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    The Yellow Wallpaper (Wisehouse Classics - First 1892 Edition, with the Original Illustrations by Joseph Henry Hatfield)
    The Yellow Wallpaper (Wisehouse Classics - First 1892 Edition, with the Original Illustrations by Joseph Henry Hatfield)
    The Yellow Wallpaper (Wisehouse Classics - First 1892 Edition, with the Original Illustrations by Joseph Henry Hatfield)
    Ebook31 pages28 minutes

    The Yellow Wallpaper (Wisehouse Classics - First 1892 Edition, with the Original Illustrations by Joseph Henry Hatfield)

    By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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    THE YELLOW WALLPAPER is a story by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine. It is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature, illustrating attitudes in the 19th century toward women's health, both physical and mental.

    Presented in the first person, the story is a collection of journal entries written by a woman whose physician husband (John) has rented an old mansion for the summer. Foregoing other rooms in the house, the couple moves into the upstairs nursery. As a form of treatment she is forbidden from working, and is encouraged to eat well and get plenty of exercise and air, so she can recuperate from what he calls a "temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency", a diagnosis common to women in that period. She hides her journal from her husband and his sister the housekeeper, fearful of being reproached for overworking herself. The room's windows are barred to prevent children from climbing through them, and there is a gate across the top of the stairs, though she and her husband have access to the rest of the house and its adjoining estate.

    The story depicts the effect of under-stimulation on the narrator's mental health and her descent into psychosis. With nothing to stimulate her, she becomes obsessed by the pattern and color of the wallpaper. "It is the strangest yellow, that wall-paper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw - not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things. But there is something else about that paper - the smell! ... The only thing I can think of that it is like is the color of the paper! A yellow smell." . . . (more on www.wsiehouse-classics.com)
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWisehouse Classics
    Release dateFeb 9, 2016
    ISBN9789176371565
    Author

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860 in Connecticut. Her father left when she was young and Gilman spent the rest of her childhood in poverty. As an adult she took classes at the Rhode Island School of Design and supported herself financially as a tutor, painter and artist. She had a short marriage with an artist and suffered serious postnatal depression after the birth of their daughter. In 1888 Gilman moved to California, where she became involved in feminist organizations. In California, she was inspired to write and she published The Yellow Wallpaper in The New England Magazine in 1892. In later life she was diagnosed with breast cancer and died by suicide in 1935.

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    Reviews for The Yellow Wallpaper (Wisehouse Classics - First 1892 Edition, with the Original Illustrations by Joseph Henry Hatfield)

    4/5

    1,136 ratings64 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I hadn’t any previous experience of this author. When reading the story I felt that it was the most horrifying piece of writing I had ever read, though when looking through it I didn’t feel that it was so bad. Reputedly, the story was based on the author’s own experience of her psychosis We’re not given the name of the woman recounting her experience, and I will call her the protagonist, or the P. Two of the first things that meet the eye are the protagonist’s negative comments about marriage, that the P’s husband John laughs at her (which is to be expected in marriage) and also negative comments about doctors. The P remarks that one reason she is not getting well faster may be because her husband is a physician. He does not believe she is “sick””, and what can one do? Both her husband and brother are doctors “of high standing” and both think there is nothing the matter with her except “a temporary nervous depression” or “slight hysterical tendency”. Perhaps at some level, then, the P feels obliged to prove them both wrong, that there really is something wrong with her; thus the need and “satisfaction” at some level to develop a full-blown psychosis. She is forbidden to work or write; but she is a woman with her own opinions and she herself feels that congenial work would do her good. She feels that if she had less “opposition” and “more society and stimulus”, she would feel better. We’re warned from the start that strange things are about to happen; she feels there is something queer, something strange, about the house. And otherwise, how had they been able to rent it so cheaply, and why would it have “"stood so long untenanted”? John is “very careful and loving” but he does not listen to his wife’s objections to the room he has chosen for them to sleep in. John is absolutely controlling; he chooses the house and the bedroom they’ve to sleep in and dictates what the P is permitted to do. When the P tells her left-brained husband what she feels about the house, he has so little understanding of what she’s talking about that he claims what she felt was a draught! She would have preferred to use as a bedroom a downstairs room with roses all over the window, but John wouldn’t hear of it. John has a “schedule prescription” for each hour in the day – the utnost control. Is this a general criticism of the control of all, or most, husbands of the times? At least the P is permitted to eat that which her appetite dictates, at any rate, “somewhat”. The room John chose for the bedroom was the former nursery that had bars on the windows. This is metaphoric for the P’s feeling of imprisonment when confined to the room. She had never seen worse wall-paper in her life. The colour of the wall-paper is a “smoldering unclean yellow”. John hates her to have to write a word. The P tells us that she is suffering, whereas logical John says there is no reason to suffer. (This is his subjective opinion.) She says her baby is “so dear” but she cannot be with him since it makes her so nervous. She supposes John was never nervous in his life. I will not cite any more details but will talk in a general manner. The author discloses in a gradual and subtle manner the start of the psychosis. First, she becomes convinced there is a woman or several women behind bars in the wall-paper, trying to get out. Later, she fails to distinguish between herself and the woman/women. She begins to display a slight paranoia, in that she gets a little afraid of John and Jennie (John’s sister), and feels they both give her strange looks. She projects her own problems onto John, and she thinks that he is getting queer now. She doesn’t like the look in John’s eyes and feels he is only pretending to be loving and kind. Now she. sees many creeping women outside, creeping so fast. Finally, she talks about she herself having to get back behind the pattern. She thinks she is the woman or one of the women behind the pattern. Eventually, John comes in the room and sees her creeping on the floor, realizes something is very wrong and faints. To sum up, I felt this to be an excellent and superbly written story and may read some of the author’s other stories.
    • 5/5
      This edition has a version "translated" into modern English, as well as the original in an appendix. There are also two scholarly essays, and some additional statements from the author about the women's right to vote and why she wrote The Yellow Wallpaper.
    • 5/5
      Amazing, painful, frightening. TV Tropes even refers to this short story from 1892... (especially in the "Room Full of Crazy" trope...)
    • 5/5
      The Yellow Wall-Paper was one of the first short novels that I read. I made the exception because of its status on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I am glad that I read it. It is the perfect length for a cup of tea and the price is right. It is a part of Project Gutenberg, and an eBook can be obtained free of charge.
      The story is a series of journal entries told in first person by the narrator, a nameless woman who is locked in a room, after being diagnosed as ‘nervously depressed’ by her physician husband, John. I believe that John acts out of love, although questionable at times. His treatment of his wife is so oppressive, that it seems that the woman may have created her own sense of freedom, although it is seen as psychotic.
      The journal entries describe the woman’s descent into psychosis with the wallpaper in the room where she is locked in her own thoughts. The ending of the story has an odd, but feminist triumph of sorts. I can see that there are many ways that this story, albeit short, could be interpreted. The bottom line is that there is a lot of punch in this short little ditty.
    • 5/5
      With still so many unresolved questions, The Yellow Wallpaper keeps its power.Was the doctor husband totally without bad intentions?If no, why did he not respond to his wife's simple request NOT to stay in the upstairs nursery with the awful peeling wallpaper?Did her writing actually cause her to become more upset? or was this a thing he just wanted to control?If she could make it outside for daily walks, why does she keep insisting that her husband would not allow her to DO anything?She could have gardened! fed birds! found a pet! followed the wildlife! dug a pond!So this descent into madness felt more like the choices of an unstable mind rather than an intent by her husband and his sister to drive her insane.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed the deliciously creepy novella The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The author hit all the right notes and left the reader wondering if they had just read about a woman’s decent into madness or this was a story about spirit possession. This story was first published in 1892 and I would say it has definitely stood the test of time.Told entirely from the woman’s perspective, we learn that she, her husband, physician John, his sister and their baby are spending the summer in a remote colonial mansion. Her husband has diagnosed a need for a “rest cure” for her nervous depression. The negative aspects and limited understanding about this women’s psychological condition are soon apparent as she spends her time in isolation. She is confined to one room of the house, an old nursery and with nothing to fill her time with, she soon turns her attention to the room’s wallpaper, and in particular it’s intricate patterns.For such a short story there is a lot for the reader to think about including a woman’s role and rights in Victorian society and mental health issues. I loved how the author gave this story a haunting quality and left the conclusion up to the reader to determine. The Yellow Wallpaper had just the right amount of “unexpected” and I highly recommend this story.
    • 5/5
      I had picked this book up on a whim, largely due to how slim it was, but also because the little synopsis on the back of the book sounded interesting. Before I could start it, someone posted something on Facebook about how they'd read this book ages ago, and it had always stayed with them. I thought, "Huh. And I've never even heard of it...."
      I read it in one sitting, less than an hour's time. For me, that's VERY fast. I can see, now, why they said it always stayed with them. I don't know that I would have appreciated it if I'd read this when I was in my teens or twenties, or even in my thirties.... but at this exact point in my life, it DEFINITELY spoke to me!!!
      Another one I'll re-read again and again!!!
    • 3/5
      This was a short story told from the point of view of a woman who was suffering what we would today call postpartum depression. Her husband and family force her to stay on bed rest in a strange room where she slowly loses her mind based on her surroundings - especially the wallpaper in the room. While short, the story does a nice job making the reader feel for the main character, and gives us a glimpse of what it might be like to suffer from that type of depression.
    • 5/5
      Wow! How is it I've never run across this before? Gilman's writing and characterization is superb. This is definitely one to go back to again and again.
    • 3/5
      This was an okay short story about a woman’s decent into psychosis. It’s written in the form of a diary entry but there are no dates or times. Just a long stream of consciousness. Quick read.
    • 4/5
      I have been meaning to read this for such a long time and I finally did and it leaves me wishing I could read it again for the first time again, I really enjoyed this one
    • 3/5
      Read this short story in 1 sitting. It is the story of a woman's descent into madness following the birth of her child and the subsequent enforced rest. She is taken to a country house to recover and spends most of her time confined to a room with horrid yellow wallpaper. The description of the room makes me think what happens to the woman has happened in the past. A creepy, thought provoking read.
    • 4/5
      This short story is one that took me a short time to read, but inspired days of thought. It's a wonderfully written way to dive into the complex issues of the way society viewed/views mental illness, particularly the way the medical profession views mental illness, and the consequences. Also inspiring me to think about the subtle mistreatment of women in this era, it was really one of the most thought-provoking works I've read despite the short length.
    • 4/5
      This is my favorite short story. It's a good look at the repression of women, the mistreatment of women by society and the medical profession, and sexual oppression. It's an interesting representation of how post-partum depression was completely ignored in the past. It's a creepy, short story about a depressed woman's descent into madness after her husband locks her away in an old nursery (windows barred, door locked). Very chilling read.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite pieces of short fiction ever. I was first exposed to this story during my senior year of high school, where I just wrote it off as a creepy story. I enjoyed it, but I didn't really GET it. This 6,000 word story, written as a journal of a woman's descent into madness, is deceptively simple.I came across it again years later, and I saw it in a different way. An extremely personal way. I related to this narrator in that I feared ending up like her. And if I'd been born in her time, I very well might have. I chose this story to be the focus of a research paper for a lit class, and studied it once again for another lit class. I am very familiar with this story and I've lost count of how many times I've read it. But every time I read it, I get a new feeling from it, and it chills me all over again.
    • 4/5
      Originally published in 1899, the slight, 30-odd page story is one of the creepiest glimpses into the process of a mental breakdown I have ever read. Republished by The Feminist Press in 1973, the afterword of the edition I read spoke of the author’s prolific career as a writer, poet, publisher, and academic. She wrote several textbooks, opened her own school, and for several years of her life wrote, published, and edited her own magazine, which amounted to about 21,000 words per month. (Hedges, Afterword to the 1973 Feminist Press edition, 38.) In other words, Gilman was a total badass. However, the short story captures the prisoner-like aspects of the submissive role that many women lived at the time of publication, both in terms of marriage and societal expectations overall. The protagonist of the story is left in a room, with little to no social contact and no medical treatment. As the story progresses her mental condition worsens and those around her coddle her but do nothing proactive to alleviate her situation. It is scary, realistic, and her lack of choices and the guilt she is made to feel are heart-wrenching. Gilman's writing draws you right into the story and right down the slide of sanity in a way I will never forget. I absolutely recommend this work to anyone who enjoys short stories, people who like to read about mental illness, and anyone interested in 19th century feminism.
    • 5/5
      Excitingly creepy in every way.
    • 4/5
      A short story chronicling one woman's descent into madness, poorly understood by those around her, and tormented by the ghastly yellow wallpaper in her bedroom. Very well told. I only wish it were longer.
    • 5/5
      The Yellow Wallpaper is a dark and powerfully written tale, first published in 1892, about a woman's descent into madness. Her psychosis is brought on by the social restrictions of the time, a controlling husband and the deteriorating yellow wallpaper that covers their bedroom.
    • 4/5
      This is an interesting short story about the psychological disintegration of a woman, seeing images in the eponymous object around her as she lays in her sickbed. Too short to exert a really powerful impact, though, for me. 3.5/5
    • 5/5
      This is a classic of feminist literature. It tells of a woman suffering from depression which is made worse and worse by the paternalistic care of her "loving" husband who treats her as a child, manages every aspect of her life, discourages her writing career, and dismisses any concern she might have. His idea of a cure for depression seems to be that she sleep for 3 months and not trouble her pretty little brain. The result is a very moving, very creepy story.
    • 4/5
      A gradual descent into madness, as ‘journaled’ by a Victorian lady. Semi-autobiographical, and subtly written, this depression settling into something darker delivers chills along with the story.
    • 2/5
      Even as short as it is, still too long. It would be more compelling as a paragraph or two. Probably as highly rated as it is because of its position within feminist literature, which is fine and understandable (and moderately interesting); I just didn't care for it--I found it more comical than anything else.
    • 4/5
      Brilliant story of madness! Fascinating piece for its historical value as Ms. Gilman is protesting the common treatment at the time the story was written given to women who were suffering "nervous" disorders. A cautionary tale but extremely frightening because of its reality.
    • 3/5
      Interesting read from a different era. Not sure how I really feel even after 2 months. I like dark and books about insanity but this one was a bit out there.
    • 4/5
      A woman, confined to an upper-story bedroom in a creepy house for a "rest cure" following a mental breakdown, becomes obsessed with the hideous yellow wallpaper.I have read this story a few times and I always forget how creepy and chilling it is, especially the final image. Gilman has a knack of pointing out the horrific things that society does to women. In this story, depriving the narrator of her means of expressing herself and stimulating her brain is just as terrifying as confining her to her room. I believe the narrator was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum depression.Reread in 2015.
    • 3/5
      Never read this as a kid, realized I probably should. An interesting perspective on interior decorating.
    • 4/5
      I first read this piece for an English class a couple years ago and it’s been with me ever since. It’s a fairly short read but when it’s over it still haunts you and leaves you chilled to the bone. I think that this story depicts how someone with a mental illness could feel when their illness isn’t validated and properly cared for.
    • 5/5
      This was shorter than I expected.. But interesting.. I loved the visuals I got from her description of the creeping woman behind the pattern in the wallpaper... And to learn ultimately that it was herself she saw trapped behind it.. Creepy.. And sad.. I enjoyed it!
    • 4/5
      This story is interesting because it has many depths. This woman is trapped by something… Is she trapped by some illness? Or could it be her husband and those around her? What about her psyche? Or by the tiny room, with the ugly and haunting wallpaper, where she spends the majority of her time in?

      Those around her only make this situation worse. Her husband, the head of the household is also a Doctor, making her situation even more pitiful. I’m slightly curious to see this story from the perspective of her husband, would it show him in the same light or would we see another side? You can see his love for her, so why then does it look like he is trapping her in this house.

      The wallpaper is another interesting aspect of the story, the obsession behind the ugliness of it. This woman has strong observation skills that have been with her since childhood. This could be telling of extreme intelligence or autistic/OCD traits which would explain the unexplained “sickness”. I also think that when someone is depressed it can escalate by staying inside and being inactive. Sometimes the best cure is actually forcing yourself to do the things you don’t want to. All the people involved in her caretaking only placate her.
      It only gets more interesting when she sees a woman trapped behind the pattern in the wallpaper. Is this a reflection of how she feels in her current condition? Is the trapped by those around her or just getting more paranoid?

      This story ended up giving me the creeps. The description of the wallpaper woman crawling and shaking the pattern in front of her seemed right out of a horror movie. The descriptions gave me some very ghostly images and the idea of being trapped in a room days on end is the perfect setting for horrific imaginings. I really love it because it’s not the typical scary story, almost like the creepy parts are underneath and need to be dug up. The story really plays with reality, what is real and what is merely imagination. What is real to someone could be a trick of the mind and the start of crazy thoughts. How easy it is to lose ones sanity.

    Book preview

    The Yellow Wallpaper (Wisehouse Classics - First 1892 Edition, with the Original Illustrations by Joseph Henry Hatfield) - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper

    ♣

    MANY AND MANY A READER HAS ASKED THAT. When the story first came out, in the New England Magazine about 1891, a Boston physician made protest in The Transcript. Such a story ought not to be written, he said; it was enough to drive anyone mad to read it.

    Another physician, in Kansas I think, wrote to say that it was the best description of incipient insanity he had ever seen, and—begging my pardon—had I been there?

    Now the story of the story is this:

    For many years I suffered from a severe and continuous nervous breakdown tending to melancholia—and beyond. During about the third year of this trouble I went, in devout faith and some faint stir of hope, to a noted specialist in nervous diseases, the best known in the country. This wise man put me to bed and applied the rest cure, to which a still-good physique responded so promptly that he concluded there was nothing much the matter with me, and sent me home with solemn advice to live as domestic a life as far as possible, to have but two hours’ intellectual life a day, and never to touch pen, brush, or pencil again as long as I lived. This was in 1887.

    I went home and obeyed those directions for some three months, and came so near the borderline of utter mental ruin that I could see over.

    Then, using the remnants of intelligence that remained, and helped by a wise friend, I cast the noted specialist’s advice to the winds and went to work again—work, the normal life of every human being; work, in which is joy and growth and service, without which one is a pauper and a parasite—ultimately recovering some measure of power.

    Being naturally moved to rejoicing by this narrow escape, I wrote The Yellow Wallpaper, with its embellishments and additions, to carry out the ideal (I never had hallucinations or objections to my mural decorations) and sent a copy

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