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Analysis of Characterization in the Yellow Wallpaper

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Analysis of Characterization in the Yellow Wallpaper
Analysis of Indirect Characterization in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Lama Ismail
Haigazian University

Outline:
Introduction:
A. “The Yellow Wallpaper” was written at a time when the traditional power structure of marriage was supported. B. Gilman describes the unequal status of a wife, the narrator, who suffers from nervous depression. C. Brief history of interpretations of “The Yellow Wallpaper.” D. The chosen interpretation rests on how the narrator’s character is analyzed through her hidden thoughts. E. How does the author use indirect characterization to reveal the narrator’s hidden thoughts?

Body:
Part One: A. Gilman uses indirect characterization to reveal the narrator’s private thoughts through the narrator’s secret journal. B. As a result of her depression, her treatment is a rest cure. C. She keeps a secret journal as an outlet for her thoughts and imagination.
Part Two: A. Writings of journal show that the narrator is not convinced with her “rest cure” treatment. B. She believes that the “rest cure” is one of the reasons she doesn’t improve. C. Her thoughts reveal that the character is skeptical about her prescribed treatment.
Part Three: A. Writings of journal reveal that the narrator is a highly imaginative woman. B. Her imagination is continuously opposed by John. C. The narrator longs for less opposition and more stimulation. D. Her thoughts reveal that she is not happy with her situation since her needs for stimulation are not met.
Part Four: A. Since the narrator’s imagination is oppressed, she directs it to supposedly harmless objects. B. This becomes dangerous since she loses connection between her written and her real world. C. Writings purvey that keeping her thoughts hidden from the outside world, makes her more dissociated from her real life. Conclusion: A. Found interest among different schools of literature. B. One underlying assumption: the


References: Crewe, J. (1995). Queering “The Yellow Wallpaper?” Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the Politics of Form. Tulsa Studies in Women 's Literature, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 273-293. Davison, C.M. (2004). Haunted House/Haunted Heroine: Female Gothic Closets in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Women’s Studies, No. 33, pp. 47–75. Dock, J.B (1998). “Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and the History of its Publication and Reception: A Critical Edition and Documentary Casebook.” The Pennsylvania State University Press. Gilman, C.P. (1892). “The Yellow Wallpaper.” London: The New England Magazine. Linehan, MM (1993). "Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder." New York: Guilford Press. Linehan, MM (1993). "Skills Training Manual For Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder." New York: Guilford Press. Treichler, P.A. (1984). Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Tulsa Studies in Women 's Literature, Vol. 3, No. 1/2, pp. 61-77. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/yellowwallpaper/
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