AI Statement
AI was not used for any part of this work.
Abstract
This composition is a musical adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," focusing specifically on the narrator's descent into madness. The adaptation uses music theory's inherent reliance on listener expectation to mirror the story's constant subversion of narrative expectations and its pervasive sense of uncertainty.
The piece is structured around a single eight-measure phrase that repeats four times; each iteration grows slower, darker, and more dissonant. The musical mode shifts progressively from major to minor to harmonic minor, while the tempo decreases from 140 to 60 bpm. The piano's left and right hands function as multiple voices within the narrator's mind. The right hand represents her projected self, while the left hand initially supports it before gradually fragmenting into repetition and deliberation. In the final iteration, the right hand falls silent entirely. The piece collapses into layered, repeating phrases, a droning bass, and piercing, arrhythmic glockenspiel chords; these elements together sonically represent the narrator's complete psychological unraveling.
This project was created for ENGL 2110: World Literature using the following prompt:
Create a short piece inspired by [a chosen piece of literature], not taken from the internet or another source, but created by you. You should provide video of you performing the song or screen captures of your electronic composition (e.g. Garage Band tracks) in addition to the mp3. The piece should be at least two minutes long.
Recommended Citation
Wagner, Luc A.
(2026)
"Musical Adaptation of the Short Story, "The Yellow Wallpaper","
FUSION: Vol. 3, Article 8.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/fusion/vol3/iss1/8