The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics & Samples

At some point in your studying, you might be asked to produceThe Yellow Wallpaperanalysis essay. Well, if you’re reading this, you have already received this task! Let’s start by choosing a suitable topic to write about.

This article byCustom-Writing.orgexperts containsThe Yellow Wallpaperessay topics,The Yellow Wallpaperessay prompts, and writing samples. Go on reading if you want to learn more!

The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics: How to Choose

First of all, you need to think about the topic of your paper. One way to choose a writing idea is to consider the main facts aboutThe Yellow Wallpaper:

• The story was written at the end of the 19th century aboutmental disorder treatmentof that time.
• It is considered one of the strongest and most prominent pieces offeminist literature.

These facts might be your first clue for choosing an essay topic. Try to look at the issues of mental health and gender stereotypes from your perspective.

In case you don’t particularly fancy thetheme of feminism inThe Yellow Wallpaper, there are many other options to choose from. Here are two tips that will help you pick an essay topic:

• Tryhighlighting the momentsthat stand out for you in the story. Then, expand on them in your paper.
• Write down anyquestionsyou might have during the reading to use them later.

However, if you don’t want to spend too much time on it, jump straight away to our list of topics forThe Yellow Wallpaperessays.

The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics

1. The meaning of the story’s title.
2. The Yellow Wallpaper as a horror story.
3. Representation of madness in the story.
4. The significance of the unnamed narrator.
5. Color symbolismin Gilman’s story.
6. Explain why the story’s ending is optimistic.
7. Study the use of Gothic elements in the narrative.
8. Why The Yellow Wallpaper is still relevant today.
9. The meaning of “creeping” inThe Yellow Wallpaper.
10. Comparison ofA Rose for EmilyandThe Yellow Wallpaper.
11. John as Dr. Mitchel’s double in The Yellow Wallpaper.
12. The symbolism of a fixed bed in Gilman’s story.
13. Marriage inThe Yellow WallpaperandThe Story of an Hour.
14. Infantilization of the story’s protagonist by her husband.
15. Describe the role ofnaturein The Yellow Wallpaper.
16. How a 19^th-century woman’s yearnings are presented by Gilman.
17. Examine the trope of the haunted house in The Yellow Wallpaper.
18. Writing as a process of self-assertion inThe Yellow Wallpaper.
19. How Gilman’s story influenced mental health treatment of women.
20. The perils of marriage and motherhood inThe Yellow Wallpaper.

The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Prompts

1. Study the issue of the gender roles in the story and compare it to modern norms. The Yellow Wallpaperhighlights the problem of the suppression of women. Your essay on this topic may include some comments on family life as well. Since this topic is quite popular, we also suggest presenting your unique interpretation of this question.
2. The Yellow Wallpaper’sconclusion: different versions.How do you understand the ending of the story? Why, in your opinion, did the author cut it at that specific moment? Brainstorm these questions and try to figure out what would be the best interpretation. Don’t forget to support your opinion with fair arguments.
3. What is the relationship between the narrator ofThe Yellow Wallpaperand her diary?The main character seems to get some relief from journaling her thoughts and daily life events. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help prevent the total crash of her identity at the end of the story. You can writeThe Yellow Wallpaper character analysisessay about it.
4. Draw a parallel between the description of the wallpaper and the mental health of the narrator.We can notice the change in the writing as the mental illness of the narrator progresses. Look into one particular aspect there: the description of the wallpaper. How does the pattern change in foreshadowing future breakdown?
5. CompareThe Yellow Wallpaperto another feminist piece of writing of the same time frameHere it would be perfect if you found some unique elements that Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses in her story. Don’t forget that the focus of this essay should be on thetheme of feminism. For better outcomes, add aquotation as a hookat the beginning of your essay.
6. The Yellow Wallpaperandmarriage: is it the fault of the husband?Most people prefer to blame the husband in this story. Indeed, in the 19th century, women didn’t have much choice. However, we can see that the narrator has the power to resist the control of her husband. She doesn’t understand that she can do it.
7. The role of personification as a tool used by Charlotte Perkins GilmanIt would help if you wrote aliterary analysisessay onThe Yellow Wallpaper. Go throughthe story’s plotagain and find out why personification is used at some moments. How does it affect the writing’s mood, and doesn’t Gilman use some other devices there?
8. Stigmatizing postpartum depression inThe Yellow Wallpaper.This issue is slightly related toThe Yellow Wallpaperessay on feminism. Most women’s psychological problems are neglected as only being “in the head.” Miserable were those suffering postpartum depression, as one can see from the treatment plan chosen by John in the story.
9. Explore different literary devices that are used to highlight the issue of depression inThe Yellow Wallpaper.Analyze what the narrator writes about her state and find the literary devices that Gilman uses to relate to it. For instance, repetition points out the confusion on the one hand and hopelessness on the other.
10. Can we trust the narrator?The point of view inThe Yellow Wallpaperplays an important role. The reader can only perceive the events through the narrator’s eyes. However, it means that some things can be not that obvious. Try to analyze the hints andsymbolismto find out the missing part of the story.

Top 12 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Questions

1. What is the role of creativity in the protagonist’s journey?
2. 图像有助于传达什么主character’s isolation?
3. Why does the woman in the wallpaper go in circles?
4. How does the protagonist’s mental state change throughout the story?
5. How does the main character’s confinement contribute to her mental decline?
6. In what ways does Jennie represent a patriarchal woman in The Yellow Wallpaper?
7. Why does the main character hide her diary from others?
8. How doesThe Yellow Wallpaperportray the 19^thcentury’s cult of true womanhood?
9. Why is S. Weir Mitchel’s real name mentioned in the story?
10. How does the story challenge traditional notions of femininity and domesticity?
11. How does the setting of the nursery convey the protagonist’s sense of loss and longing?
12. How does the protagonist’s journey in The Yellow Wallpaper reflect the broader feminist movement of the time?

Top 15 The Yellow Wallpaper Research Paper Topics

1. Analyze the story through the prism of male gaze.
2. The juxtaposition of logical men vs. irrational women in the story.
3. The Yellow Wallpaperand Freud’s misconceptions about hysteria.
4. How Gilman’s story relates to Cixous’ ideas about écriture feminine.
5. Foucault’s Panopticon Effect as portrayed inThe Yellow Wallpaper.
6. Analysis of Gilman’s story through the lens of Simone de Beauvoir.
7. The Yellow Wallpaper: comparison to《女性的奥秘by Betty Friedan.
8. The wallpaper pattern as the bars of a prison constructed by society.
9. Analyze the binary opposition presented in the story through the prism of Jacques Lacan’s ideas of the Imaginary and the Symbolic orders.
10. Interpret the rhizomatic identity of the main character inThe Yellow Wallpapervia Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of schizoanalysis.
11. How does madness liberate the main character from patriarchal concepts of femininity?
12. Daylight universe of masculinity vs. the nighttime world of imagination inThe Yellow Wallpaper.
13. HowThe Yellow Wallpaperhad predicted the problem of “the trapped housewife” in America.
14. Internalized and shared patriarchal values in women characters fromThe Yellow Wallpaper.
15. How the wallpaper in the story represents the main character’s subconscious.

✒️ The Yellow Wallpaper: Essay Samples

Below you’ll find a collection ofThe Yellow Wallpaperessay examples. Hope you’ll find them useful!

1. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Key Themes
2. Alger’s “Ragged Dick” and Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper”
3. “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Laugh of the Medusa”
4. Social Values and Norms in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
5. American Women in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
6. Symbolism in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
7. The Story of an Hour and The Yellow Wallpaper: Comparison
8. Mental Illness in The Yellow Wallpaper
9. The Yellow Wallpaper and Everyday Use Literature: Comparison
10. Women Characters in Chopin’s, Gilman’s, Faulkner’s Stories
11. Isolation, Patriarchy, Materialism, and Mental Illness in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
12. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Review
13. Plots of Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
14. Feminist “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
15. Literary Elements in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
16. The Description of Wallpaper in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman
17. Color in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
18. “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Perkins
19. Gender in The Great Gatsby & The Yellow Wallpaper
20. Uncovering the Wallpaper in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”