A Narrative Analysis of “The Yellow Wallpaper” Abstract “The Yellow Wallpaper” is the most famous short story written by American female writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman in late nineteenth century。 Presented in the first person perspective, the story portrays the destiny of a woman who was confined in a house and her resistance to the patriarchal society。 In the process of her struggle, she was driven crazy but her self-consciousness was awakened。 This paper will focus on the narration of the story from three aspects, namely, its narrative traits, its literary techniques and its characterization to show that “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a feminist masterpiece full of aesthetic effects which is inspiring for women to pursue freedom and equality in any time。76655

Key words: The Yellow Wallpaper; narrative traits; symbolism; resistance

《黄色墙纸》的叙事分析

摘要《黄色墙纸》是十九世纪后期美国女性作家夏洛特·帕金斯·吉尔曼最著名的作品。该作品以第一人称展开叙述，描绘了一个被禁锢在家中的女性的命运以及她对父权社会的反抗。在她反抗的过程中，她渐渐疯了，但她的自我意识却被唤醒。本文将从三个方面着重分析该故事的叙事，即它的叙事特征，文学表现手法以及角色塑造，来证明《黄色墙纸》是一部充满美感的伟大的女性zhuyi小说，鼓励着女性在任何时代去追求自由和平等。

毕业论文关键词：黄的墙纸；叙述特征；象征；反抗

Contents

Introduction 1

1。 The Narrative Perspective and Traits in “The Yellow Wallpaper” 2

1。1 A Female Perspective from the Narrator 2

1。2 The Changing Narrative Voice 2

2。 The Literary Techniques Employed in “The Yellow Wallpaper” 4

2。1 The Application of Symbolism 4

2。2 The Application of Irony 5

2。3 The Application of Foreshadowing 6

3。 The Characterization in “The Yellow Wallpaper” 8

3。1 The Husband as a Director 8

3。2 The Sister-in-law as a Surveillant 9

3。3 The Protagonist as a Resistant 9

Conclusion 11

References 12

Introduction

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a semi-autobiographical short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman who is known as a permanent American feminist and writer。 It is also regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature, illustrating attitudes towards women’s physical and mental health in 19th century。 论文网

Presented in the first-person perspective, the story was written by the narrator whose husband sent her to a mansion for treatment and forbad her from writing or going out。 But she kept writing and hid them from her husband and her sister-in-law。 With the creepy room keeping her company, she became obsessed with the yellow wallpaper in it which progressively drove her into madness。 In the end, she convinced herself in the delusion that there were women creeping around behind the patterns of the wallpaper and she was one of them。

The story was initially faced with obstacles to get published for the reason that Gilman portrayed the narrator’s insanity as a way to protest the oppression against women with the use of Gothic conventions, which did not cater to the expectations for literature at the time。 After the first publication of the book in 1892, it gained many critical comments。 Early reviewers considered it as a horror story due to the use of unpleasant imagery。