Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

How effective is the use of first person narrative in "The Yellow Wallpaper"?

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

How effective is the use of first person narrative in "The Yellow Wallpaper"? Michael towers The yellow wallpaper is a story dominated by the protagonist, as she is isolated from the world and society except for the servant girl Jennie and her husband John. The advantages of using first person narrative in this article are the strong emotional and mental link with the protagonist, which can be portrayed much more effectively than any other perspective of the story. Also the point of view on Johns and the other characters, however few, actions and comments are biased to the protagonists thoughts and feelings. The protagonist also has a closer relationship with the audience than if it were in another perspective and the reader had more segregation from the main character. The first person perspective allow the protagonist to collude with the reader, this collusion would not be possible with third person perspective and second person perspective could only give another persons view of the events and with this story they would have had to have been a fly on the wall. ...read more.

Middle

A biased opinion can be given by the first person narrative, this opinion shows John to be acting against the will of the protagonist, but because of her social place at the time it was seen as wrong for her to question him so she puts her views on paper "you see he does not believe I am sick! And what is one to do?" The story cannot portray Johns reasons for her confinement or his banning of writing and any mental exercise. The first person view can show the deterioration of the protagonists' mental state as she slides into delusion. At the beginning of the text she admits that there is something wrong "I never used to be so sensitive. I think it is due to this nervous condition." But later on she shows here blatant derangement "This bed will not move! I tried to lift it and push it until I was lame, and then I got so angry I bit off ...read more.

Conclusion

this is a less obsessive and much brighter view of the paper. This story of "The Yellow Wallpaper" would not have the same powerful effect on the reader if it were written from another point of view. The protagonist could not collude with the audience, she could not ask rhetorical questions and she could not make the reader involved with her defiant, secret acts of writing. The reader could not feel as if they were hiding with her and the reader could not be persuaded to take her side on the issues arising from the paper and her confinement. The whole script would be a hollow and boring case study of a seemingly mad woman if it was not told by her, she brings life to the story. The protagonist could not ask "but what is one to do?" with the same half asking the audience. I think that the effectiveness of the first person perspective in "the Yellow Wallpaper" is much more involving for the reader and it makes the story seem more real than any other way of writing. ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Reviews of Personal Performances section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related GCSE Reviews of Personal Performances essays

  1. Explore Carl Rogers core conditions and how these effect the personality change in a ...

    In therapy the counsellor tries to provide Unconditional Positive Regard and total acceptance. Through receiving this from someone else (e.g. the therapist) the client can begin to self-actualise, (self-heal)."It means there are no conditions of acceptance, no feeling of "I like you only if you are thus and so" It means a prizing of the person."

  2. Critical Analysis - Entre Visillos is part of the Spanish Post war Narrative movement.

    We can thus observe a contradiction in what Natalia thinks about Alicia. In this passage Natalia briefly brings up her family, we don't specifically know who but obviously the figures of authority in the household. She uses the third person of the plural to talk about them: 'han vuelto a hablar' (line 22), 'dicen' (line 21).

  1. Essay Cloudstreet Narrative P.O.V.

    who has been separated for so long, Winton emphasises his message of "stickability"; that the only way to find true peacefulness and fulfilment is by returning 'home', to the unity of family.

  2. In this essay I will explore Carl Rogers core conditions and how these effect ...

    the body language matches what the counsellor is saying and thinking. The therapist can openly express feelings and thoughts that are present in the relationship with the client. This facilitates honest communication with the client. This does not mean that the counsellor should share all feelings or self disclose but

  1. Communication within the health and social services.

    ? They share a set of beliefs or norms. Tuckman was one of many theorists to explain the stages that groups often go through. He suggests that most groups go through a process, which involves four stages before they can become an effective group.

  2. Describe two of the following psychological approaches: the psychodynamic perspective, the cognitive perspective, the ...

    This is the time when one experiences love. Middle adulthood is when the person learns about parenting. Most people during this time have children and learn how to raise another human being. Maturity is when you reflect on your life and accept all events that have occurred.

  1. The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People

    your stance, your pre-shot rituals and finally visualize the ball going cleanly through the net. Covey writes, "We may be very busy, we may be very efficient, but we will also be truly effective when we begin with the end in mind."

  2. Drama Exploration - Gender Issues

    It was also obviously for entertainment. I researched a bit on the play on the internet. I could not find much but this little bit about the background of Mother figure. It was part of a 5 part series of plays called Confusions.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work