Yellow Wallpaper Setting

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Willie Bodrey Mrs. Busse English 1102 February 2, 2009 The Use of Setting in the Yellow Wallpaper In present day writings, readers see setting used to create, and enhance many aspects of a story. This technique of writing was also seen in a short story written in 1899, called “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Gilman. Through close evaluation, readers see how Gilman used the setting to create and enhance character, mood, theme, and plot in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The setting of this story told the readers how the characters should act. The narrator states that it was “A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate…” (Perkins 1). This gave the reader the insight of knowing the story was in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. While knowing this, the reader was able to understand why John acted a lot different than a physician in present times would. The setting also created the narrator. Through her journal she finds a comfort and sense of belonging. In this journal she describes the setting and imagery of the wallpaper. With close reading, readers see she is really describing herself and her illness. Gilman creates this character through the setting and imagery of the wallpaper. Next, Gilman used setting to set the mood of the story. In the second sentence of the story,…show more content…
Gilman created the whole story based on the setting. The title, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” told the reader what the story was about before even reading. Without the setting of the wallpaper and room, there would be no plot. It is hard to describe the effect of the wallpaper without plot summary, but basically the narrator becomes drawn to the room of the yellow wallpaper. The role of the setting in this story was not to tell what happened, but where, when, and why certain events happened. The majority of the plot is the description of the

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