an Interpretation by Samantha Smith

The film version of The Yellow Wallpaper had the same story line as the short story but, as is often the case, the written word was much better. The slant that the filmmaker put on the story left out a few of the details that made the audience empathetic towards the wife. The husband was rarely present in the film, but it was not made as obvious that he was away attending what he referred to as "serious illnesses" while he demanded that his wife only rest and not do any work. The narrator was upset about this because she felt that she should be able to do some things that might make her feel better,such as write or draw, but her feelings were not really explained much in the film. The film led us to believe that she probably was insane from the outset, instead of sinking into a dementia through the course of the story. I was not as sensitive to the narrator's feelings in the film, whereas I came to know the fear and frustration she experienced in the story.