The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman Meaning

Like kate chopin s the story of an hour charlotte perkins gilman s the yellow wallpaper is a mainstay of feminist literary study.

The yellow wallpaper charlotte perkins gilman meaning. 1257 words6 pages charlotte perkins gilman s short story the yellow wallpaper is the disheartening tale of a woman suffering from postpartum depression. Charlotte perkins gilman s classic short story the yellow wallpaper tells the story of a young woman s gradual descent into psychosis. First published in 1892 the story takes the form of secret journal entries written by a woman who is supposed to be recovering from what her husband a physician calls a nervous condition. Catherine sustana ph d is a fiction writer and a former professor of english at hawaii pacific university.

It is ripped soiled and an unclean yellow. Narrated in the first person the story is a collection of journal entries written by a woman whose physician husband has rented an old mansion for the summer. At first it seems merely unpleasant. The yellow wallpaper is driven by the narrator s sense that the wallpaper is a text she must interpret that it symbolizes something that affects her directly.

It is regarded as an important early work of american feminist literature due to its illustration of the attitudes towards mental and physical health of women in the 19th century. The yellow wallpaper by charlotte perkins gilman. The yellow wallpaper is a short story by american writer charlotte perkins gilman first published in january 1892 in the new england magazine. The worst part is the ostensibly formless pattern which fascinates the narrator as she attempts to figure out how it is organized.

Set during the late 1890s the story shows the mental and emotional results of the typical rest cure prescribed during that era and the narrator s reaction to this course of treatment. The yellow wallpaper is often cited as an early feminist work that predates a woman s right to vote in the united states. Analysis of the yellow wallpaper by c. Accordingly the wallpaper develops its symbolism throughout the story.