The story shows a gradual mental breakdown of the narrator. She tells it in her diary and goes completely mad by the end of the tale. The point of view changes to highlight the narrator’s irreversible insanity.
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Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote the novel to demonstrate the detrimental effect of enforced bed rest on women. In the story, the narrator has recently given birth and experiences severe psychosis. Her husband is a physician. He believes that she should stay inside their rented summer house and avoid any work to get better.
Charlotte P. Gilman wrote The Yellow Wallpaper as a series of diary entries. They show the events from the narrator’s perspective, who describes her feelings and concerns. As her mental issues progress, the style changes to reflect the character’s condition. By the end of The Yellow Wallpaper, the entries become shorter and more confused. The narrator becomes obsessed with the titular wallpaper. She convinces herself that a woman is trapped behind it. She tears the yellow wallpaper down, trying to free the mysterious woman. It marks the point of absolute insanity for the protagonist. In her mind, she merged with the woman from the yellow wallpaper. Therefore, the narrator is no longer able to write diary entries. So the point of view has to shift at the end of The Yellow Wallpaper.