Early Stream of Consciousness and Feminism in Fiction Answers

Which excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper" contradicts the narrator’s belief that she is improving?

Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."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!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.Which statement describes a gothic element in this excerpt that reflects a social attitude of Gilman’s time?

Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."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 so; I think that is why it has so many heads.They get through, and then the pattern 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.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 on that long road under the trees, creeping along, and when a carriage comes she hides under the blackberry vines.I don’t blame her a bit. It must be very humiliating to be caught creeping by daylight!Whom does the narrator see hiding in the wallpaper?

Read the excerpt from "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'"Then, using the remnants of intelligence that remained, and helped by a wise friend, I cast the noted specialist’s advice to the winds and went to work again—work, the normal life of every human being; work, in which is joy and growth and service, without which one is a pauper and a parasite—ultimately recovering some measure of power.Which social attitude of Gilman’s era does this excerpt demonstrate?

Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candle light, 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.What does the narrator’s description of the wallpaper reveal about the context of the story?

Why did Gilman most likely choose an unreliable narrator to tell the story of "The Yellow Wallpaper"?

Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."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 hysterical tendency—what is one to do?My brother is also a physician, and 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. What does the narrator’s description reveal about the social context of the story?

Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."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, 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.How does the narrator’s viewpoint reveal a social attitude of Gilman’s time?

In "The Yellow Wallpaper," which description of John indicates that the narrator does not trust him?

Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."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 innocent excuses, and I’ve caught him several times LOOKING AT THE PAPER! And Jennie too. I caught Jennie with her hand on it once.Why does the narrator believe that John and Jennie are looking at the wallpaper?