"The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a great example of first-person narrative fiction. This short story takes place in a colonial mansion which has been rented out by John, the narrator's husband. He hopes to provide a scenic escape for his wife while she deals with a pretty harsh mental breakdown. "The most beautiful place! It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people" (page 139). A good portion of the story, if not the majority, is in the upper bedroom, which used to be a nursery and a playroom for small children. This room is an unusual setting because of its shabby appearance; it has floors lined with skid marks, a worn-out wooden bed, and this yellow wallpaper. .
The title helps to serve as the symbolism throughout, it is the wallpaper that gives this story a deeper meaning. As things progress, the narrator finds herself becoming more intrigued by the paper and eventually relates her own situation to it, so she is cured from her ailment. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is an appropriate title because it relates the main theme of working from isolation toward personal freedom and identity.
As previously mentioned, the point of view taken in this work is the first-person narrative. Ironically, this character remains nameless, yet the story is focused on her experience. She is a middle to upper-class woman, possibly suffering from postpartum depression; it is hard to say because there is no clear diagnosis of her illness. The reliability of this character must be questioned because of her current state of mind. If a person is incorrectly judging daily events much like the narrator in this work, then one can not count on that person's account of things. An obvious bias that can be found in this work is the narrator's ability to see only from her own perspective.
