Talk:The Yellow Wallpaper

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Contents

[edit] same information

the information in sections 'Perkins Gilman's Interpretation' and 'Background' are very similar, I suggest either adding information that would help to either merge the two, or add more information to the 'Perkins'.. section. Who is Perkins Gilman anyway (I'm assuming the header is missing 'Charlotte'?)? All for the purpose of clarity, my good man! [smbgood : 8/27/07] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Smbgood (talk • contribs) 03:19, August 28, 2007 (UTC)

[edit] editing

I changed the language of this article a bit, and cleared out this talk page (which contained the text of the article itself for some reason.) This synopsis is good, though we could probably use a few more references.... Geeman 14:58, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Door Opening/Rape

The scene at the end where her husband opens the door is widely seen as the male rape of the woman; this is stated in many interprations of this work; think this should be included.Fishystick 23:36, 28 January 2007 (UTC)


I have never heard of this interpretation before. Can you please tell me what critic or scholar might have taken this angle and where I can find it?Tdh5609 (talk) 01:22, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Woman's Name

In the story the speaker mentions her name as someone who has failed her, giving name to the "woman" referred to in the article.

[edit] "well meaning husband"

I saw someone said this about her husband John, however, from reading the story he doesnt seem at all "well-meaning" towards her. He seems more patrinizing than anything. He be-littles her in many instances. Curiously, I would like to know why the author of this article put he was "Well meaning"? Why did he force her to stay in the room she didnt like? She asked to be put downstairs. Why did he tell her he would take the wallpaper down and then not do it? He was "satisfied" with thinking there was "no reason for her to be upset." He would laugh at her on occasion and basically tell her "I am the doctor here so you should obey."


  • The problem is that you are reading the story through 21st century glasses. The husband is well-meaning, but part of the problem is that the gender relationships of the time period are so messed up that he is culturally unable to relate to his wife in any meaningful way. The author was rather clear she saw the story as attacking the doctor and the gender roles society placed on people - not on the well-meaning but ineffectual and clueless husband. Rabidwolfe 03:00, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] is this part of the Cthulhu Mythos?

Am i the only person who finds this more in line with Lovecraftian stories of the strange?

This just seemed to be very in line with how Mythos stories are written, where someone finds a terrible secret and then is driven mad by it. 72.166.243.226 04:28, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

That's a very funny observation. I haven't actually heard the Cthulhu reference before, but I think this story fits comfortably within the gothic and supernatural / ghost stories traditions -- as a response to them, of sorts -- and Cthulhu / Lovecraft is also related to those genres. (PS, original research & observations are not appropriate for wikipedia, but if you can find some scholarly publications on this topic it would be appropriate; however, other non-wiki resources (like the http://wiki.feministsf.net/ ) would be appropriate for original research & observations like this.) --lquilter 04:50, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Description of the Wallpaper

I read this story in a college class, and my teacher had us reread the sections where she describes the wallpaper pattern. A toadstool in joints (mushroom) and a head on a broken neck with two upside down eyes are the two descriptions. When my teacher drew it on the board, it showed a pattern of male genitalia. The woman in the wallpaper is trapt behind bars made of male genitals. I have not been able to find any better interpretation than this, especially considering the theme of males controlling female's lives back then.

Can anyone see a different picture? I wonder if there could be other meanings to the shapes described. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Balewis2s (talk • contribs) 23:39, 9 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] just a question

in my class we were asked if the color had any meaning? would the story change any if there wallpaper was red or green doese anyone have any fealings on this? when i told her no she preseeded to tell me that i was wrong and everything has meaning evan the name JOHN ?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.80.0.2 (talk) 05:53, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Diagnosis

I've taken out this sentence from "Psychological and Medical Interpretation" section:

"As to what mental illness the woman develops towards the end of the book, it appears to be either psychosis or schizophrenia, judging by her severe delusions and hallucinations."

This sounds like a general observation/opinion which needs a verifiable source before being included. Gingerwiki (talk) 01:58, 24 November 2007 (UTC)


It is a general obvervation; the "appears" is there for a reason. The person who wrote this obviously knew they had no evidence, otherwise would have written, "As to what mental illness the woman develops towards the end of the book, it is either psychosis or schizophrenia, judging by her severe delusions and hallucinations." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.189.235.66 (talk) 19:29, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:YellowWallpaperCover.jpg

Image:YellowWallpaperCover.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 20:22, 26 November 2007 (UTC)