Here are some cautions, and some things to consider (gleaned from responses to previous bolgs...):
You might try a character analysis of the protagonist--what are the conflicts she may be experiencing (this could take some psychological digging, looking for needs, fears, lacks, etc, emotional, imaginative, and otherwise...don't overlook the sensual connotations!), based on the story's details, and how is her interaction with the wallpaper a way of working these out?
Since her husband forbid her to write down her feelings, consider her imaginative involvement with the wallpaper as her "creative" outlet/therapy. Rather than thinking the wallpaper "caused" her illness, try studying if for what it reveals about the character's conflicts.
Examine specific scenes and details, things the character says and observes (first person narrator, in this case, so you have to read through her point of view).
Rather than imposing a class bias or judging the character (which often involves imposing a frame of reference, value system, etc., that may not be relevant to the story's specific setting or characters' situations, etc.), interpret/analyze the character's conflicts (as if indeed you were a detective, or in this case perhaps a psychoanalyst).
In a nutshell, consider the protagonist's (main character's) imaginative interaction/involvement with the wallpaper as symbolic of her internal conflicts (and external ones, as well, in the sense that she is being physically confined, as well as mentally/emotionally).
The story has a lot to say about the socio-cultural condition of women at the time, and the psychological consequences of a repressive ideology, including a purely positivist scientific--i.e., pre-Freudian--worldview (the science of psychology was just being developed in the 1890's; Freud's first major theoretical work, Project for a Scientific Psychology, was published in 1895).
Though not noramlly recommended, and though not tobe used/completely trusted as a secondary source, WikiPedia entries on "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "psycnoanalysis" (see esp "History"--"1890s") provide good overviews (caution: such open-source material must always be evaluated against more rigorous research in "certified" sources, such as peer-reviewed academic journals--the type listed in the "literature resource center," including the "MLA" databases).
You might try a character analysis of the protagonist--what are the conflicts she may be experiencing (this could take some psychological digging, looking for needs, fears, lacks, etc, emotional, imaginative, and otherwise...don't overlook the sensual connotations!), based on the story's details, and how is her interaction with the wallpaper a way of working these out?
Since her husband forbid her to write down her feelings, consider her imaginative involvement with the wallpaper as her "creative" outlet/therapy. Rather than thinking the wallpaper "caused" her illness, try studying if for what it reveals about the character's conflicts.
Examine specific scenes and details, things the character says and observes (first person narrator, in this case, so you have to read through her point of view).
Rather than imposing a class bias or judging the character (which often involves imposing a frame of reference, value system, etc., that may not be relevant to the story's specific setting or characters' situations, etc.), interpret/analyze the character's conflicts (as if indeed you were a detective, or in this case perhaps a psychoanalyst).
In a nutshell, consider the protagonist's (main character's) imaginative interaction/involvement with the wallpaper as symbolic of her internal conflicts (and external ones, as well, in the sense that she is being physically confined, as well as mentally/emotionally).
The story has a lot to say about the socio-cultural condition of women at the time, and the psychological consequences of a repressive ideology, including a purely positivist scientific--i.e., pre-Freudian--worldview (the science of psychology was just being developed in the 1890's; Freud's first major theoretical work, Project for a Scientific Psychology, was published in 1895).
Though not noramlly recommended, and though not tobe used/completely trusted as a secondary source, WikiPedia entries on "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "psycnoanalysis" (see esp "History"--"1890s") provide good overviews (caution: such open-source material must always be evaluated against more rigorous research in "certified" sources, such as peer-reviewed academic journals--the type listed in the "literature resource center," including the "MLA" databases).
