This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized
by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the
information in books and make it universally accessible.
https://books.google.com
Ji i ml;- A.
yjr Willi
ion
The Arthur and Elizabeth
SCHLESINGER LIBRARY
on the History of Women
in America
RADCLIFFE COLLEGE
Gift of
Reinhard S. peck
z.^
fc^VC"*)
in/^f
ip^^^^ ^.c '.
i
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
THE
YELLOW WALL PAPER
BY
CHARLOTTE PERKINS STETSON
BOSTON
SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY
v Ou It
s / 3■ i
/?*/
4
Copyright, 1892
By New England Magazine
Corporation
Copyright, 1899
By Small, Maynard & Company
Rockwell & Churchill Press
Boston, U.S.A.
■
This story is reprinted from The
New England Magazine of January,
1892, by permission of the publisher,
to -whom the thanks of the Author are
due. The cover design is by Mr.
E. B. Bird.
THE
YELLOW WALL PAPER
IT is very seldom that mere ordinary
people like John and myself secure
ancestral halls for the summer.
A colonial
mansion,
a
hereditary
estate, I would say a haunted house,
and
reach
the
height
of
romantic
felicity, — but that would be asking
too much of fate!
Still I will proudly declare that there
is something queer about it.
Else, why should it be let so cheap
ly?
And why have stood so long un
tenanted ?
John laughs at me, of course, but
one expects that in marriage.
John is practical
in
the extreme.
He has no patience with faith, an in
tense horror of superstition, and he
I
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
scoffs openly at any talk of things not
to be felt and seen and put down in
figures.
John is a physician, and perhaps —
(I would not say it to a living soul, of
course, but this is dead paper and a
great relief to my mind) — perhaps
that is one reason I do not get well
faster.
You see, he does not believe I am
sick!
And what can one do?
If a physician of high standing, and
one's own husband, assures friends and
relatives that there is really nothing
the matter with one but temporary
nervous depression, — a slight hysteri
cal tendency, — what is one to do ?
My brother is also a physician, and
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
also of high standing, and he says the
same thing.
So I take phosphates or phosphites,
— whichever it is, — and tonics, and
journeys, and air, and exercise, and
am absolutely forbidden to " work "
until I am well again.
Personally I disagree with their
ideas.
Personally I believe that congenial
work, with excitement and change,
would do me good.
But what is one to do ?
I did write for a while in spite of
them; but it does exhaust me a good
deal — having to be so sly about it,
or else meet with heavy opposition.
I sometimes fancy that in my con
dition if I had less opposition and more
3
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
society and stimulus — but John says
the very worst thing I can do is to
think about my condition, and I con
fess it always makes me feel bad.
So I will let it alone and talk about
the house.
The
most beautiful
place!
It
is
quite alone, standing well back from
the road, quite three miles from the
village.
It makes me think of English
places that you read about, for there
are hedges and walls and gates that
lock, and lots of separate little houses
for the gardeners and people.
There
is
a
delicious
garden!
I
never saw such a garden — large and
shady, full of box-bordered paths, and
lined with long grape-covered arbors
with seats under them.
4
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
There were greenhouses, too, but
they are all broken now.
There was some legal trouble, I
believe, something about the heirs
and co-heirs; anyhow, the place has
been empty for years.
That spoils my ghostliness, I am
afraid; but I don't care — there is
something strange about the house —
I can feel it.
I even said so to John one moon
light evening, but he said what I felt
was a draught, and shut the window.
I get unreasonably angry with John
sometimes. Pm sure I never used to
be so sensitive. I think it is due to
this nervous condition.
But John says if I feel so I shall
neglect proper self-control ; so I take
5
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
pains to control myself, — before him,
at least, — and that makes me very tired.
I
don't
like
our
room
wanted one downstairs
a
that
bit.
I
opened
on the piazza and had roses all over
the window, and such pretty, old-fash
ioned chintz hangings! but John would
not hear of it.
He said there was only one window
and not room for two beds, and no near
room for him if he took another.
He is very careful and loving, and
hardly lets
me
stir
without
special
direction.
I have a schedule prescription for
each hour in the day ; he takes all care
from me, and so I feel basely ungrate
ful not to value it more.
He said we came here solely on my
6
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
account, that I was to have perfect rest
and all the air I could get.
"Your
exercise depends on your . strength, my
dear," said he, " and your food some
what on your appetite ; but air you can
absorb all the time."
So we took the
nursery, at the top of the house.
It is a big, airy room, the whole
floor nearly, with windows that look
all ways, and air and sunshine galore.
It was nursery first and
ground
and
then play
gymnasium,
I
should
judge ; for the windows are barred for
little children, and there are rings and
things in the walls.
The paint and paper look as if a
boys' school had used it.
It is stripped
off" — the paper — in great patches all
around the head of my bed, about as far
7
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
as I can reach, and in a great place on
the other side of the room low down.
I never saw a worse paper in my life.
One of those sprawling flamboyant
patterns committing every artistic sin.
It is dull enough to confuse the eye
in following, pronounced
enough to
constantly irritate, and provoke study,
and when you follow the lame, uncer
tain curves for a little distance they
suddenly commit suicide — plunge off
at outrageous angles, destroy
them
selves in unheard-of contradictions.
The
color is repellant, almost re
volting; a smouldering, unclean yellow,
strangely faded by the
slow-turning
sunlight.
It is a dull yet lurid orange in some
places, a sickly sulphur tint in others.
8
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
No wonder the children hated it ! I
should hate it myself if I had to
live in this room long.
There comes John, and I must put
this away, — he hates to have me
write a word.
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
We have been here two weeks, and
I haven't felt like writing before, since
that first day.
I am sitting by the window now, up
in this atrocious nursery, and there is
nothing to hinder my writing as much
as I please, save lack of strength.
John is away all day, and even some
nights when his cases are serious.
I am glad my case is not serious!
But these nervous troubles are dread
fully depressing.
John does not know how much I
really suffer.
He knows there is no
reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.
Of course it is only nervousness.
It
does weigh on me so not to do my
duty in any way!
I meant to be such a help to John,
10
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
such a real rest and comfort, and here
I am a comparative burden already!
Nobody would believe what an effort
it is to do what little I am able — to
dress and entertain, and order things.
It
is fortunate
with the baby.
Mary is
so
good
Such a dear baby!
And yet I cannot be with him, it
makes me so nervous.
I suppose John never was nervous
in his life.
He laughs at me so about
this wall paper!
At first he
meant to repaper the
room, but afterwards he said that
I
was letting it get the better of me,
and
that
nothing
was
worse for a
nervous patient than to give way to
such fancies.
He
said that after the wall paper
11
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
was changed it would be the heavy
bedstead, and then the barred win
dows, and then that gate at the head
of the stairs, and so on.
" You know the place is doing you
good," he said, " and really, dear, I
don't care to renovate the house just
for a three months' rental."
"Then do let us go downstairs," I
said, "there
are
such
pretty rooms
there."
Then he took me in his arms and
called me a blessed little goose, and
said he
would go down cellar if I
wished, and have it whitewashed into
the bargain.
But he is right enough about the
beds and windows and things.
It is as airy and comfortable a room
12
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
as any one need wish, and, of course,
I would not be so silly as to make him
uncomfortable just for a whim.
I'm really getting quite fond of the
big room, all but that horrid paper.
Out of one window I can see the
garden, those mysterious deep-shaded
arbors, the riotous old-fashioned flow
ers, and bushes and gnarly trees.
Out of another I get a lovely view
of the bay and a little private wharf
belonging to the estate.
There is a
beautiful shaded lane that runs down
there from the house.
I always fancy
I see people walking in these numer
ous paths and arbors, but John has
cautioned me not to give way to fancy
in the least.
He says that with my
imaginative power and habit of story
13
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
making a nervous weakness like mine
is sure to lead to all manner of excited
fancies, and that I ought to use my
will and good sense to check the ten
dency. So I try.
I think sometimes that if I were
only well enough to write a little it
would relieve the press of ideas and
rest me.
But I find I get pretty tired when I
try.
It is so discouraging not to have any
advice and companionship about my
work. When I get really well John
says we will ask Cousin Henry and
Julia down for a long visit ; but he
says he would as soon put fire-works
in my pillow-case as to let me have
those stimulating people about now.
H
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I wish I could get well faster.
But I must not think about
that.
This paper looks to me as if it knew
what a vicious influence it had!
There is a recurrent spot where the
pattern lolls like a broken neck and
two bulbous eyes stare at you upsidedown.
I got positively angry with the im
pertinence of it and the everlastingness.
Up and down and sideways they
crawl, and
those absurd, unblinking
eyes are everywhere.
There is one
place where two breadths didn't match,
and the eyes go all up and down the
line, one a little higher than the other.
I never saw so much expression in
an inanimate thing before, and we all
know how much expression they have !
IS
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I used to lie awake as a child and get
more entertainment and terror out of
blank walls and plain furniture than
most children could find
in
a
toy-
store.
I remember what a kindly wink the
knobs of our big old bureau used to
have, and there was one chair that
always seemed like a strong friend.
I used to feel that if any of the other
things looked too fierce I could always
hop into that chair and be safe.
The furniture in this room is
no
worse than inharmonious, however, for
we had to bring it all from downstairs.
I suppose when this was used as a play
room they had to take the nursery things
out, and no wonder !
I never saw such
ravages as the children have made here.
16
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
The wall paper, as I said before, is
torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer
than a brother — they must have had
perseverance as well as hatred.
Then
the
floor
is
scratched
and
gouged and splintered, the plaster it
self is dug out here and there, and this
great heavy bed, which is all we found
in the room, looks as if it had been
through the wars.
But I don't mind it a bit — only the
paper.
There comes John's sister.
Such a
dear girl as she is, and so careful of
me !
I must not
let
her
find
me
writing.
She
is
a
perfect, an
housekeeper, and
ter profession.
hopes
enthusiastic
for no bet
I verily believe she
17
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
thinks it is the writing which made me
sick !
But I
can write when she is out,
and see her a long way off from these
windows.
There
is one that commands
the
road, a lovely, shaded, winding road,
and one that just looks off over the
country.
A lovely country, too, full
of great elms and velvet meadows.
This wall paper has a kind of subpattern in a different shade, a particu
larly irritating one, for you can only
see it in certain lights, and not clearly
then.
But
in
the
places where
it isn't
faded, and where the sun is just so,
I can see a strange, provoking, form
less sort of figure, that seems to sulk
18
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
about behind that silly and conspic
uous front design.
There's sister on the stairs!
l9
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
Well, the Fourth of July is over!
The people are all gone and I am
tired out.
John thought it might do
me good to see a little company, so
we just had mother and Nellie and
the children down for a week.
Of
course
I
didn't
do
a
thing.
Jennie sees to everything now.
But it tired me all the same.
John says if I don't pick up faster
he shall
send me to Weir Mitchell
in the fall.
But I don't want to go there at all.
I had a friend who was in his hands
once, and she says he is just like John
and my brother, only more so!
Besides, it is such an undertaking
to go so far.
I
don't
feel
as if it was
20
worth
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
while to turn my hand over for any
thing, and Pm getting dreadfully fretful
and querulous.
I cry at nothing, and cry most of
the time.
Of course I don't
when John is
here, or anybody else, but when
I
am alone.
And I am alone a good deal just now.
John is kept in town very often by
serious cases, and Jennie is good and
lets me alone when I want her to.
Sd I walk a little in the garden or
down
that
lovely
lane,
sit
on
the
porch under the roses, and lie down
up here a good deal.
Pm getting really fond of the room
in spite of the wall paper.
because of the wall paper.
21
Perhaps
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
It dwells in my mind so!
I lie here on this great immovable
bed — it is nailed down, I believe —
and follow that pattern about by the
hour.
It is as good as gymnastics, I
assure you.
I start, we'll say, at the
bottom, down in the corner over there
where it has not been touched, and I
determine for the thousandth time that
I -will follow that pointless pattern to
some sort of a conclusion.
I know a little of the principles of
design, and I know this thing was not
arranged on any laws of radiation, or
alternation, or repetition, or symmetry,
or anything else that I ever heard of.
It is repeated, of course,
by the
breadths, but not otherwise.
Looked at in one way, each breadth
22
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
stands alone, the bloated curves and
flourishes — a kind of "debased Ro
manesque " with delirium tremens —
go waddling up and down in isolated
columns of fatuity.
But, on the other hand, they con
nect diagonally, and the sprawling
outlines run off" in great slanting waves
of optic horror, like a lot of wallow
ing seaweeds in full chase.
The whole thing goes horizontally,
too, at least it seems so, and I exhaust
myself in trying to distinguish the
order of its going in that direction.
They have used a horizontal breadth
for a frieze, and that adds wonderfully
to the confusion.
There is one end of the room where
it is almost intact, and there, when
23
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
the cross-lights fade and the low sun
shines directly upon it, I can almost
fancy radiation, after all, — the inter
minable grotesques seem to form around
a common centre and rush off in head
long plunges of equal distraction.
It makes me tired to follow it. I
will take a nap, I guess.
24
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I don't know why I should write
this.
I don't want to.
I don't feel able.
And I know John would think it
absurd. But I must say what I feel
and think in some way — it is such a
relief !
But the effort is getting to be greater
than the relief.
Half the time now I am awfully lazy,
and lie down ever so much.
John says I mustn't lose my strength,
and has me take cod-liver oil and lots
of tonics and things, to say nothing of
ale and wine and rare meat.
Dear John!
He loves me very
dearly, and hates to have me sick. I
tried to have a real earnest reasonable
25
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
talk with him the other day, and tell
him how I wished he would let me go
and make a visit to Cousin Henry and
Julia.
But he said I wasn't able to go, nor
able to stand it after I got there ; and I
did not make out a very good case for
myself, for I was crying before I had
finished.
It is getting to be a great effort for
me to think straight.
Just this nervous
weakness, I suppose.
And dear John gathered me up in
his arms, and just carried me upstairs
and laid me on the bed, and sat by
me and read to me till he tired my
head.
He said I was his darling and his
comfort and all he had, and that I must
26
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
take care of myself for his sake, and
keep well.
He says no one but myself can help
me out of it, that I must use my will
and self-control and not let my silly
fancies run away with me.
There's one
comfort, the
baby is
well and happy, and does not have to
occupy this nursery with the horrid
wall paper.
If we had not used it that blessed
child would have!
What a fortunate
escape!
wouldn't
Why,
I
have
a
child of mine, an impressionable little
thing, live in such a room for worlds.
I never thought of it before, but it is
lucky that John kept me here, after all.
I can stand it so much easier than a
baby, you see.
27
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
Of course I never mention it to them
any more, — I am too wise, — but I
keep watch of it all the same.
There are things in that paper that
nobody knows but me, or ever will.
Behind that outside pattern the dim
shapes get clearer every day.
It is always the same shape, only
very numerous.
And it is like a woman
stooping
down and creeping about behind that
pattern.
I don't like it a bit.
I won
der — I begin to think — I wish John
would take me away from here!
28
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
It is so hard to talk with John about
my case, because he is so wise, and be
cause he loves me so.
But I tried it last night.
It was moonlight.
The moon shines
in all around, just as the sun does.
I hate to see it sometimes, it creeps
so slowly, and always comes in by one
window or another.
John was
asleep
and
I
hated to
waken him, so I kept still and watched
the moonlight on that undulating wall
paper till I felt creepy.
The faint figure behind seemed to
shake the pattern, just as if she wanted
to get out.
I got up softly and went to feel
and see if the paper did move, and
when I came back John was awake.
29
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
"What is it, little girl?" he said.
"Don't go walking about like that —
you'll get cold."
I thought it was a good time to
talk, so I told him that I really was
not gaining here, and that I wished
he would take me away.
"Why, darling ! " said he, "our lease
will be up in three weeks, and 1 can't
see how to leave before.
" The repairs are not done at home,
and I cannot possibly leave town just
now.
Of course if you were in any
danger I could and would, but you
really are better, dear, whether you
can see it or not.
I am a doctor,
dear, and I know.
You are gaining
flesh and color, your appetite is better.
I feel really much easier about you."
3°
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
"I don't weigh a bit more," said I,
K nor as much ; and my appetite may
be better in the evening, when you
are here, but it is worse in the morn
ing, when you are away."
"Bless her little heart!" said
he
with a big hug; " she shall be as sick as
she pleases.
But now let's improve
the shining hours by going to sleep,
and talk about it in the morning."
"And you won't go away?" I asked
gloomily.
"Why, how can I, dear?
It is only
three weeks more and then we will
take a nice little trip of a few days
while
ready.
Jennie
is
getting
the
house
Really, dear, you are better ! "
" Better in body, perhaps " — I be
gan, and stopped short, for he sat up
31
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
straight and looked at me with such
a stern, reproachful look that I could
not say another word.
"My darling," said he, "I beg of
you, for my sake and for our child's
sake, as well as for your own, that
you will never for one instant let that
idea enter your mind!
There is noth
ing so dangerous, so fascinating, to a
temperament like yours.
and foolish fancy.
It is a false
Can you not trust
me as a physician when I tell you so?"
So of course I said no more on that
score, and we went to sleep before
long.
He thought I was asleep first,
but I wasn't, — I lay there for hours
trying to decide
pattern
whether that front
and the back pattern really
did move together or separately.
32
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
On a pattern like this, by daylight,
there is a lack of sequence, a defiance
of law, that is a constant irritant to a
normal mind.
The color is hideous enough, and
unreliable enough, and infuriating
enough, but the pattern is torturing.
You think you have mastered it,
but just as you get well under way in
following, it turns a back somersault,
and there you are. It slaps you in the
face, knocks you down, and tramples
upon you. It is like a bad dream.
The outside pattern is a florid ara
besque, reminding one of a fungus. If
you can imagine a toadstool in joints, an
interminable string of toadstools, bud
ding and sprouting in endless convolu
tions, — why, that is something like it.
33
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
That is, sometimes!
There
is
one
marked
peculiarity
about this paper, a thing nobody seems
to notice but myself, and that is that
it changes as the light changes.
When the sun shoots in through the
east window — I always watch for that
first long, straight ray — it changes so
quickly that I never can quite believe it.
That is why I watch it always.
By moonlight — the moon shines in
all night when there is a moon — I
wouldn't know it was the same paper.
At night in any kind of light, in
twilight,
candlelight,
lamplight,
and
worst of all by moonlight, it becomes
bars!
The outside pattern, I mean,
and the woman behind it is as plain
as can be.
34
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I didn't realize for a long time what
the thing was that showed behind, —
that dim sub-pattern, — but now I am
quite sure it is a woman.
By daylight she is subdued, quiet. I
fancy it is the pattern that keeps her so
still. It is so puzzling. It keeps me
quiet by the hour.
I lie down ever so much now. John
says it is good for me, and to sleep all
I can.
Indeed, he started the habit by making
me lie down for an hour after each meal.
It is a very bad habit, I am convinced,
for, you see, I don't sleep.
And that cultivates deceit, for I don't
tell them I'm awake, — oh, no!
The fact is, I am getting a little afraid
of John.
35
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
He seems very queer sometimes,
and even Jennie has an inexplicable
look.
It strikes me occasionally, just as a
scientific hypothesis, that perhaps it is
the paper!
I have watched John when he did
not know I was looking, and come into
the room suddenly on the most inno
cent excuses, and I've caught him
several times looking at the paperl
And Jennie too. I caught Jennie with
her hand on it once.
She didn't know I was in the room,
and when I asked her in a quiet, a very
quiet voice, with the most restrained
manner possible, what she was doing
with the paper she turned around as
if she had been caught stealing, and
36
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
looked quite angry — asked me why I
should frighten her so!
Then she said that the paper stained
everything it
found
yellow
touched, that
smooches
she had
on
all
my
clothes and John's, and she wished we
would be more careful!
Did not that sound innocent?
But I
know she was studying that pattern, and
I am determined that nobody shall find
it out but myself !
37
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
Life is very much more exciting now
than it used to be.
You see I have
something more to expect, to look for
ward to, to watch.
I really do eat
better, and am more quiet than I was.
John is so pleased to see me improve !
He laughed a little the other day, and
said I seemed to be flourishing in spite
of my wall paper.
I turned it off with a laugh.
I had
no intention of telling him it was be
cause of the wall paper — he would
make fun of me.
He might even want
to take me away.
I don't want to leave now until I
have found it out.
There is a week
more, and I think that will be enough.
38
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I'm feeling ever so much better!
I
don't sleep much at night, for it is so
interesting to watch developments ; but
I sleep a good deal in the daytime.
In the daytime it is tiresome and per
plexing.
There are always new shoots on the
fungus, and new shades of yellow all
over it.
I cannot keep count of them,
though I have tried conscientiously.
It is the strangest yellow, that wall
paper !
It makes me think of all the
yellow things I ever saw — not beauti
ful ones like buttercups, but old foul,
bad yellow things.
But there is something else about
that paper — the smell!
I noticed it
the moment we came into the room,
but with so much air and sun it was
39
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
not bad.
Now we have had a week of
fog and rain, and whether the windows
are open or not the smell is here.
It creeps all over the house.
I find it hovering in the dining-room,
skulking in the parlor, hiding in the
hall,
lying
in
wait
for me on
the
stairs.
It gets into my hair.
Even when I go to ride, if I turn
my head suddenly and surprise it —
there is that smell!
Such a peculiar odor, too !
I have
spent hours in trying to analyze it, to
find what it smelled like.
It is not bad — at first,
and very
gentle, but quite the subtlest, most en
during odor I ever met.
In this damp weather it is awful.
40
I
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
wake up in the night and find it hang
ing over me.
It used to disturb me at first. I
thought seriously of burning the house
— to reach the smell.
But now I am used to it. The only
thing I can think of that it is like is the
color of the paper — a yellow smell!
There is a very funny mark on this
wall, low down, near the mopboard. A
streak that runs around the room. It
goes behind every piece of furniture,
except the bed, a long, straight, even
smooch, as if it had been rubbed over
and over.
I wonder how it was done and who
did it, and what they did it for. Round
and round and round — round and
round and round — it makes me dizzy !
41
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I really have discovered something
at last.
Through watching so much at night,
when it changes so, I have finally found
out.
The front pattern does move — and
no wonder ! The woman behind shakes
it !
Sometimes I think there are a great
many women behind, and sometimes
only one, and she crawls around fast,
and her crawling shakes it all over.
Then in the very bright spots she
keeps still, and in the very shady spots
she just takes hold of the bars and
shakes them hard.
And she is all the time trying to
climb
through.
But
nobody could
climb through that pattern —it strangles
42
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
so ; I think that is why it has so many
heads.
They get through, and then the pat
tern strangles them off and turns them
upside-down,
and
makes
their
eyes
white !
If those heads were covered or taken
off it would not be half so bad.
43
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I think that woman gets out in the
daytime !
And I'll tell you why — privately —
I've seen her !
I can see her out of every one of my
windows !
It is the same woman, I know, for she
is always creeping, and most women do
not creep by daylight.
I see her in that long shaded lane,
creeping up and down.
I see her in
those dark grape arbors, creeping all
around the garden.
I see her on that long road under the
trees, creeping along, and when a car
riage comes she hides under the black
berry vines.
I don't blame her a bit.
It must be
very humiliating to be caught creeping
by daylight !
44
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I always lock the door when I creep
by daylight.
I can't do it at night,
for I know John would suspect some
thing at once.
And John is so queer, now, that I
don't want to irritate him.
I wish he
would take another room !
Besides, I
don't want anybody to get that woman
out at night but myself.
I often wonder if I could see her out
of all the windows at once.
But, turn as fast as I can, I can only
see out of one at one time.
And though I always see her she
may be able to creep faster than I
can turn!
I have watched her sometimes away
off in the open country, creeping as fast
as a cloud shadow in a high wind.
45
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
If only that top pattern could be
gotten off from the under one! I mean
to try it, little by little.
I have found out another funny
thing, but I shan't tell it this time!
It does not do to trust people too
much.
There are only two more days to get
this paper off, and I believe John is
beginning to notice. I don't like the
look in his eyes.
And I heard him ask Jennie a lot of
professional questions about me. She
had a very good report to give.
She said I slept a good deal in the
daytime.
John knows I don't sleep very well
at night, for all I'm so quiet !
He asked me all sorts of questions,
46
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
too, and pretended to be very loving
and kind.
As if I couldn't see through him !
Still, I don't wonder he acts so,
sleeping under this paper for three
months.
It only interests me, but I feel sure
John and Jennie are secretly affected
by it.
47
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
Hurrah ! This is the last day, but
it is enough. John is to stay in town
over night, and won't be out until this
evening.
Jennie wanted to sleep with me —
the sly thing ! but I told her I should
undoubtedly rest better for a night all
alone.
That was clever, for really I wasn't
alone a bit ! As soon as it was moon
light, and that poor thing began to crawl
and shake the pattern, I got up and ran
to help her.
I pulled and she shook, I shook and
she pulled, and before morning we had
peeled off yards of that paper.
A strip about as high as my head
and half around the room.
And then when the sun came and
48
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
that awful pattern began to laugh at
me I declared I would finish it to
day !
We go away to-morrow, and they are
moving all my furniture down again
to leave things as they were before.
Jennie looked at the wall in amaze
ment, but I told her merrily that I
did it out of pure spite at the vicious
thing.
She laughed and said she wouldn't
mind doing it herself, but I must not get
tired.
How she betrayed herself that time !
But I am here, and no person touches
this paper but me — not alive!
She tried to get me out of the room
— it was too patent !
But I said it was
so quiet and empty and clean now that
49
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I believed I would lie down again and
sleep all I could ; and not to wake me
even for dinner — I would call when I
woke.
So now she is gone, and the servants
are gone, and the things are gone, and
there is nothing left but that great bed
stead nailed down, with
the
canvas
mattress we found on it.
We shall sleep downstairs to-night,
and take the boat home to-morrow.
I quite enjoy the room, now it is bare
again.
How those children did tear about
here !
This bedstead is fairly gnawed!
But I must get to work.
I have locked the door and thrown
the key down into the front path.
5°
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I don't want to go out, and I don't
want to have anybody come in, till John
comes.
I want to astonish him.
I've got a rope up here that even
Jennie did not find. If that woman
does get out, and tries to get away, I
can tie her!
But I forgot I could not reach far
without anything to stand on 1
This bed will not move!
I tried to lift and push it until I was
lame, and then I got so angry I bit off a
little piece at one corner — but it hurt
my teeth.
Then I peeled off all the paper I
could reach standing on the floor. It
sticks horribly and the pattern just en
joys it ! All those strangled heads
51
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
and bulbous eyes and waddling fungus
growths just shriek with derision!
I am getting angry enough to do some
thing desperate.
To jump out of the
window would be admirable exercise,
but the bars are too strong even to try.
Besides, I wouldn't do it.
not.
Of course
I know well enough that a step
like that is improper and might be mis
construed.
I don't like to look out of the win
dows even — there are so many of those
creeping women, and they creep so
fast.
I wonder if they all come out of that
wall paper, as I did?
But I am securely fastened now by
my well-hidden rope — you don't get
me out in the road there!
52
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
I suppose I shall have to get back
behind the pattern when it comes night,
and that is hard !
It is so pleasant to be out in this
great room and creep around as I
please!
I don't want to go outside. I won't,
even if Jennie asks me to.
For outside you have to creep on the
ground, and everything is green instead
of yellow.
But here I can creep smoothly on the
floor, and my shoulder just fits in that
long smooch around the wall, so I can
not lose my way.
Why, there's John at the door !
It is no use, young man, you can't
open it!
How he does call and pound!
53
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
Now he's crying for an axe.
It would be a shame to break down
that beautiful door !
"John, dear!" said I in the gentlest
voice, "the key is down by the front
steps, under a plantain leaf!"
That silenced him for a few mo
ments.
Then he said — very quietly indeed,
"Open the door, my darling! "
" I can't," said I.
by the front
" The key is down
door, under a plantain
leaf!"
And then I said it again, several
times, very gently and slowly, and said
it so often that he had to go and see,
and he got it, of course, and came in.
He stopped short by the door.
"What is the
matter?"
54
he cried.
THE YELLOW WALL PAPER
" For God's sake, what are you do
ing?"
I kept on creeping just the same, but
I looked at him over my shoulder.
" I've got out at last," said I, " in
spite of you and Jane! And I've pulled
off most of the paper, so you can't put
me back ! "
Now why should that man have
fainted? But he did, and right across
my path by the wall, so that I had to
creep over him every time!
55
elTow
j&per
tmmmM
Ch&rloftePerkins Stetson
vfc
LITERARY ANALYSIS: PROCESS GUIDE
If you are someone who loves to follow detailed guidelines when you write, then have the
structural outline in front of you as you draft each piece of the essay, and try to follow the outline
as you write. If that kind of detail gives you writers block, set aside the structural outline when
you do your first draft; then, once you have all your thoughts on paper in a first draft, pull out
the template, and revise your first draft to make it follow the structural outline as closely as you
can.
1. Revise the Gilman thesis you wrote last week, responding to any feedback your instructor
has given you.
2. (Gather support quotations for each body paragraph, being guided by any feedback your
instructor may have given you on the quotations you gathered last week and making sure
you have at least one quotation to prove each theme that you plan to prove in each body
paragraph. You may need to reread the story, or you may be able to find what you need
using a searchable online text such as this one: www.gutenberg.org.)
3. Draft a topic sentence for your first body paragraph
4. (Arrange support quotations for first body paragraph in ideal order—often following the
order of any lists in your topic sentence or starting with any quotations that represent initial
causes and ending with those that represent final effects is a helpful organizational
approach.)
5. Draft first body paragraph
6. Draft Topic sentence for your second body paragraph
7. (Arrange support quotations)
8. Draft second body paragraph
9. Draft General Statement of Evaluation (GSoE) for your Conclusion. (See structural outline
for details.)
10. (Gather at least three biblical quotations, using Biblegateway.com which support your
General Statement of Evaluation.)
11. (Arrange biblical quotations in logical order, often starting and ending with a strong
quotation and burying the weakest in the middle of your paragraph is a good approach.)
12. Draft concluding paragraph
13. Draft introductory paragraph
14. (Arrange four drafted paragraphs in the order described in the Structural Outline
document.)
15. Use the Structural Outline document as a self-guide and carefully check to see that your
draft is fulfilling each and every part of the Structural Outline.
16. Use all the skills and knowledge you gained from ENG 140 and 141 to carefully revise your
paper.
17. Proofread your final draft, preferably proofreading out loud to a family member or friend.
LITERARY ANALYSIS: STRUCTURAL OUTLINE
1. Introductory Paragraph:
a. Opener: Start with a quotation that has at least one thesis theme in it and which has
the same or similar attitude towards that theme as appears in your thesis. Use one of
these two websites to search by theme/keyword to find quotation
options: BibleGatway.com or Famous-quotations.com. Transitions: Make sure that
immediately after your opening quotation you include a transition sentence which
uses key words from the quotation to make a clear connection between the
opening quote and one or more main thesis themes. (Remember to also grab the kind
of APA info that you will need in order to include appropriate parenthetical and
references-page documentation in your paper.)
b. Plot Summary: Give a very brief (3-5 sentence) version of a plot summary which only
focuses on conveying the major actions or events of the story which are directly
related to your key thesis themes. This should not sound like an extended character
summary, but should focus on actions of the characters which illustrate the main
themes of your thesis.
c. Thesis: Title (of story) + Author + Method (characterization/symbolism/setting) +
Message (Themes + Attitudes towards themes, including final results).
2. First Body Paragraph:
a. Topic Sentence: Piece of the topic + attitude you plan to prove in this paragraph +
author + method you will use in this paragraph. (Often this will be a good template
for starting your topic sentence for the paragraph that focuses on the narrator:
Through the characterization of Sykes, Gilman suggests that…[plug in the part of the
message from your thesis that you can prove with narrator characterization
quotations].
b. First Support Example:
1. Introduce Quotation: 1-sentence or less; no need for plot summary; helpful
strategies: identify speaker or writer of passage quoted or locate the quote within
the timing of the story (e.g., “Later in the story, ….”). (Do not forget to include
transition words so that your reader knows when you are transitioning from
your topic sentence into your first example and when you transition from one
example to the next. For example or for instance work well when transitioning
from a topic sentence into your first example. Words like the following usually
work well when transitioning between support examples: moreover,
additionally, furthermore, also, later.)
2. Quote: Quote word for word; 1-2 sentences from “The Yellow Wallpaper” which
explicitly prove one or more themes from your topic sentence; document
properly using parenthetical APA documentation which would require (name of
author, original date of publication, p. [page number]) the first time you quote
from Gilman. Thereafter, you can just use page numbers. (Use the book chapter
model in the IWU APA Guide for your reference page entry, starting with
Gilman’s name, followed by the original date of publication which you can find
on the final page of the story, followed by information on the textbook in which
the story is anthologized.)
3. Application: This is an extremely important step. Include it for every
quotation! Explain in a single sentence (or two at most) how you see the
quotation proving one or more thesis themes. (It is almost impossible to do this
effectively unless you find a way to creatively include both the key thesis
theme(s) being proven and the words or phrases from the quotation that
most directly proves that theme(s).)
c. Second Support Example: (same template as first)
d. Third Support Example: (same template as first)
e. Fourth Support Example (same template as first; you may not need four or more
quotations if you successfully can prove all main thesis ideas in your topic sentence
with just three).
f. Concluding Summary Sentence: This should essentially be a restatement of your
topic sentence adding in very brief AND specific reminders of HOW you proved
your topic sentence in each support example from that paragraph. (These
reminders are often best accomplished by using a key word from each quotation.)
3. Second Body Paragraph: (same template as first body paragraph; however, you will
focus exclusively either on a second character or on some literary device other than
characterization in this paragraph)
4. Concluding Paragraph:
a. Thesis Restatement: Exact same content as original thesis, but expressed in
different words and syntax (or phrasing), making sure you do not change the causeeffect relationships in your original thesis in the process of restating). This should
only take one sentence.
b. General Statement of Evaluation: In a single sentence, explain which part of the
thesis topic and attitude you will evaluate and whether or not you think the bible
basically agrees or disagrees with that part of Gilman's message. This sentence
essentially serves as a topic sentence for the rest of this paragraph, taking a position
on what you intend to prove with the quotations that will follow. (For example, if
your thesis suggests that Delia’s prayers are one of the causes of the positive things
that happen to her at the end of the story, you could use a General Statement of
Evaluation like this: Scripture would seem to agree with Gilman that prayer should
be practiced because it can be beneficial.)
c. Support for General Statement:
a. Support Example One:
1. Introduce Quotation: Use a single sentence to introduce your first
biblical support quotation, identifying the speaker or writer of the
scripture you are about to quote. (Do not forget to include transition words
so that your reader knows when you are transitioning from your general
statement into your first example and when you transition from one
example to the next.)
2. Quote: Quote word for word one or two sentences from the Bible which
contain the same topic and attitude you promised to prove in your general
statement of evaluation.
•
Finding Scriptures: use a website like this to search for appropriate
support scriptures: www.biblegateway.com.
• Example: If you were using the sample general statement given
above, you could look for any combination of three biblical verses
which 1) explicitly encourage the reader to pray or even better 2)
explicitly state that prayer has some kind of positive results.
• Documentation: APA asks for book, chapter, and verse as well as the
translation you are using in parenthetical documentation, like this
(Proverbs 12:1, New International Version). When using APA, the
bible is one of the very few sources which you do NOT have to include
on your References page.
3. Application: This is an extremely important step. Include it for every
quotation! Explain in a single sentence (or two at most) how you see the
quotation supporting your general statement of evaluation. To be
convincing, this application must include all of the following:
• Key words from the biblical quotation.
• The theme you are trying to prove from your general statement.
• A direct comparison to something that you proved in your body
about Gilman’s story that parallels what the scripture is saying (in
order to prove, in the example we have been using, that Gilman’s
message actually agrees with this scripture).
b. Support Example Two: (use same three-part template)
c. Support Example Three: (use same three-part template)
d. Clincher: A creative restatement of your General Statement of Evaluation. (If you
can make it work, try returning to your opening quotation from the beginning of the
essay or one of your biblical quotations from your concluding paragraph and
creatively revising it, weaving in key thesis terms as you can.)*
*Example of Clincher: Suppose the following had been key pieces of the “Yellow Wall-paper”
essay you wrote in Workshop 3.
Thesis: In the “Yellow Wall-paper,” Gilman use characterization to suggest that when a
faithless husband isolates and imprisons his depressed wife, her only hope of escape is a
shockingly insane form of freedom.
General Statement of Evaluation: Scripture would seem to agree with Gilman that
the absence of faith is destructive, implying that the presence of faith could be beneficial.
Support Quotation for General Statement of Evaluation: “But when [Peter] saw
the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save
me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14:30-31).
One option for your clincher would be a creative revision of this scripture in a manner
something like this:
Clincher: Had Gilman been using the biblical language of Matthew, she might have
summarized her story in this manner: “When John, he of little faith, saw his wife
depressed, he was isolating and confining; and she began to sink into insanity, crying out,
‘I have saved myself from the wallpaper at last, and you can’t put me back in.’ And
immediately he stretched forth on the floor and fainted.”
Notice how the green font and yellow highlighting illustrate the weaving together of the phrasing
of the quotation and the key thesis themes. Note also that “you can’t put me back in” is in green
because it illustrates the “freedom” aspect of the thesis. Also, “he…fainted” is in green font
because it illustrates the “shocking” part of the thesis.
Purchase answer to see full
attachment