, 👍 good the yellow wallpaper research topics & essay examples, 🎓 most interesting the yellow wallpaper research titles, 💡 simple the yellow wallpaper essay ideas, 📌 easy the yellow wallpaper essay topics, ❓ the yellow wallpaper essay questions.

• Critique on “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• The Yellow Wallpaper and The Story of an Hour Comparison
• Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” From a Feminist Perspective
• Literary Elements in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” vs. Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” Comparison
• Gender in The Great Gatsby & The Yellow Wallpaper
• Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” vs. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• The Yellow Wallpaper. Mrs. Spring Fragrance. Review Both stories focus attention on the behavior of individuals and thus could be easily compared with our daily life.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Analysis and Reflection “The Yellow Wallpaper” is partially autobiographical. The novel, as if criticizes the medical approaches to curing women of the depressive disorder by the so-called “rest cure.”
• Isolation, Patriarchy, Materialism, and Mental Illness in “The Yellow Wallpaper” “The Yellow Wallpaper” utilizes a broad range of literary devices to explore the subservient state of women and the neglect of their mental health in late 19th-century America.
• Literature Comparison of The Yellow Wallpaper and Everyday Use The issue of loneliness and the slow descent into madness discussed in the two famous novels, The Yellow Wallpaper and Everyday Use. These two novels share a number of common and different elements.
• “The Second Sex” by De Beauvoir and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman Both “The second sex: Author’s introduction” by De Beauvoir and “The yellow wallpaper” by Gilman demonstrate a woman’s role as belittled to the patriarchal male figure.
• Allegory and Symbolism in “The Chrysanthemums” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” The story is based upon the life events and psychological issues the author herself faced. She is forced to abide by what her husband feels is best.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Laugh of the Medusa” In light of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the paper explores various key points displayed in the fiction in the light of Hélène Cixousa’s “The Laugh of the Medusa.”
• Neglect and Psychosis in Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper This essay investigates the relationship between insanity and neglect as described in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper.
• Color in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s novella The Yellow Wallpaper details the deteriorating mental health of a woman experiencing postpartum depression.
• Mental Health in “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The stories The Tell-Tale Heart and The Yellow Wallpaper highlight how schizophrenia can arrive unnoticed in both men and women and only result in an episode after it is too late.
• Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” It is possible to compare literary elements in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” when determining similarities and differences in these works.
• Symbolism in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins The symbolism of the yellow wallpaper on the house walls, Gilman conveys the mental health state of the protagonist throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The story of Charlotte Perkins Gilman – “The Yellow Wallpaper” – is rightfully considered one of the brightest examples of female prose.
• Similarities Between “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman and “The Story of an Hour” The paper comparisons “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of an Hour” connecting the readers and the characters through well-structured examples relating to the plight of women.
• Analysis of “The Yellow Wallpaper”: The Villain Being undeniably sad and having no human antagonist, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a chilling metaphor for the devastating effects of the patriarchy.
• “The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” The stories “The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” illustrate the struggles which women face at homes with domestic violence.
• Spiraling into Insanity: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Perkins Being a perfect example of a gothic novel, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins sets its readers on a journey through the dark realms of human nature.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” a Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator suffers from PPD after delivering a child. Her husband takes her to an old mansion in summer.
• “Gender Inequality in “”The Yellow Wallpaper””, “”A Rose for Emily””, and “”Trifels””” The paper focuses on analyzing A Rose for Emily, written by William Faulkner, The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Susan Glaspell’s Trifles.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman as a Symbol of Oppression The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story about a woman feeling trapped and suffering because of her isolation.
• Analysis of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” is not simply a story of a particular unfortunate female but a depiction of what can happen to anyone who lives in isolation and faces oppression.
• The Description of Wallpaper in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman There are many ways to describe the wallpaper used in the story, and they form the very plot of it and create a comic effect.
• Strong Woman in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” portrays the values and social traditions of Victorian women, their problems, and their social position in society.
• The Short Story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, is usually seen as a revolutionary story, which aims to provoke a feminist response in the reader.
• The Short Story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, patriarchy plays an essential role in the deterioration of the narrator’s physical and mental state.
• Literary Elements in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman The story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, illustrates social and physiological attitudes toward women in the 19th century which are still relevant today.
• Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” vs. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” The paper compares Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, highlighting their differences in terms of themes, genre, and female protagonists.
• Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”: A Psychological Approach The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, discusses the limitations imposed on women by society and domestic life.
• Repression and Depression in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author highlighted the connection between repression and depression.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Review The short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an example of feminist literature, which explains the choice of the topic and the images the author uses.
• Plots of Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Two short stories, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, are simultaneously similar and different.
• Review of “The Yellow Wallpaper” Story The article discusses the point of view showing that the story is told from the perspective of an unreliable narrator.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman: Literary Analysis In writing the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Gilman describes the protagonist and narrator, a young woman giving in to a mental disorder upon giving birth.
• Feminist “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is about feminism and gender relations in America at the end of the XIX century.
• “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Similarities and Differences The main difference between “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” lies in the sending of the authors or the main themes of the works.
• Marriage in “The Story of an Hour” by Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman The institute of marriage is one of the core pillars of social structure, and a family unit is anchored on marriage.
• Impact of Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” on Life The paper discusses the impact of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman on one’s life. It influences the decision to work in healthcare.
• “The Tell-Tale Heart and the Yellow Wallpaper” by Perkins Gothic authors submerge their readers into the dark and depressing atmosphere as they slowly lead the characters through the traps of their minds.
• “A Rose for Emily” by W. Faulkner and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by C. Perkin “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are focused on female protagonists who experience some form of life-changing isolation.
• The Theme of Feminism in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The story “The Yellow Wallpaper” focuses on topics related to the prevailing attitudes towards women, their place in society and their physical, emotional and mental health.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte P. Gilman Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” depicts the inner struggle of a woman unbalanced by post-partum depression, a problem for which even today’s doctors have no treatment.
• Uncovering the Wallpaper in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” In Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, readers can immediately realize the shifts of emotions felt by the woman who is narrating the story.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”: A Short Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a first person narrative with a woman describing her mental health problems and the development of her disease.
• Female World in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” In her famous short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman explored the challenges women of the nineteenth century had to face.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman At the very beginning of the story the author presents the main idea of the discussion, the author points at the problem which is the result of men’s domination in the family.
• Alger’s “Ragged Dick” and Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper” The paper illustrates the changes in contemporary American society by analyzing Horatio Alger’s “Ragged Dick” and Charlotte Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper”.
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” The Yellow Wallpaper is a tragic story of women of the 19th century. The portrayal of the societal norms and values is clearly hyperbolized in The Yellow Wallpaper.
• American Women in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte P. Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper novel describes the plight of discriminated women during the 19th-century American period.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Post Partum Depression, Hysteria and Gender Literature Review Sample
• The Similarity Between “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Jane Eyre”
• Gothic and Feminist Elements of “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Autobiography or Fiction
• The Descent Into Madness in “The Yellow Wallpaper”’s Tragic Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• How Does The Narrative Mimic The Mental State of The Narrator on Yellow Wallpaper?
• Similarities Between “The Yellow Wallpaper” and a Doll’s House
• The Challenges Women Are Faced Within “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and What if Shakespeare Had a Sister
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman´s “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Subjugation and Insanity
• Dealing With Personal Obstacles Differently in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Prose Court for Female Lead in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Going Against Social Norm Will Imprison an Individual in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a Short Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Removing Wallpaper Reveals Wall in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”: A Commentary on The Male Oppression of Women in a Patriarchal Society
• Jane’s Search for Self-Identity in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• How John`s Attitude Toward the Narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” Mirrors Social Attitudes Regarding Mental Illnesses
• The Wallpaper, The Husband, The Mental Illness in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Daisy Miller and “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Women Stereotypes
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Feminist Viewpoint
• The Movement for Women’s Rights Inside “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Depression Turned Into Insanity in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” Through The Lens of Lacan – The Mirror Stage Manifest Critical Thinking
• Postpartum Depression and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and an Infantile Narrator
• Jane Eyre and “The Yellow Wallpaper” in Respect to Haunting
• Behind “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Women and Mental Illness
• The Link Between Feminism, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and Jackson’s “The Lottery”
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” From The Point of View of a Doctor’s
• Oppression and Need for Escape in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Disappointments From Positive Intentions in The Short Story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Caged In: Breaking Through The Walls of Oppression – Analysis of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a Short Story by American Writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Fighting The Oppression
• How Does The Character in “The Yellow Wallpaper” Destroy Her Reality
• Oppression and Misunderstanding Towards Women and The Mentally Ill in The 19th Century in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Male Oppression of Women in Society
• Looking Behind the Wallpaper: Symbolism in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• The Different Character Changes in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• How The Author’s Writing Style Affected The Protagonist in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Criticism Methods and Perspectives
• Self Presentation, Insecurity, and Anxiety in ‘“The Yellow Wallpaper”’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Women’s Roles, Irony, and Symbolism in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• The Roles and Responsibility of John and The Narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a Novel by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Exemplifies Women’s Position in The 19th Century
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” From The Point of View of a Doctor’s Wife
• Female Confinement and Escape in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Escaping The Feministic View by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• The Role and Identity of Women in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a Short Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• How “The Yellow Wallpaper” Drives the Main Character Insane
• Victorian Gender Roles Exemplified by “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• The Different Issues That Woman in The 19th Century Had to Deal Within “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Women’s Freedom From Oppression: An Analysis of “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Liberation
• The Traditional Relationship Between a Man and Wife in The 1980’s in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a Short Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• The Three Stages Towards Feminine Freedom in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Oppressive Male Dominance Over Women in 20th Century, to the Extremes, in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” Through The Perspective of Vladimir Propp Critical Thinking Example
• Mental Illness and Misogyny in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• The Link Between Feminism in  “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and “The Story of an Hour”
• Madness and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Becoming The Woman Behind The Paper
• Solitary Confinement and Exclusion in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Woman’s Descent Into Depression in The Tragic Story of “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Women and 19-Century Domesticity in ‘“The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Overcoming The Excessive Hold on Women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Setting, Symbolism, and Oppression of Women in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• How Gender and Class Shaped the Narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• What Is a Good Thesis Statement for “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman?
• Which Are the Gothic Elements in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• What Does the Wallpaper in “The Yellow Wallpaper” Symbolize?
• How Does the Narration Mimic the Narrator’s Mental State in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• What Contemporary Issues Would You Say That “The Yellow Wallpaper” Evokes?
• What Happened to the Women at the End in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• What Are Some Examples of Literary Devices in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• How Does the Atmosphere Change Throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• Why Did the Narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” Have a Mental Breakdown?
• How Can We Apply “The Yellow Wallpaper” With Freud’s Opinions and Thinking?
• Why Are the Events in “The Yellow Wallpaper” in the Order That They’re In?
• How Is the Theme of the Rest Cure Developed in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• What Are Some Similarities Between “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Miss Brill”?
• What Is a Metaphor for the Sky in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• What Inspired Charlotte Perkins Gilman to Write the Short Story “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• How the Author’s Writing Style Affected the Protagonist in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• What Is the Symbolism of a Finger in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• What Effect Does the First-Person Point of View of “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• How Would You Describe the Character Development in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• Was “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman Written as a Part of the Feminist Movement?
• Why “The Yellow Wallpaper” Is Considered as One of the Most Disturbing Short Stories?
• What Are the Symbolic Orders in “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• How Women Entrapment and Flight Are Depicted in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• What Is Female Predicament’s Place in the Novel “The Yellow Wallpaper”?

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StudyCorgi. (2021, November 12). 146 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/the-yellow-wallpaper-essay-topics/

"146 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics." StudyCorgi , 12 Nov. 2021, studycorgi.com/ideas/the-yellow-wallpaper-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) '146 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics'. 12 November.

1. StudyCorgi . "146 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics." November 12, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/the-yellow-wallpaper-essay-topics/.

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StudyCorgi . "146 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics." November 12, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/the-yellow-wallpaper-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "146 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics." November 12, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/the-yellow-wallpaper-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on The Yellow Wallpaper were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 9, 2024 .

The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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The Yellow Wallpaper Essays

Responding to the wallpaper rebecca edwards, the yellow wallpaper.

"The pattern is torturing. You think you have mastered it, but just as you get well underway in following, it turns a back-somersault and there you are. It slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you."

As her madness progresses...

The Stages of Feminine Injustice Tara Rudrapatna

In the well-known work Women and Economics, Charlotte Perkins Gilman emphasizes her belief that "dependence on men not only doom[s] women to live stifled lives but also retard[s] the development of the human species" (Kirszner 449). Those words...

"Personally, I Disagree With Their Ideas" Audrey Houser

"Personally, I disagree with their ideas." One of the opening statements of "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, this quote sums up the point of the text. Gilman becomes incensed at the way doctors and society view women. This short...

Paper, Paper, On the Wall... Joshua Prophett

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was one of the most prominent feminists and social thinkers at the turn of the century. Her best fiction, The Yellow Wallpaper, is also her least typical. It is about a young wife and mother's mental deterioration as...

Prescription to Madness Jennifer Phillips

The Victorian rest cure, a diagnosis set forth to upper class, white, Victorian women who were believed to be suffering from "hysteria", or "trauma related to an unsuccessful role adjustment" sought to instill in them a "childlike submission to...

Out from Behind the Bars: A Woman's Escape through Madness Jordan Reid Berkow

Charlotte Gilman's story "The Yellow Wallpaper" focuses on the slow mental degeneration of a young woman forced to undergo the "rest cure," examining both the causes and the nature of her madness. Shortly after moving into a new place of...

The Mental Front Brad Champion

Though contextually deviant from one another, the voices of "Professions for Women" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" both embrace the same themes: the potential creativity and splendor of the female mind, and the oppression a woman must overcome to...

Keeping Women Sane Kelley Rose Waller

Reading “The Yellow Wallpaper” is like being drawn into the imaginary world of someone who is slowly leaving reality behind them. The short story is written as a kind of journal of the narrator as she becomes more and more detached from her family...

Exploring Feminist Identities: Empowerment Through Duality Anonymous

Female writers constantly try to negotiate their identities in a society that exalts male opinion. That the protagonists of Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Chopin’s “A Pair of Silk Stockings” are married women places both discourses within a...

Female Marginalisation Embodied in The Color Purple and The Yellow Wallpaper Patrick J P Harris

Female marginalisation is a major theme in The Color Purple, with Celie’s emancipation from repressive male patriarchy being the culmination of the plot. When discussing the way narrative method and perspective are used within the novel to address...

Unorthodox Gender Roles in “Boys and Girls” and “The Yellow Wall-paper” Matthew Warr

Judith Fetterly coined the term “immasculation” in her 1978 book “The Resisting Reader,” using it to define the process by which “women are taught […] to identify with a male point of view and to accept as normal and legitimate a male system of...

Perceptions and Reality in The Yellow Wallpaper Katherine Smith

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Jane’s skewed perceptions of her surroundings, caretakers, and mental state reflect her refusal to confront the reality of her confinement to a mental institution. Supposed husband and...

Effects of Realism in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” Shawn Yousif

There are several examples of the way vision establishes elements of realism in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and “The Yellow Wallpaper.” There is a literal vision that pertains to the senses of readers, which is created through the use of...

What a Dash can Do Anonymous

The em-dash, often formed in print by two hyphens lacking separation, is a piece of punctuation “stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses” (Strunk and White 9). Traditionally a dash indicates an abrupt...

The Impenetrable Fortress of Wallpaper: Tone, Symbolism, and Context "The Yellow Wallpaper" Brian Wheaton College

“Live as domestic a life as possible… And never touch pen, brush, or pencil as long as you live” (“The Literature of Prescription”). Such was the suggestion bestowed upon Charlotte Perkins Gilman, author of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by her...

Creeping in Daylight Jennifer Wei College

People lose their sanity through many processes. It has become an art. In her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the stealthy approach of insanity as a medium to advance arguments of feministic roots. Her (mostly...

Analysis of Symbols of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ LIT KA SHING College

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s literary work ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is often considered as an important early work of American feminist literature which illustrates common social and physiological attitudes towards women during the 19th century. A...

“Who Run the World? Girls.” — An Exploration on Female Liberation, Selfhood and the Entrapment of Marriage through Symbolism, Imagery, and Irony in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of an Hour” Anonymous College

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” explore ideas of female identity and selfhood, and more importantly, female liberation. These authors present their female characters as self-assertive in...

Sanity and Insanity in One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest and The Yellow Wallpaper Harriet Rogerson 12th Grade

The question of how to determine what is sane and what is insane is explored in both Kesey’s Novel ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1962) and Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ (1896). The terms “sanity” and “insanity” are often attached to...

Historical Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Anonymous College

Although the feminist movement began to make a solid appearance in the United States in the mid 19th century, successful results did not show until the early 20th century. In the 1800s, women held little importance in society and had little to no...

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The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics & Samples

At some point in your studying, you might be asked to produce “The Yellow Wallpaper” analysis essay. Well, if you’re reading this, you have already received this task! Let’s start by choosing a suitable topic to write about.

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This article by Custom-Writing.org experts contains “The Yellow Wallpaper” essay topics, “The Yellow Wallpaper” essay prompts, and writing samples. Go on reading if you want to learn more!

• 🌟 How to Choose
• 💡 Essay Topics
• 🎓 Thesis Ideas
• 📝 Essay Prompts
• ❓ Top 12 Questions
• 🔍 Research Paper Topics
• ✒️ Essay Samples

🌟 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics: How to Choose

First of all, you need to think about the topic of your paper. One way to choose a writing idea is to consider the main facts about “The Yellow Wallpaper”:

• The story was written at the end of the 19th century about mental disorder treatment of that time.
• It is considered one of the strongest and most prominent pieces of feminist literature .

These facts might be your first clue for choosing an essay topic. Try to look at the issues of mental health and gender stereotypes from your perspective.

In case you don’t particularly fancy the theme of feminism in “The Yellow Wallpaper” , there are many other options to choose from. Here are two tips that will help you pick an essay topic:

• Try highlighting the moments that stand out for you in the story. Then, expand on them in your paper.
• Write down any questions you might have during the reading to use them later.

However, if you don’t want to spend too much time on it, jump straight away to our list of topics for “The Yellow Wallpaper” essays.

Just in 1 hour! We will write you a plagiarism-free paper in hardly more than 1 hour

💡 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics

• The meaning of the story’s title.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”   as a horror story.
• Representation of madness in the story.
• The significance of the unnamed narrator.
• Color symbolism in Gilman’s story.
• Explain why the story’s ending is optimistic.
• Study the use of Gothic elements in the narrative.
• Why ”The Yellow Wallpaper” is still relevant today.
• The meaning of “creeping” in “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
• Comparison of A Rose for Emily and “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
• John as Dr. Mitchel’s double in ”The Yellow Wallpaper”.
• The symbolism of a fixed bed in Gilman’s story.
• Marriage in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and The Story of an Hour .
• Infantilization of the story’s protagonist by her husband.
• Describe the role of nature in ”The Yellow Wallpaper”.
• How a 19 th -century woman’s yearnings are presented by Gilman.
• Examine the trope of the haunted house in ”The Yellow Wallpaper”.
• Writing as a process of self-assertion in “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
• How Gilman’s story influenced mental health treatment of women.
• The perils of marriage and motherhood in “The Yellow Wallpaper”.

📝 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Prompts

• Study the issue of the gender roles in the story and compare it to modern norms. “The Yellow Wallpaper” highlights the problem of the suppression of women. Your essay on this topic may include some comments on family life as well. Since this topic is quite popular, we also suggest presenting your unique interpretation of this question.
• The Yellow Wallpaper’s conclusion: different versions. How do you understand the ending of the story? Why, in your opinion, did the author cut it at that specific moment? Brainstorm these questions and try to figure out what would be the best interpretation. Don’t forget to support your opinion with fair arguments.
• What is the relationship between the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” and her diary? The main character seems to get some relief from journaling her thoughts and daily life events. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help prevent the total crash of her identity at the end of the story. You can write “The Yellow Wallpaper” character analysis essay about it.
• Draw a parallel between the description of the wallpaper and the mental health of the narrator. We can notice the change in the writing as the mental illness of the narrator progresses. Look into one particular aspect there: the description of the wallpaper. How does the pattern change in foreshadowing future breakdown?
• Compare “The Yellow Wallpaper” to another feminist piece of writing of the same time frame Here it would be perfect if you found some unique elements that Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses in her story. Don’t forget that the focus of this essay should be on the theme of feminism . For better outcomes, add a quotation as a hook at the beginning of your essay.
• “ The Yellow Wallpaper” and marriage : is it the fault of the husband? Most people prefer to blame the husband in this story. Indeed, in the 19th century, women didn’t have much choice. However, we can see that the narrator has the power to resist the control of her husband. She doesn’t understand that she can do it.
• The role of personification as a tool used by Charlotte Perkins Gilman . It’s a great topic for a literary analysis essay on “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Go through the story’s plot again and find out why personification is used at some moments. How does it affect the writing’s mood, and doesn’t Gilman use some other devices there?
• Stigmatizing postpartum depression in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. This issue is related to feminism. Most women’s psychological problems are neglected as only being “in the head.” Miserable were those suffering postpartum depression, as one can see from the treatment plan chosen by John in the story.
• Explore different literary devices that are used to highlight the issue of depression in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Analyze what the narrator writes about her state and find the literary devices that Gilman uses to relate to it. For instance, repetition points out the confusion on the one hand and hopelessness on the other.
• Can we trust the narrator? The point of view in “The Yellow Wallpaper” plays an important role. The reader can only perceive the events through the narrator’s eyes. However, it means that some things can be not that obvious. Try to analyze the hints and symbolism to find out the missing part of the story.

❓ Top 12 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Questions

• What is the role of creativity in the protagonist’s journey?
• What imagery helps to convey the main character’s isolation?
• Why does the woman in the wallpaper go in circles?
• How does the protagonist’s mental state change throughout the story?
• How does the main character’s confinement contribute to her mental decline?
• In what ways does Jennie represent a patriarchal woman in ”The Yellow Wallpaper”?
• Why does the main character hide her diary from others?
• How does “The Yellow Wallpaper” portray the 19 th century’s cult of true womanhood?
• Why is S. Weir Mitchel’s real name mentioned in the story?
• How does the story challenge traditional notions of femininity and domesticity?
• How does the setting of the nursery convey the protagonist’s sense of loss and longing?
• How does the protagonist’s journey in ”The Yellow Wallpaper” reflect the broader feminist movement of the time?

🔍 Top 15 The Yellow Wallpaper Research Paper Topics

• Analyze the story through the prism of male gaze.
• The juxtaposition of logical men vs. irrational women in the story.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Freud’s misconceptions about hysteria.
• How Gilman’s story relates to Cixous’ ideas about écriture feminine.
• Foucault’s Panopticon Effect as portrayed in “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
• Analysis of Gilman’s story through the lens of Simone de Beauvoir.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper”: comparison to The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan.
• The wallpaper pattern as the bars of a prison constructed by society.
• Analyze the binary opposition presented in the story through the prism of Jacques Lacan’s ideas of the Imaginary and the Symbolic orders.
• Interpret the rhizomatic identity of the main character in “The Yellow Wallpaper” via Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of schizoanalysis.
• How does madness liberate the main character from patriarchal concepts of femininity?
• Daylight universe of masculinity vs. the nighttime world of imagination in “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
• How “The Yellow Wallpaper” had predicted the problem of “the trapped housewife” in America.
• Internalized and shared patriarchal values in women characters from “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
• How the wallpaper in the story represents the main character’s subconscious.

🎓 The Yellow Wallpaper Thesis Ideas

• Spiritual liberation through the awakening of female consciousness in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
• Dystopian elements in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” through the lens of horror: How terror and subversion are used in the narration.
• The color yellow in relation to psychology through the lens of Gilman’s story.
• Comparative study of female agency in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Plath’s “The Bell Jar.”
• Psychoanalytic perspectives on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.”
• How Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” reflects the theme of a female body.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a biography: The parallels between the protagonist’s experiences and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s struggles with mental health.
• The rebellion against social norms in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story.
• The analysis of John’s character and his role as husband in “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
• Unreliable narration in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and its effect on the reader’s perception.
• How Gilman uses language, storytelling, and images to portray madness.
• The suppression of creativity and artistic expression in the face of social expectations in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
• Myths and archetypes: Gilman’s story through the lens of Carl Jung’s theory.
• The ending of Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a reflection on late 19th-century women’s mental health treatment and its implications on gendered dynamics.

✒️ The Yellow Wallpaper: Essay Samples

Below you’ll find a collection of The Yellow Wallpaper essay examples. Hope you’ll find them useful!

• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Key Themes
• Alger’s “Ragged Dick” and Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper”
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Laugh of the Medusa”
• Social Values and Norms in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• American Women in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Symbolism in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• The Story of an Hour and The Yellow Wallpaper: Comparison
• Mental Illness in The Yellow Wallpaper
• The Yellow Wallpaper and Everyday Use Literature: Comparison
• Women Characters in Chopin’s, Gilman’s, Faulkner’s Stories
• Isolation, Patriarchy, Materialism, and Mental Illness in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Review
• Plots of Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• Feminist “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Literary Elements in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• The Description of Wallpaper in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman
• Color in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Perkins
• Gender in The Great Gatsby & The Yellow Wallpaper
• Uncovering the Wallpaper in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
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79 The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis – Essay Topics & Prompts

Charlotte Perkins Gilman published this short story in 1892, and it immediately resonated among the public. It is a secret diary of a young lady suffering from postpartum depression and gradually falling into madness. Meanwhile, her husband, “a physician of high standing,” ignores her wishes and treats her as a child who needs mentorship.

Gilman writes about her painful experience. It was one of the first feministic stories and is still topical nowadays. Below you will find dozens of The Yellow Wallpaper essay topics to boost your writing inspiration.

📌 Top 10 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics

• ✅ The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis
• 📝 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics with Prompts

🔤 The Yellow Wallpaper Theme Essay Topics

• 👩 Character Analysis Essay Topics
• ❓ 20 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Questions

🗨 References

• Can the reader trust the narrator, and why?
• Would the story end differently if the husband agreed to change the wallpaper?
• Did the diary help the narrator keep afloat?
• Is the husband the antagonist in the short story?
• Which stereotypes ruin a woman’s life, according to Gilman?
• Psychology of young mothers: the most controversial issues.
• What would help the narrator recover?
• How does the wallpaper mirror the narrator’s psychological condition?
• Imagine what would happen after The Yellow Wallpaper ends.
• Which literary devices does the author use to describe depression?

✅ The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis Essay – Ideas

The Yellow Wallpaper is a “what if” dystopia . The author had experienced the borderline condition and imagined a situation where her symptoms would intensify and develop until the worst possible scenario. Here are the essential analysis points for your essay:

• Jane’s condition does not look alarming at first. Moreover, she spends days chilling at a mansion doing nothing (that would be a dream for many of us). Life in the same room without books, writing, or even socializing for months resembles a prison.
• The protagonist is imprisoned not only within the country mansion. Her marriage contributes to her isolation. The husband (her doctor at the same time) ignores the worsening of her condition. Jane writes in her diary, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.”
• Jane projects her mental condition onto the yellow wallpaper and gradually starts seeing some girl behind it. She finally tears the wallpaper off the wall to free the girl living there. But the reader understands she was trying to free herself from the oppressive relationship and cruel treatment.

The Yellow Wallpaper essay prompts below will help you understand the author’s message better. They will guide you through feminism, marriage, mental health, and other topics. The Yellow Wallpaper essay questions we’ve listed here are only a tiny part of what you could be asking yourself. We wish you an inspired and rewarding writing session!

📝 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Prompts

• The yellow wallpaper as a representation of the narrator’s life. The parallel between the wallpaper extensively described in the story and the protagonist’s life and mental state can be linked through the illustration of similarities. Thus, the topic generates opportunities to present the wallpaper as a projection of the protagonist’s life: depressive, outdated, and causing her an immense sense of discomfort.
• Women’s oppression through psychiatric interventions . One of the elements of the story is the narrator’s mental state and the intervention that has been prescribed, involving a lack of physical and intellectual effort and isolation. The topic facilitates a reflection on the systems that were put in place to dismiss women, such as mental health approaches.
• The husband in The Yellow Wallpaper: Villain of a product of society? John is portrayed through first-person descriptions, which implies the readers see him through the eyes of the narrator, who suggests him being a loving and caring husband. The story can be analyzed concerning John as a family member versus John as the representation of men at the time.
• The physical and psychological prison in The Yellow Wallpaper. While the protagonist was confined to one room, is this the only prison she is a prisoner in? Is the room a representation of her life? Feeling trapped was not only associated with the narrator’s experimental conditions but also her mind, a topic that can be expanded further for analysis.
• Postpartum depression in The Yellow Wallpaper. Postpartum depression was not diagnosed with adequate treatment at the time, and the protagonist’s rest cure portrayed the inadequate approach to the issue. This can be analyzed concerning the dismissal of mental health issues in women and the burden of psychological challenges a woman was to overcome on her own.
• Discuss symbols introduced in The Yellow Wallpaper. Many elements presented in the novel act as symbols that help understand the narrative better. Consider the color and pattern of the wallpaper, the mysterious image of a woman, and the room itself. Explain their meaning within the story.
• The association between the author and the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper. Explore Gilman’s biography and analyze whether her life has connections with the experiences of the story’s main character. In your discussion, consider why the protagonist remains unnamed throughout the novel and why it may be necessary from the feministic viewpoint.
• Identify literary devices in The Yellow Wallpaper and explain their usage. Gilman utilizes several literary devices to accentuate the issues of depression and feminism in the novel. For instance, the author employs repetition to demonstrate the narrator’s confusion. Discuss how each literary device assists in unraveling the meaning of the story.
• Analyze the differences in gender roles in The Yellow Wallpaper. The story’s protagonist is a lady living in a patriarchal society with a husband who does not listen to her needs. Examine how the narrative demonstrates men’s and women’s roles and compare the representation to that of another feminist novel of the same period.
• Explore the main character’s point of view in The Yellow Wallpaper. Despite having some dialogues, the novel is presented from a single person’s perspective in the form of diary entries. Discuss why the author decided not to include other characters’ standpoints and explore the significance of the protagonist being the one to unravel the story.
• Explain your understanding of The Yellow Wallpaper’s ending. The novel is gradually revealed from one character’s perspective, yet the narrator’s identity seems to change toward the finale, which is somewhat perplexing. Identify and quote the exact moment when the main character’s personality transforms and debate potential reasons and the importance of the modification.
• Study the social impact of The Yellow Wallpaper. Gilman’s novel is one of the most prominent literary works that regard feminism and patriarchy. Investigate whether the narrative’s influence on the public’s perception of gender roles has been positive or negative since its publication. Consider lessons that modern-day society can learn from the story.
• Patronizing husband and mental illness in The Yellow Wallpaper. The main character in the novel suffers from postpartum depression and is convinced that her spouse, a physician, can aid her in overcoming the condition. Describe John’s reaction to his wife’s mental wellness and discuss whether his advice was helpful or harmful.

🖊️ The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis Essay Topics

• First-person narration in The Yellow Wallpaper. The Yellow Wallpaper entirely consists of first-person narration from the protagonist’s point of view. The literary element allows the reader to see the events from her perspective and perceive the subjective standpoint of reality in the wife’s imagination. Thus, the story becomes more realistic and generates compassion and realism.
• The Yellow Wallpaper as a partly autobiographical literature work. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote the short story based on her experience with postpartum psychosis. Hence, the mental breakdown illustrated in the literature piece shows the real-life experience of a woman at the time. The parallel between the writer’s life and the story itself gives a basis for a reflective essay.
• The feminist agenda is portrayed in The Yellow Wallpaper. The topic allows for an extensive reflection on women’s issues highlighted in the literature piece, including a lack of freedom, choice, and opportunities. Moreover, the discussion can encompass subjects such as motherhood and family life, as these aspects of womanhood are portrayed from the perspective of a woman’s experience.
• The Yellow Wallpaper in the realm of feminist literature. The Yellow Wallpaper is one of the many feminist literature pieces written at a time when gender inequality would prevent women from having the same opportunities as men. The topic allows for a reflection of feminist literature as a genre, a comparison with other similar stories and novels, and a contrast of various pieces.
• The ending of The Yellow Wallpaper: Mental health decline or psychological escape? The end of the short story is ambiguous. Did the protagonist lose the connection with reality, or did she let go of the psychological boundaries and gives freely in her imagination despite being physically trapped? Examining the ending from two perspectives is an excellent topic for reflection.

🎨 The Yellow Wallpaper Symbolism Essay Topics

• The Problem of Suppressing Women in The Yellow Wallpaper. Are modern attitudes toward women different from those described in the story? Analyze the family relationship between the narrator and her husband. Why does the man treat her like a child ? Identify the characteristics of society’s attitudes toward women at that time.
• The abrupt end of The Yellow Wallpaper. What did the author want to convey to the reader? Why did the narrator cut the story short at this point? There are many suggestions for continuing the story. Which one do you think is the most appropriate? Explain your point of view.
• How does the narrator feel about her diary? As you read the story, you can see that the journal helps the narrator get a little relief from her heartache. Analyze the narrator’s attitude toward the diary. Does she use it only because she lacks communication or for other reasons? Argue the answer.
• The Meaning of Yellow Wallpaper in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Story. Why does the author focus so much on describing wallpaper? How does the pattern change as the disease progresses? Analyze the narrator’s attitude toward wallpaper and give examples from the text. Identify what you think the color of the wallpaper symbolizes.
• The yellow wallpaper: What does the narrator’s room symbolize? How does the narrator’s room emphasize her husband’s attitude toward her? Analyze how the narrator describes it and conclude her attitude toward the room. Do you think the narrator is a prisoner or surrounded by her husband’s care and love?
• The Uniqueness of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Story. What distinguishes The Yellow Wallpaper from other nineteenth-century works? Give specific examples of the differences. Does the description of attitudes toward women in The Yellow Wallpaper differ from other stories? Note the problem of the suppression of women and describe it in more detail.
• Problems of 19th-century family life . In your opinion, whether the narrator’s husband is guilty of The Yellow Wallpaper, argue your answer. Why does the narrator not contradict her husband? Explore in more detail the relationship between husband and wife in the 19th century as described in the story.
• Symbols in The Yellow Wallpaper. Do a literary analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper. Why the author uses symbols in work, and how do they affect the reader’s experience? Analyze the main characters in the story and explain them, giving specific examples of the use of these symbols in the story.
• Postpartum depression in The Yellow Wallpaper. How does 19th-century society view women’s problems, and do they take them seriously? Analyze women’s behavior and conclude their condition after childbirth. Do you think women of that time who suffered from postpartum depression were treated incorrectly or vice versa?
• Literary devices used in The Yellow Wallpaper. Analyze the story by giving specific examples of literary devices and explaining their significance. How does the author convey the mood and experiences of the narrator through the use of literary devices? How do these techniques affect the reader, and why are they used?
• Gender Differences in The Yellow Wallpaper.
• Stigmatization of Mental Illnesses in The Yellow Wallpaper.
• Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Stories.
• The Yellow Wallpaper and the Perception of Postpartum Depression.
• The Representation of Feminism in The Yellow Wallpaper.
• The Yellow Wallpaper: The Exploration of Freedom.
• Identity, Creativity , and Self-Expression in The Yellow Wallpaper.
• Marriage and Family in The Yellow Wallpaper.
• Isolation in Charlotte Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper.
• The Yellow Wallpaper: Madness and Horror.
• A Lack of Communication in The Yellow Wallpaper.

👩 The Yellow Wallpaper Character Analysis Essay Topics

• Analyze John’s role as a patriarchal figure. It is important to note that John is a complex character who cares about the narrator but restricts and confines her to her room. Using his example in The Yellow Wallpaper, explore how patriarchy might not be intentionally oppressive towards women.
• Analyze the relationship dynamic between John and the Narrator. The Yellow Wallpaper provides a highly complex relationship dynamic between the husband and the wife. Use evidence from sources on feminism, patriarchy, and domestic abuse . Assess whether mental health justifies what John does to the Narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper.
• The role of Jennie in the feminist framework. Jennie, John’s sister, demonstrates a form of contentment with the domestic function she performs for the couple. However, it should be noted that she shows care for the narrator. You can refer to sources on Women Against Feminism to analyze how some women also promoted a patriarchal social structure.
• Assess the relationship dynamic between John and Jennie. Jennie, John’s sister, works for him as a housekeeper. Their relationship can be explored based on socioeconomic differences, siblinghood, and gender roles. You can use evidence on gender roles in families to arrive at insightful conclusions.
• Explore how John balances between being a physician and a husband. In The Yellow Wallpaper, John is related to the narrator not only as her husband but also as her physician. You might consider referring to sources on the patriarchal nature of medicine and healthcare establishments in the modern social context.
• The narrator’s socioeconomic status and mental health. The Yellow Wallpaper provides in-depth details on its central characters, such as the narrator being an upper-middle-class woman. Explore how a person’s socioeconomic status affects their ability to deal with mental health using national sources and databases to gain more insight.
• The Narrator and discouragement: a bigger picture. In The Yellow Wallpaper, John constantly discourages the narrator from doing what she desires to do, further constrains her restrictive treatment. Use sources on how self-expression affects one’s identity and reflect on the narrator’s situation, focusing on her self-perception.
• Stigmatization and prejudice in the narrator’s mental illness. The story profoundly explores the main character’s perspective, but how others perceive her mental health, mainly John could use more analysis. The language used to define and describe her problems provides a substantive subject to discuss using historical evidence.
• The effect of the rest cure on the narrator. He justifies confinement, restriction, and isolation imposed by John on the narrator as being a rest cure. Use sources on her possible mental health issue to assess the validity of the rest cure as a treatment and its role in the story.
• Guilt in the relationship dynamic between the Narrator and Jennie. It should be noted that The Yellow Wallpaper focuses on themes of patriarchy and gender roles, and the latter can also have an impact relationship between two women. Explore how gender role expectations invoke guilt in the narrator due to Jennie’s housekeeping abilities.

❓ The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Questions

• How does John represent patriarchy?
• Is John truly well-intentioned in his treatment?
• How power imbalance dictates the relationship between John and the Narrator?
• Is John domestically abusing the narrator?
• Is Jennie an antifeminist figure in The Yellow Wallpaper?
• Does Jennie’s contention with housekeeping constitute feminism?
• How the gender roles affect the relationship between John and Jennie?
• How does siblinghood change the gender roles between John and Jennie?
• Can gender roles be inherited through John/Jennie’s family values?
• How does the narrator’s socioeconomic status relate to her mental health?
• Is the rest cure imposed on the narrator effective?
• Is John more of a doctor or husband for the narrator?
• How John’s discouragement of writing affects the narrator?
• How the narrator’s mental health is communicated in the story?
• Are there signs of prejudice against the narrator’s mental state?
• Why does Jennie make the narrator feel guilty?
• How the rest cure imposed on the narrator exemplifies situational irony?
• Why does the narrator perceive the room to be a nursery?
• What would be the best way to treat the narrator?
• What could John do to the narrator to make her feel better?
• House of horror: the poisonous power of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper – The Guardian .
• Analysis of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper by C. Perkins Gilman – ThoughtCo.
• The Yellow Wallpaper: a 19th-century short story of nervous exhaustion and the perils of women’s ‘rest cures’ – The Conversation.
• The Yellow Wallpaper – Britannica.
• The Yellow Wallpaper: Psychological Analysis – HubPages.
• ‘The Yellow Wallpaper Questions for Study – ThoughtCo.

The Symbolism of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ Explained

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is an 1892 short story by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. A powerful study of mental illness and the inhuman treatments administered in its name, the story succeeds largely because of its potent symbolism. Let’s take a look at some of the key symbols in the tale.

First, however, let’s briefly summarise the plot of the story: the narrator and her husband John, a doctor, have come to stay at a large country house. As the story develops, we realise that the woman’s husband has brought her to the house in order to try to cure her of her mental illness. His proposed (well, enforced ) treatment is to lock his wife away from everyone except him, and to withhold everything from her that might excite her.

It becomes clear, as the story develops, that depriving the female narrator of anything to occupy her mind is making her mental illness worse, not better. The narrator outlines to us how she sometimes sits for hours in her room, tracing the patterns in the yellow wallpaper on the walls of her room.

She then tells us she thinks she can see a woman ‘stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern.’ She becomes obsessed with the wallpaper as her mental state deteriorates, before eventually locking herself within the room and crawling around on the floor.

The Mansion.

‘ The Yellow Wallpaper ’ begins with the idea that we are about to read a haunted house story, a Gothic tale, a piece of horror. Such stories were a staple of late nineteenth-century magazines and enjoyed huge popularity.

And why else, wonders the story’s female narrator, would the house be available so cheaply unless it was haunted? And why had it remained unoccupied for so long? This is how many haunted house tales begin, so we are deliberately placed on this track, but it will turn out to be the wrong track.

But as we read on, we realise that the ‘haunting’ is not supernatural but psychological: the narrator of Gilman’s story contains her own demons within her mind, and her husband’s ‘treatment’ actually accentuates and intensifies these.

‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ has the structure and style of a diary. This is in keeping with what the female narrator tells us: that she can only write down her experiences when her husband John is not around, because he forbids her to write because he thinks it will overexcite her. The whole story thus has the air of a secret text, with the narrator confiding in us – indeed, the reader is her only confidant.

But it also has the effect of shifting the narrative tense: from the usual past tense to the more unusual present tense. This has benefits in that it creates the sense of a continuous narrative, and events unfolding as we read them.

The Husband.

The narrator’s husband, John, is a doctor, but he is a world away from the ‘mad doctor’ trope found in Gothic texts, especially those influenced by Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde .

John’s greatest flaw is not his inherent evil but his dogged devotion to the prevailing scientific opinion of the day. His danger to his wife is not in being some eccentric or power-hungry outlier, but in holding too fast to the medical orthodoxy of the time. He believes that incarcerating his wife alone away from her family – even her own children – will make her better.

Gilman uses suggestive symbolism to dramatise the complex relationship between husband and wife in the story. Take that final dramatic scene where John is about to break down the door to his wife’s chamber with an axe. So far, so ‘mad axeman found in countless horror stories and fairy tales’, with shades of Bluebeard , that wife-killer from European folk history.

But this narrative is complicated by the fact that John has come to save his wife from herself, while she – having locked herself away in the room in order to protect her husband and family from the strange women she believes are behind the yellow wallpaper in the room – believes she is protecting him.

Of course, her madness has been made worse by John’s treatment of her in the first place, but he believes he is acting in her own interests. The symbolism of the axe here, and the husband being prepared to break down the door to his wife’s bedroom, is layered and complex.

The Nursery.

It is significant that the room in which the narrator is incarcerated is the old nursery in the large house. The narrator tells us that there are bars on the windows to protect little children from hurting themselves, although ‘bars’ here also symbolise the narrator’s de facto imprisonment in the room.

The fact that the room was once a nursery and then, the narrator deduces, a ‘gymnasium’ is loaded with significance. The room thus symbolises the narrator’s own childlike state as she is treated like a naughty child by her husband and locked away in her room. The reference to a gymnasium is ironic, since a gymnasium is a room for exercise, but the room actually worsens the narrator’s health.

The Yellow Wallpaper.

The most powerful symbol in the story is the yellow wallpaper itself. But it is also, perhaps, the most ambiguous symbol in the story, because it can invite at least two very different interpretations.

The first interpretation views the yellow wallpaper as an outward and visible symbol of the narrator’s own internal state of mind. Her disordered mental state leads her to see all manner of figures in the paper’s patterns. Human beings have evolved to look for patterns as a survival mechanism, but here the narrator’s pattern-hunting is her undoing.

At one point, she mentions a ‘particularly irritating’ pattern which ‘you can only see it in certain lights, and not clearly then’. This closely ties the paper’s patterns with the narrator’s shifting moods and highlights the subjective nature of what she sees (or thinks she sees) in the wallpaper.

However, given the kinds of shapes the narrator describes seeing in the wallpaper, a second interpretation is possible. This one is more firmly focused on the story’s feminist message, and sees the shapes in the wallpaper as symbols of female oppression at the time the story was written. For example, the narrator describes detecting a figure ‘like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern.’

Indeed, the word ‘creeping’ (and its accompanying adjective, ‘creepy’, which seems doubly apt here) recurs numerous times throughout this short story. It implies that the narrator sees a version of herself – and all oppressed women – within the wallpaper, having to tread carefully around others, unable to be fully themselves. The verb ‘stooping’ also suggests bearing the weight of some kind of burden.

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The Yellow Wallpaper Setting Analysis

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Published: Mar 5, 2024

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