"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. February 25, 2013 By Vocabulary.com (NY) A woman's mind begins to unravel when she is confined to a yellow bedroom after being diagnosed with "a slight hysterical tendency."
<span>The novel is told in flashback - at the start, we meet Ruku as an elderly woman reflecting on the events of her life. This structure allows Ruku not only to narrate her life experiences but also to analyze them, helping the reader to see how she learned and grew from each event. The novel is also divided into two parts: Part one covers the majority of Ruku's married life; the much shorter part two deals with Ruku and Nathan's failed attempt to move to the city after losing their land and contains the falling action of the novel. The first chapters (Ch. 1-3) deal with Ruku's transformation from an uncertain child bride to a confident young wife and mother. These chapters are mostly without hardship - the family is poor but has enough to eat; Ruku and Nathan begin to realize they will never own their own land but have hopes that their children may some day rise out of poverty. The one obstacle Ruku must overcome, her temporary inability to have sons, is nearly forgotten after she has five sons in as many years</span>
