The Yellow Wallpaper: Annotated Edition with Key Points and Study Guide
()
About this ebook
"The Yellow Wallpaper," first published in 1882, is largely based on the personal experience of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Like many women of that era, Gilman was subjected to the "rest cure" for postpartum depression. The cure, pioneered by Silas Weir Mitchell, forbade
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was an American author, feminist, and social reformer. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Gilman was raised by her mother after her father abandoned his family to poverty. A single mother, Mary Perkins struggled to provide for her son and daughter, frequently enlisting the help of her estranged husband’s aunts, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. These early experiences shaped Charlotte’s outlook on gender and society, inspiring numerous written works and a lifetime of activism. Gilman excelled in school as a youth and went on to study at the Rhode Island School of Design where, in 1879, she met a woman named Martha Luther. The two were involved romantically for the next few years until Luther married in 1881. Distraught, Gilman eventually married Charles Walter Stetson, a painter, in 1884, with whom she had one daughter. After Katharine’s birth, Gilman suffered an intense case of post-partum depression, an experience which inspired her landmark story “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1890). Gilman and Stetson divorced in 1894, after which Charlotte moved to California and became active in social reform. Gilman was a pioneer of the American feminist movement and an early advocate for women’s suffrage, divorce, and euthanasia. Her radical beliefs and controversial views on race—Gilman was known to support white supremacist ideologies—nearly consigned her work to history; at the time of her death none of her works remained in print. In the 1970s, however, the rise of second-wave feminism and its influence on literary scholarship revived her reputation, bringing her work back into publication.
Read more from Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Yellow Wallpaper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wallpaper: 125th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wallpaper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Herland Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Greatest Ghost and Horror Stories Ever Written: volume 1 (30 short stories) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/550 Feminist Masterpieces you have to read before you die (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wallpaper Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gothic Classics: 60+ Books in One Volume Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest American Short Stories: 50+ Classics of American Literature Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Halloween Stories you have to read before you die (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHerland: original edition 1909-1916 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Greatest American Short Stories (Vol. 1) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper (Legend Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Herland Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5WOMEN & ECONOMICS Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Best American Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper (Legend Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wall-Paper, Herland, and Selected Writings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wallpaper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Yellow Wallpaper
Related ebooks
The Yellow Wallpaper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wallpaper (Book Center) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCharlotte Perkins Gilman: The Complete Novels and Novellas (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wallpaper: By Charlotte Perkins Gilman - Illustrated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An early work of American feminist literature Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper: Filibooks Classics Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper: A psychological Short Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Charlotte Perkins Gilman: The Best Works Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wall Paper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings7 best short stories - Feminist Fiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wall Paper (Classic Reprint) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper: “Through literature we know the past, govern the present, and influence the future.” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Charlotte Perkins Gilman Collection: 6 Classic Works Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper - Unabridged Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCharlotte Perkins Gilman Collection: The Yellow Wallpaper, Herland and The Man Made World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInside the Mind of Madness: The best stories in history illustrating a characters descent into madness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Top 10 Short Stories - American Realism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper (Legend Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Top 10 Short Stories - The US Authors of New England Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWomens Short Stories 3 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Top 10 Short Stories - Women's Gothic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper (Diversion Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Top 10 Short Stories - The 1890's Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Top 10 Short Stories - Madness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yellow Wallpaper - Our Androcentric Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Top 10 Short Stories - The 1890's - The Women Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Psychology For You
What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5101 Fun Personality Quizzes: Who Are You . . . Really?! Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Win Friends and Influence People: Updated For the Next Generation of Leaders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Letting Go: Stop Overthinking, Stop Negative Spirals, and Find Emotional Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Witty Banter: Be Clever, Quick, & Magnetic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5ADHD: A Hunter in a Farmer's World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denial of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covert Passive Aggressive Narcissist: The Narcissism Series, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Self-Care for People with ADHD: 100+ Ways to Recharge, De-Stress, and Prioritize You! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Running on Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Yellow Wallpaper
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
1
The Yellow Wallpaper
It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer.
A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and reach the height of romantic felicity—but that would be asking too much of fate!
Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it.
Else, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stood so long untenanted?
John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.
John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures.
John is a physician, and perhaps—(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind)—perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster.
You see, he does not believe I am sick!
And what can one do?
If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do?
My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing.
So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to work
until I am well again.
Personally, I disagree with their ideas.
Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.
But what is one to do?
I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal—having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition.
I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad.
So I will let it alone and talk about the house.
The most beautiful place! It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people.
There