Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents in the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" a narrator of dubious identity. If a reader infers that the reference at the end of the story to "Jane" is indeed self-reflexive, a dichotomy between the Jane of which she speaks and the character who creeps about the room becomes apparent. This division within the single heroine can be best understood when viewed as such: within this nameless speaker are in fact two women, and as the actions of one recede the other becomes dominant. Indeed, the reader sees two separate identities, or selves, within the narrator's captive body: the proper-Jane persona, the suitably-named, dutiful and lucid wife of Dr. John; and the nameless, savage and hysterical woman, a reflection of whom the raconteur sees lurking behind the wallpaper's exterior pattern. As proper-Jane's affectations dissipate, those of her unsociable doppelganger fluidly fill in the gaps in the speaker's psyche.

The protagonist in "The Yellow Wallpaper" provides the reader with very few concrete details of her person. She is a woman: mother, daughter, sister, cousin, sister-in-law and physician's wif

The primal, villainous character Mrs. John becomes at the end of the story embodies everything that is not acceptable in Victorian society. She neglects her child, abandons her household "duties" , becomes increasingly paranoid and believes that she knows her medical condition better than her doctors. In addition to her near-maniacal obsession with the yellow wallpaper, the speaker begins staying awake all night and sleeping through the day. She at times creeps about during the daytime, an action she admits is hardly commonplace. The narrator also adopts a cynical and distrustful stance regarding John and her sister-in-law Jennie ("It does not do to trust people too much" ), an attitude that certainly does not befit a naive and delicate gentlewoman of the time. The trademark of a gentlewoman, her good name-upon which relies her reputation-is the first casualty of the speaker's progression into her second self.

e. She is an "ordinary" person. She is-if one were to attempt a succinct moniker-Mrs. John. Yet, this Mrs. John-this mother, this wife, this Jane-gradually discards the traits which adorn a decorous woman of society.

Due to the customs of the narrator's 19th century patriarchal society, her surname (which, of course, was her father's) was taken from her at marriage. Yet, although Mrs. John's last name is important to her proper-Jane persona, she had no agency in its replacement with that of her husband's. So while this partial loss of legal identity may be a factor in the speaker's transition of self, it is not an injury exclusive to this story's heroine. However, throughout the context of the story, the reader sees John further attempt to

Some common words found in the essay are:
John John-this, Yellow Wallpaper, Dr John, yellow wallpaper, proper-jane persona, Perkins Gilman, charlotte perkins, character john, unnamed woman, Charlotte Perkins,
Approximate Word count = 1123
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)