The theme I intend to analyze is that of the identity crisis, which in its substance is quite significant. I'm really interested in this topic, because as we go through life, we are constantly defining our identity and learning more about ourselves. As I attend college, I find that I am learning more and more about myself. The texts I will analyze are “The Yellow Wall-paper”, “Why I live at the PO” and “To a daughter leaving home”. In two of the three stories, depression is essentially a key role for the characters. The three texts all share the theme of identity and this can be seen through the struggle between characters, names and family. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wall-Paper" in 1892. The story is mainly about how "I got along well with mother, father-father and uncle Rondo until my sister Stella-Rondo separated from her husband and returned home" . again” (Welty 659). Her sister took away her identity by turning her family against her. This led her to realize that something had to change, she needed to change. This forced her to create a new identity and distance herself from her family. Linda Pastan wrote “To a Daughter Leaving Home.” The poem is about a daughter who is growing up and about to leave home. The mother reflects on the time she taught her daughter to ride a bicycle when she was eight years old. The mother clings to the memory and realizes how quickly her daughter's life has passed. The mother is sad because her daughter is growing up and leaving home. In this poem, the mother and daughter characters both face identity issues. The daughter is growing up and no longer needs her mother, while the mother is sad because her daughter no longer needs her as much. “I kept waiting/for the thud/of your crash as/I ran to catch up with you” (Pastan, lines 11-13). This quote shows that the mother was waiting to help her daughter, but the daughter was fine on her own. Since the daughter leaves home, it means that both mother and daughter will begin new identities. Since they had no names, they could be used to represent any mother-daughter