An Unreliable Narrator?

Hello year 13s,


This week we have been looking at form and structure in 'The Yellow Wallpaper', and considering our relationship with the narrator. We discussed the effect of the illustrations (particularly the final one) on our perception of the narrator's 'decline'.

The narrator appears here as the stereotypical 'mad woman' of Victorian literature. Her hair is long and untamed and her clothes appear dishevelled. The general consensus in class was that although Joseph Hatfield did not consult Gilman before he illustrated her work, this is how she would have intended her narrator to be perceived. It is important to remember that there is absolutely no description in the text of the narrator's appearance changing.


The diary format is an effective way to create a conspiratorial tone, and give a voice to women who at that time would have been silenced by men (much like the narrator is silenced by her husband). It does however give us the problem of a potentially unreliable narrator. Here are some of the arguments you put forward for a reliable / unreliable narrator.


The narrator is reliable:

• She is aware of her illness and understands that she needs to overcome it or get better. "Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good." "He does not believe I am sick!"
• She describes the setting in great detail, showing that her perspective is correct.
• She is rational when attempting to decipher the history of the house.
• She is aware of her symptoms, "I'm sure I never used to be so sensitive." "It is getting to be a great effort for me to think straight."
• She is honest with the readers, "I haven't felt like writing before."
• She would like the house to be haunted. Perhaps this is because she knows she will be deprived of stimulation and is looking for excitement.
• She attempts to prove to herself that the wallpaper doesn't move, "I got up softly and went to feel and see if the paper did move." 

The narrator is unreliable:

• She believes that the children who slept in the nursery before her were responsible for pulling the wallpaper off the wall around the bed, however it is pulled away "about as far as I can reach."
• She sees the woman behind the wallpaper and believes that she "gets out during the day time."
• She speaks of herself as though she is the woman in the wallpaper. There is a change in tense.
• She personifies the wallpaper.
• Perhaps she doesn't have a good understanding of her condition?
• She becomes suspicious of Jenny, even though the reader is aware that Jennie is concerned there are yellow stains on all of her clothes.
• It is possible she is actually in an asylum, and the house is in her mind.
• "So I take phosphates or phosphites - whichever it is..." She doesn't understand the treatment she is receiving and she doesn't care that she doesn't understand.
• We know that she has a mental illness.
• She sees expression in inanimate objects (and always has).

You also did some fantastic collaborative planning this week in preparation for your coursework.

Don't forget, the first draft of your coursework is due Tuesday 18th October. You should be working on this as homework for the next 3 weeks and finding time to speak with myself or Mr Gun-Why if you need some support.