is actually aware of its effect on her and is, perhaps, purposely attempting to produce this effect. It does not take long for her to decide that she might be improving "because of the wallpaper." Without stimulation, and absolutely beset with boredom, the narrator has nothing to think about but the wallpaper, and she begins to feel that there are two patterns in the paper. She admits to lying awake "for hours trying to decide whether that front pattern and the back pattern really did move together or separately." She comes to see life as "very much more exciting now that it used to be" because she has "something more to expect, to look forward to, to watch": she means the wallpaper.

It is not a sign of good mental health to look forward to one's life so that one can study the life of one's wallpaper. The narrator does not realize that this is not really a positive mental development. She's becoming obsessed with the paper, with keeping her sister-in-law from understanding it; she even grows possessive of it. The narrator develops the idea that there is a woman behind the first pattern of the wallpaper and that "[this woman] just takes hold of the bars [in the front pattern] and shakes them hard." Obviously, we know that the wallpaper is not alive, that there is no woman trapped within it, and we can understand that the narrator's descriptions of this inanimate object signal her declining mental state, though she does not realize this. This helps us to realize that she is no longer reliable as a narrator.

I think that anytime a first person narrator is used there is an element of unreliability.  As mentioned above, the narrator may certainly be credible; however, everyone perceives objective truths differently.  Even if the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is correctly relaying events as she knows them, how can we be certain that she is relaying all that has happened?  What is left unsaid?

The term "unreliable narrator" refers to a narrator who is disturbed or too sujective to be completely credible.  This narrator's recount of events is so distorted that it departs from the true understanding of these events shared between the reader and the implied author.  However, the term does not necessarily mean that the narrator is a liar or morally untrustworthy.

So, while Gilman's narrator is unreliable since she is obviously mentally disturbed, her narration presents an accurate report of her breakdown as the reader witnesses her deterioration in the story. Also, her recounts of what her husband and her sister-in-law say and do at the beginning of the story when she is fairly well, lend credibility to her reports of their treatment later in the story.

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is rightly seen as a feminist short story, dealing as it does with the oppression of women in society. The woman in the wallpaper may be imaginary, but the condition she represents is most certainly not. She is literally trapped in the way that women are figuratively trapped by the oppressive standards imposed on them by a patriarchal society.

The narrator, too, is a symbolic figure of women's oppression. Confined to a nursery—which itself symbolizes the way that men infantilize women—and subject to a strict medical regime, she is, in her own way, every bit as trapped by her condition as the imaginary woman in the wallpaper.

What is particularly notable about the narrator's confinement is that she is strictly forbidden by her husband, John, a doctor, from writing, as it is believed that writing would slow down her recovery. Once again, we can observe some feminist symbolism at work. The narrator, like many women in society, has been held back from expressing herself by a patriarchal society that doesn't value women's experiences.

According to the prevailing social standards of the Victorian era, a woman's role was to be be entirely passive. She was not supposed to engage in creative activities, broaden her mind, or engage in new experiences, but simply to do as she was told by the men in her life.

The narrator of Charlotte Gilman Perkin's celebrated short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" is considered an unreliable narrator. Initially, the narrator suffers from postpartum depression and her ignorant, domineering husband follows the "rest cure" to heal her.

The "rest cure" was developed by Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell to minimize distressing stimulation and promote physical health. This "rest cure" required women to refrain from physical or social activity and involved prolonged solitary rest for six to eight weeks. Unfortunately, the cure has the opposite effect on patients. The narrator's mental health suffers as a result of the "rest cure," and she begins to develop severe psychosis. The narrator's psychosis significantly affects her perspective and behavior, which influences her ability to reliably narrate the story.

The narrator illustrates her unreliability by believing that there is a woman trapped inside the yellow wallpaper. The audience immediately recognizes this as a visual hallucination while the narrator genuinely believes in the presence of a trapped woman.

The narrator also incorrectly perceives the behavior and intentions of others. She believes that Jennie is analyzing and studying the wall and thinks that her husband will envy what is inside the wallpaper when he sees the trapped woman. The narrator also proves that she is unreliable by incorrectly understanding her mental health. The audience recognizes that her psychosis is becoming worse but the narrator says:

I'm feeling ever so much better! (Perkins 7)

The narrator then begins seeing the woman creep around the garden and plans to capture the imaginary woman using a rope. The mentally ill narrator also comments on the gnawed bedstead and blames it on the children, who formerly inhabited the room. She then admits that she hurt her teeth when she bit off a little piece of the bed, which reveals that she is responsible for the gnawed bedstead. The narrator also questions why John faints at the end of the story when it is obvious to the audience that he is shocked by his wife's appearance.

Overall, the woman suffering from psychosis as a result of the "rest cure" is an unreliable narrator who experiences hallucinations and loses touch with reality while she is secluded in the upstairs room.

This is a deliciously beefy question! Thanks for asking!

The answer is a tripartite combination of perspectives. Through the eyes of the main character, the first perspective, the argument is completely valid. She is a woman suffering from an extreme case of post partum depression. Although it is arguable to say that she is not in a "right state of mind", it is also safe to affirm that (within her circumstances) her fears, tribulations, and anxiety are to be considered as true and worthy of our compassion. She actually sees these things. She really feels them, and she really accepts them as true. Therefore, she is suffering, battling and trying to control a situation that is entirely true to her. We are not in her shoes, so we could never have a right to say that she is wrong.

The second is the perspective of the secondary characters such as her husband, her doctor, and such. They are the ones who truly take her for a mild case that can fix itself. They do not consider her needs, nor know what the causes are for her behavior. Hence, they are the lesser perspectives as they really do not step up to try and solve the problem. Hence, she is still left out there with no other choice than to continue her path toward insanity. The secondary characters simply do not have a clue.

The third and final perpective is that of the reader. We could sit and say she is crazy, depressive, and dellusional. We know that there are no beings transforming in the yellow wallpaper. Yet, we are witnesses of her pain and, as a society, we must understand that her pain (despite of her hallucinations) is real. Her desperation is real, and so is her lack of control. Hence, if we look at the question from a deeper point of view, her argument would be completely acceptable.

It would take a very shallow mentality to not believe what she has to say. This is because we are expected (as readers) to cathartically and vicariously experience the feelings and experiences of the main character. Therefore, we are there with her in her struggle. As a result, we should agree with the main character in that her worries and fears are worthy of attention and that, in her mind, they are real, indeed.

The unnamed protagonist in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" can certainly be described as an unreliable narrator. Therefore, one can use many different thesis statements to examine and define this for an essay.The following provides one example of a thesis statement where one can examine the narrator's unreliability.

Given that the speaker admits to her "ailment," one could justify that her mental deficiency makes her an unreliable narrator. The fact that her mental ability is diminished supports this. Her "temporary nervous depression--a slight hysterical tendency" proves that readers can justifiably question her motives and story.

A thesis statement which supports this is: The speaker in Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" can be justified as an unreliable narrator based upon her sole admittance that she functions with "slight hysterical" tendencies.

Another example which supports the narrator's unreliability is the fact that she speaks with one-sided concern. Everything about the story revolves around her and her interpretations of what others are doing and thinking. Her story remains one-sided offering only her admittedly twisted thoughts on her situation.

The use of an unreliable narrator allows the reader to understand the confusion experienced by the main character in the text. ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is centered around the mental deterioration of a woman, suffering initially from post-natal depression, who is inhibited and sent mad by the ‘rest cure’ prescribed by her doctor and enforced by her husband.. The decline in the narrator’s grip on reality is communicated through her wild imaginings and disjointed expression. She sees bizarre shapes, then eyes, then a woman, trapped within the wallpaper, which symbolize her repression as she is denied company or creative diversion.

The use of a first person narrator shows clearly the decline which the narrator experiences as the story progresses. We are told that she feels worse-

 I don't feel as if it was worth while to turn my hand over for anything, and I'm getting dreadfully fretful and querulous.
 I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time.

The narrator speaks directly to the audience of her observations of the paper, and the effect is sinister and terrifying-

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 underway 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.

As the wallpaper is all she has to contemplate, she does so with frightening intensity. The gothic nature of the story is thus magnified, and the realistic possibility of such a decline in any intelligent woman subject to such restrictions becomes apparent.