Identify the narrative style of "The Yellow Wallpaper." What is the effect of this style of narrative in developing the main character? How does it...

Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" in a narrative style known as epistolary fiction. This type of fiction unfolds via the writings of one or more characters. In this case, the main character, Jane, journals her thoughts while she is undergoing a "rest cure" for depression. Epistolary fiction creates a subjective point of view. In this story, we only know what Jane tells us, and because of her mental state, she is a highly...

Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" in a narrative style known as epistolary fiction. This type of fiction unfolds via the writings of one or more characters. In this case, the main character, Jane, journals her thoughts while she is undergoing a "rest cure" for depression. Epistolary fiction creates a subjective point of view. In this story, we only know what Jane tells us, and because of her mental state, she is a highly unreliable narrator. The reader does not realize that at the beginning of the story, but it becomes clearer and clearer as the story develops. Epistolary fiction, because of its subjective perspective, is ideal for the genre of psychological realism. Gilman allows the reader to accompany her main character in her descent into insanity, but the reader must pay close attention and read between the lines because Jane does not understand everything that is happening to her.

For example, when Jane lapses into long-winded rants about the wallpaper, the reader begins to suspect that her perceptions are not normal. Jane obviously has too much time on her hands, which is causing her to perseverate. She moves from perseveration, to paranoia, to hallucinations, to severe psychosis, but she herself doesn't realize the extent of her worsening condition. It is up to the reader to take what Jane is saying and translate it into the world of normality, where it is seen to be completely unhealthy. The condition of the room and home as Jane describes it requires careful interpretation by the reader as well. Jane remarks that there are bars on the window, that the bed is nailed down, that the other furniture in the room has been removed at one point, and that there are teeth marks on the bed frame. These details could be seen to show that the family is concerned that Jane may commit suicide and that she is displaying highly abnormal behaviors. Near the end of the story Jane finally records that she has bitten off a piece of the bedpost; that makes the reader suspect that the other bite marks mentioned previously may have also been her doing.

The epistolary narrative style of this story allows us to sympathize with Jane and understand Jane better, but it also can hide some truths about her. Therefore, the reader must take everything Jane says with a grain of salt and read between the lines to extrapolate the truth about Jane as she becomes more and more mentally unstable.