Dec 10, 2009

The Yellow Wallpaper | Introduction

"The Yellow Wallpaper," first published in 1892 in the New England Magazine, is largely considered Charlotte Perkins Gilman's best work of short fiction. The story is a first-person account of a young mother's mental deterioration and is based on Gilman's own experiences with post-partum depression. Like Gilman, the unnamed protagonist of the story is advised, based on medical theories of the time, to abstain from any and all physical activity and intellectual stimulation. She is not allowed to read, write, or even see her new baby. To carry out this treatment, the woman's husband takes her to a country house where she is kept in a former nursery decorated with yellow wallpaper.

Gilman initially had difficulties getting "The Yellow Wallpaper" published. Horace Scudder of The Atlantic refused to print it, stating ''I could not forgive myself if I made others as miserable as I have made myself!" Eventually, "The Yellow Wallpaper'' began to win converts, and American writer William Dean Howells included it in his The Great Modern American Stories: An Anthology in 1920. Early reviewers generally classified "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a horror story, with most commenting on Gilman's use of Gothic conventions. It was not until Elaine R. Hedges's afterward to a 1973 edition of the story that "The Yellow Wallpaper" began receiving scholarly attention. Most modern commentators now interpret the story as a feminist indictment of society's subjugation of women and praise its compelling characterization, complex symbolism, and thematic depth.

The Yellow Wallpaper Summary

"The Yellow Wallpaper" opens with the musings of an unnamed woman. She, her husband John, their newborn baby, and her sister-in-law have rented a summer house. The narrator is suffering from post-partum depression, and the summer house will function as a place for her to get better. The doctor has prescribed a rest cure of quiet and solitude, with an emphasis on avoiding any form of mental stimulation like reading or writing. The woman notes that the room in which she is staying seems to be geared more for incarceration than rehabilitation. John classifies her merely as "sick," thereby exhibiting the prevailing attitude of the day, that mental illness in women was not real. Following the doctor's strict orders, he forbids his wife from doing any type of work and does not allow her to see her baby. The narrator believes that work, excitement, and change would do her good, but her opinion does not matter. She would like to write, which is forbidden, and surreptiously keeping a diary exhausts her, as does trying to oppose her husband. With very little to do, the woman is left to contemplate the ugly yellow wallpaper in the nursery that is coming off the wall in great patches. She begins to trace the pattern of the wallpaper. The woman's narration abruptly ends because her husband is coming.

The story continues two weeks later when the narrator is able to write again. Even though she feels it might help relieve some of her tension, she generally gives in to her husband's desire that she not write. She has been feeling terribly depressed, but John says her case is not serious.... » Complete The Yellow Wallpaper Summary