Topics for Discussion
1. Reflect on how you would react to the rest-cure. What would be the most challenging part of it for you? Why?
2. Examine the restricted roles that women were expected to fulfill in nineteenth-century society. How do today's views on acceptable roles for women compare?
3. How do elements such as setting, character, and point of view amplify the emotional impact of "The Yellow Wallpaper"?
4. Describe the relationship between the narrator and her husband, John. Take into account his terms of endearment and his attitude towards her expressed desires.
5. In your view, what does the woman behind the wallpaper symbolize? Is it possible for her to ever be liberated?
6. Think about the impact of Gilman's use of first-person narration and the journal format. What effects would be gained or lost if a different point of view were used in the story?
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