In his Enigmas of Identity, Peter Brooks describes the "transactional nature of the self", where individual identity is created through one's relationship with others (Brooks 23). Identity is forged through “transpersonal networks,” going beyond the individual or personal (23). Identity is not static, but an ongoing “project,” asking how we stay the same, change, and grow (15). In Arthur Conan Doyle's “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper,” identity and its transactional and malleable nature play an important role. In each story, the identities of these protagonists have shape-shifting abilities, and mistaken or lost individual identities are major themes. A common feature of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories is mistaken identity. Holmes frequently assumes a different identity to achieve his detective goals while investigating his various mysteries. Holmes has the ability to transform and renegotiate his identity to serve a particular purpose. In “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Irene Adler, as an actress, is also capable of this shapeshifting. In this story, Holmes is hired to recover an incriminating letter and photos from Irene Adler and the King of Bohemia, who fears that her fiancé will learn of her impropriety. During his investigation, Holmes follows Alder disguised as a drunken man, then disguises himself as a clergyman. Holmes' identity is often manipulated by him, but his position as a skilled detective is never lost. Unbeknownst to Holmes, Alder has also disguised herself as a young man. At the conclusion, Adler leaves behind a letter addressed to Holmes explaining how she beat Holmes. In her letter she... middle of paper ...... interpersonal interactions are with her husband, our perspective on him is skewed. The narrator becomes deliberately infantilized as John assumes a parental role beyond that of husband or doctor. As the narrative progresses, the increasing loss of self becomes more apparent. The narrator remains anonymous until the end of the story. The ending is vague, between a total loss of self and a defiant liberation. In the final lines of the story, the narrator is given a named identity: “'I'm out at last,' I said, 'despite you and Jane. And I took most of the paper out, so you can't put me back!' » (Gilman). The narrator becomes a manifestation of distress and anxiety rather than a real woman. The yellow wallpaper takes on a role in its own right, and this relationship between the narrator and her material environment becomes all-consuming...