Feb. 28th Wednesday

I hope you all learned from the movie last day.

Next class will be our final class before the Exam on Friday.

We will work on some practice questions in class today.

Interpretation

As with many works of fiction, "The Yellow Wall-Paper" can be and has been subject to several interpretations and interpretive methods.

The story has been interpreted by feminist critics as a condemnation of the

androcentric hegemony of 19th century medical profession. The narrator's suggestions about her recuperation (that she should work instead of rest, that she should engage with society instead of remaining isolated, that she should attempt to be a mother instead of being separated entirely from her child, etc.) are dismissed out of hand using language that stereotypes her as an irrational being and, therefore, not qualified to offer ideas about her own condition.

Gilman indicated that the idea for the story originated in her own experience as a patient. Other feminist readings have pointed out the inequality of the marriage described in the story and have discussed this aspect of the story in relation to Victorian ideals and traditions of marriage.

"The Yellow Wall-Paper" is sometimes referred to as an example of

Gothic literature for its treatment of madness and powerlessness. It has also been published in collections of horror fiction, which has led some to speculate that the women in the wallpaper were actually ghosts bent on driving the narrator insane, and not hallucinations. The strong feminist statements in the work itself, as well as those of the author, do not lend support to this interpretation. In terms of feminism, it should also be noted that this short story was written during the Victorian era, a particularly stifling time for women and thus the woman's behavior can be seen as a reaction against social forces.

Another interpretation is to doubt the veracity of many of the narrator's early statements. There may never have been a husband, sister, baby, or any other characters as described in the story, meaning the entire story (or a large part of it) is the product of a deluded mind, so the reader cannot know what is true and what is not. Finally, she makes herself the woman inside the prison of yellow wallpaper, completely overtaken by her irrational reality.