When I taught "The Yellow Wallpaper" in my 309 class (could this be 5 years ago now? ugh) I checked out a "Masterpieces Theater" version of the film from the UGL A-V room. I guess you've already decided not to use that version, or maybe they no longer carry it. I found it somewhat interesting for class discussion because of its ending: in the Gilman story, I like the way the narrator's identity becomes questionable in the end--there's a fluidity between the woman who is being "brought out" of the wallpaper and the first-person narrator. The film complicates that ambiguity by having "John" finally break into the bedroom to find that a completely different woman (played by a different actress) is crawling around the room. That woman shoots over her shoulder, "I've got out at last, in spite of you and Jane. . . " --I'm interested in your take on that line, because the film suggests that "Jane" could be the first person narrator, who has finally freed this woman "in spite of" her own feeble attempts to fit her proscribed role as John's wife. Anyway, that's one way to see it.

In my 316 I never felt like I had time to show the film version, but we still puzzled over the "In spite of you and Jane" line. Some of my students tried to argue that the line is Gilman's error, and she really meant to write "Janey"--the maid who indeed has suppported John's attempts to keep the narrator from writing. But it seems bogus to dismiss this point as a typographical error. I've never been able to find evidence that it is a typo, either. So I've had to ask, "Who is Jane?" To me, this might be the first person narrator's name, which is not mentioned anywhere else in the text. If so, the film version reinforces that reading, but at the same time I'm not happy with their choice to bring in a completely different actress to reinforce their point. I like to think that we've got the first person narrator speaking to John at the end, but what she is really saying is "I've got out at last, in spite of you and myself."

Comment by: Chris Frampton"

Comment: Come on. She does not linger over John at the end of the story. She creeps over him. Whoever "she" is?