Character Evolution in The Yellow Wall-paper
You can find this storyboard in the following articles and resources:
The Yellow Wall-paper by Charlotte Perkins Stetson
Lesson Plans by Kristy Littlehale
”The Yellow Wall-paper”, written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, explores the attitudes of doctors towards women and mental illness in the late 19th century.
Storyboard Description
Character Evolution - The Yellow Wallpaper Characters
Storyboard Text
- A woman; recently gave birth; married to a physician; suffering from “temporary nervous depression”
- Exposition
- Unreasonably angry; lacking control of emotions; lacks strength; feels like a burden
- Conflict/Rising Action
- Feigns sleep; feels afraid of John; becoming increasingly paranoid
- Climax
- Excited; eating better; shows improvement; sleeps during the day; stays up at night
- Falling Action
- ?
- Energized; manic; angry; victorious
- Resolution
- The narrator’s husband has rented the colonial mansion as a summer house so that his wife can rest, get exercise, and not work until her condition improves. The narrator thinks sometimes that less isolation would help her feel better, but her husband won’t hear of it. She writes her feelings in secret.
- The narrator feels like a burden because her husband John believes that there is no reason for why she should feel so ill or nervous. She cannot bear to be around her new baby, and is becoming increasingly perturbed by the yellow wallpaper in their bedroom.
- The narrator studies the wallpaper daily, and is convinced that there is a woman living behind it. When John is home, he seems to be studying both her and the wallpaper, which is aggravating and frightening to the narrator. She sees Jennie staring at the paper, too, and she is determined to not let anyone else figure out the secrets of the pattern.
- Explanation: The narrator is fascinated by the developments in the wallpaper, and it gives her something to look forward to each day. She has renewed energy as she believes she is coming closer to discovering the secrets of the wallpaper, and the freeing of the woman behind it.
- The narrator’s descent into madness is complete as she tears off the wallpaper, and she believes that she is now the woman whom she has freed from behind it. She creeps around the room right over her husband’s body, who has fainted, and she feels delighted at being able to move about the room in the yellow colors.
Over 30 Million Storyboards Created