The Theme of Power in Yellow Wallpaper and Bartleby Many texts written in the nineteenth century have a very obvious theme of power. Authority can be viewed very differently depending on the view of the transcript that is presented to the public. By looking at the different transcriptions within the text, the reader has a more realistic exposure to the resistance of power in that text. This article will demonstrate that transcripts of different viewpoints allow for different interpretations of the power struggle itself. Using James C. Scott, this article will examine transcriptions of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Herman Melville's "Bartleby." These two texts are opposites in many ways, which makes them fascinating to study through Scott's eyes, because together they broadly cover the four situations he focuses on. The first transcript Scott discusses is that of the audience's point of view. He describes that “the public transcript is, to put it mildly, the self-portrait of the ruling elites as they would have seen themselves” (18). Since the narrator of “Bartleby” is a member of the “ruling elite,” this text is a great example of how the public transcript is used to show resistance and power. Text written from this point of view focuses on trying to make the elite seem good, righteous, and noble. The narrator of this text did a great job of doing just that. At one point speaking of Bartleby he told the audience "Not only did there seem to lurk in it a certain calm contempt, but its perversity seemed ungrateful, considering the undeniable good use and indulgence it had received from me" (Melville 18). The narrator was basically saying: I've been so good to Bartleby, how dare he not appreciate all my kindness. It's...half of the paper...shows how there can be many different forms of resistance and views of authority within texts, depending on the transcripts used to understand them. Each text read in this course, on the surface, provides an entertaining story, however the same texts upon deeper reading are able to decode much more complex plots. On the surface Bartleby is just a very strange employee, and the narrator of Gilman's story is just a crazy woman, but by digging deeper this doc was able to show much more intensity to both. Works Cited Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper" and other stories. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1997. Melville, Herman. Bartleby and Benito Cereno. 3rd ed. NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1990. Scott, James C. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990.