One thing that really stuck out to me about this piece is the repetition of “John says” throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper.” If we are to analyze this phrase, the content of what John is saying is incredibly punitive to his wife. Just on page 1, he is already laughing at her for being anxious about this new house. In fact, she feels so anxious about this that she assumes she is “sick” and exclaims that he doesn’t believe her. Now, one could observe that most of what “John says” is minimizing her problems and being rather dismissive, but perhaps even more disturbing is the rate of the narrator quoting him. You can see that he has invaded the space in her mind and not even allowing her to have her own thoughts on page 3. She can’t even finish a thought without him interrupting her in her own head.
Taylor's Space
Future Teacher
Nice work, Taylor. You do well here to localize your analysis to one phrase, “John says,” and then build outward from there. That way, you’re not just making a general, unsubstantiated claim about the story but pointing to the exact place where one can see it borne out. As you say, this can be interpreted to show that “he has invaded the space in her mind.” So elsewhere, he “minimiz[es] her problems,” but in the repetition of “John says” we can see perhaps the impact of those dismissals. I think you are well on your way to being able to articulate what you think Gilman might be trying to say about the impact of such unequal gender relations on women’s mental health.