It was not until 1970s that the work has received widespread attention。 In 1973, Elaine R。 Hedges wrote a lengthy analysis of it and she stated that “The Yellow Wallpaper is a small literary masterpiece and a work that does deserve the widest possible audience。” (Hedges 1996: 34) There are various interpretations of the story。 “The Yellow Wallpaper” sometimes is referred to as an example of Gothic literature for its Gothic elements as horror suspense, madness and powerlessness。 (Johnson 1989: 512-30) In addition, Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, in her book Wild Unrest: Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the Making of “The Yellow Wall-Paper”, concludes that “the story was a cri de coeur against Stetson (Gilman’s first husband, artist Charles Walter) and the traditional marriage he had demanded。” Gilman was attempting to deflect blame to protect Gilman’s daughter Katharine and her step-mother, Gilman’s friend Grace Channing。 (Publishers Weekly 2010: 38) However, among all the interpretations, the feminist one prevails。 This story has been considered as a condemnation of the androcentric hegemony by feminist critics。 (Ford 1985: 309-314) Likewise, Hedges concluded that the story is “one of the rare pieces of literature we have by a 19th century woman which directly confronts the sexual politics of the male female, husband wife relationship (Hedges 1996: 37)。”

After reading the story, it is hard for one to overlook the narrator’s voiceless screaming for freedom, both physical and mental。 By voiceless, I simply refer to that the protagonist never expressed her longings in any direct way。 Nevertheless, it is hard for anyone who read the story to fail to notice the oppression imposed upon her and her resistance to it reflected by the symbols and characters in it。 Therefore, this paper would mainly focus on the narration of the story and how the narrator’s nonverbal repulsiveness and mental screaming are perceived。 

This paper is pided into three parts。 The first part will give an analysis of the narrative perspective and traits of the story。 In the second part, a detailed analysis will be made on the literary techniques the author applied including symbolism, irony, foreshadowing。 In the third part of the paper, it will concentrate on the characterization of the main three characters in the story—the narrator, her husband John and John’s sister Jennie。 Then, a conclusion will be reached that Gilman as a talented female writer has explored and conveyed her feminist thoughts with unique skills, which is comprehensive and enlightening enough to be taken as a feminist masterpiece。文献综述

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

1。1 A Female Perspective from the Narrator

Firstly, the story was told from the first person perspective by the narrator。 There is no mention about when and where did the story take place。 From the perspective of an anonymous narrator “I”, the author took reader right into the inner world of the narrator。 Readers are able to explore the world the narrator lived in through her subjective descriptions of everything。 On the base of the narrator’s inner discourse the author conveyed her pursuit of right and freedom as a woman。 From the perspective of the first person, the narrator totally lived in her own world, she was able to pour out her feelings such as fear, anxiety, sorrow regardless of what her husband John or other people would think of her。 

Secondly, the story was written in a female diary style。 The author used a plenty of short sentences which seemingly have no coherent relations with each other。 And some those sentences respectively make a whole paragraph。 In addition, the content of the story is sometimes contradictory。 In that way, the passage seems a little chaotic and illogical。 

“It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer。”(Gilman 1989: 1) The author did not mention that why an ordinary couple like them picked a hereditary mansion as a sanatorium for the narrator to get rest。 “But he is right enough about the beds and windows and things。” “I’m really getting quite fond of the big room, all but that horrid paper。”(Gilman 1989: 5) A paragraph ago, the narrator agreed with her husband that she was going to being particular about the room, however, she suddenly became fond of the room。 Moreover, the description of the smell of the room is also illogical and confusing。 “Such a peculiar odor, too!” “It is not bad—at first,…” “In this damp weather it is awful…” “It used to disturb me at first。”(Gilman 1989: 13) The smell was not bad at first but became awful when it rained。 She seemed to hate it but did not express her dislike directly, and she finally was used to it。