Book Anatomy · The Yellow Wallpaper
The Yellow Wallpaper: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style for The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 86 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
1,231 different words. On average 48 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 696 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
pattern, john, wallpaper, paper, creep. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 11.83 words ending in 'ly' and 10.21 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 3.6% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 3.3% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 52% of sentences: i, it, but, the, and.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| i | 96 |
| it | 43 |
| but | 29 |
| the | 19 |
| and | 18 |
| he | 17 |
| there | 17 |
| john | 15 |
| so | 7 |
| then | 7 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 0.54 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
16 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 2.59 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 35: The paint and paper look as if a boys’ school had used it. It is stripped off—the paper—in great patches all around the head of my bed, about …
Ch 1, para 43: I am sitting by the window now, up in this atrocious nursery, and there is nothing to hinder my writing as much as I please, save lack of …
Ch 1, para 69: There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside-down.
Ch 1, para 72: I remember what a kindly wink the knobs of our big old bureau used to have, and there was one chair that always seemed like a strong friend.
Ch 1, para 75: The wallpaper, as I said before, is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother—they must have had perseverance as well as hatred.
Ch 1, para 98: I lie here on this great immovable bed—it is nailed down, I believe—and follow that pattern about by the hour. It is as good as gymnastics, I assure …
The story uses extended metaphors rather than discrete similes. The wallpaper itself is the central metaphor for confinement and mental entrapment. Bars, creeping, and the trapped woman function as sustained metaphors for loss of agency.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3
At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! (Ch 2, para 32)
I’ve got out at last,” said I, “in spite of you and Jane! And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back! (Ch 3, para 3)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 67%, touch 13%, sound 10%, smell 10%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 56 |
| touch | 11 |
| sound | 8 |
| smell | 8 |
Sight dominates throughout, with the narrator obsessively observing the wallpaper's pattern and colours. Touch appears in creeping and peeling. Sound is minimal. Smell, taste, and other senses are largely absent from this introspective narrative.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3
Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. (Ch 2, para 2)
At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! (Ch 2, para 32)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
4 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 0.65 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Repetition of the wallpaper's pattern mirrors the narrator's obsessive thoughts. The phrase 'I get well' recurs ironically. Lists of three appear in descriptions of light effects. The creeping motion repeats and intensifies through sections 2 and 3.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3
when you follow the lame, uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide (Ch 1, para 37)
At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! (Ch 2, para 32)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Few old word forms from our list.
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
Gilman shows the narrator's deterioration through her own observations and actions rather than stating her illness directly. Her secret writing, the peeling wallpaper, and physical creeping demonstrate her breakdown. John's dismissals are shown through dialogue rather than narrated.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3
I’m getting really fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper. Perhaps because of the wallpaper. (Ch 1, para 96)
I’ve got out at last,” said I, “in spite of you and Jane! And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back! (Ch 3, para 3)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description and action are tightly woven throughout. The narrator describes the wallpaper while observing it, then acts on her observations by peeling it. Little static description occurs before action; the two move together as her obsession grows.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3
Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. (Ch 2, para 2)
At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! (Ch 2, para 32)
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 3.89 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| saw | 5 |
| thought | 5 |
| felt | 4 |
| seemed | 3 |
| watched | 3 |
| heard | 2 |
| knew | 1 |
| noticed | 1 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from anxious observation in Section 1 to obsessive certainty in Section 2, then to triumphant delusion in Section 3. The narrator's voice becomes increasingly fragmented and assured of her mission to free the trapped woman.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3
I’m getting really fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper. Perhaps because of the wallpaper. (Ch 1, para 96)
I’ve got out at last,” said I, “in spite of you and Jane! And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back! (Ch 3, para 3)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Dark comedy emerges from the gap between John's medical confidence and the narrator's actual state. His fainting at the end provides grim irony. The narrator's proud declaration of escape while creeping on the floor creates tragic absurdity.
Chapters: Ch 3
Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time! (Ch 3, para 4)
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