The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Jul 2013 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

Through a series of journal entries, a woman records her thoughts and feelings over the course of a summer, shortly after giving birth to her child. Confined to her bedroom on the advice of her husband, a physician, “The Yellow Wallpaper” chronicles the woman’s increasing instability, as she becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper covering the walls of her room.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is considered one of the earliest American feminist works of fiction and is unique for author Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s deft handling of the delicate subject of contemporary attitudes about women’s bodies, emotions, and mental health. The story is considered to be semi-autobiographical, and is based on Gilman’s own experiences with postpartum depression and rest cures.

HarperCollins brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperCollins short-stories collection to build your digital library.

Ratings and reviews

I read this book, and had to do a book report on it. This story is about a young lady who just given birth. She has what is called post partum depression. She stays confined into a bedroom so long that she starts seeing patterns and faces start to take shape on the wallpaper. I think that her husband didn't try hard enough to help her overcome her depression. But if you look at patterns in wallpaper long enough anyone can see things form. I've actually done this myself, however I'm not like her. LoL

I loved this book, a perfect example of gothic literature.

Thts all

About the author

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an American sociologist, writer, lecturer, and social reformist. As a child, Gilman was often in the presence of her father’s relatives, notably Isabella Beecher Hooker, a well-known suffragist, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, an abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Many of Gilman’s own works reflect similarly feminist and social reformist perspectives, and in 1909 she established The Forerunner, a magazine that acted as a forum for discussion of these issues. Gilman’s most famous work is “The Yellow Wallpaper,” a semi-autobiographical short story written in response to being put on “rest cure” by a doctor to cure her depression. Gilman’s works also include the poetry collection In This Our World, and the feminist texts Women and Economics and The Home: Its Work and Influence. She died in 1935.