This short novel was confusing to say the least, don't get me wrong I liked it, but I found the ending a bit confusing since it doesn't really make sense to me. But the imagery in the book is facinatig

Moral of the story: don’t get yourself a husband

Despite being written at the tail-end of the 1800s, this story continues to hold up as an introspective look into the patriarchy and the disastrous consequences of it. The narrator is suffering at the hands of her society, and it’s a cautionary tale about the dangers of a society ruled by men. What happens when you have no agency? I loved this story when I read it in high school, and I love it just the same now. Justice for my girl!

(i read this over a year ago, ignore this)

| Idk what's going on half the time but this is horrifying...

Une lecture parfaitement horrifique et oppressante, bien que très courte cette histoire sait parfaitement installer une atmosphère angoissante.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman sure knew how to get a lot out of a little. You hear about the wallpaper so much yet each description stands out on its own, a new insane vision of the same boring object. The narrator's husband is an asshole and I'm guessing the way he treats his wife, especially as a doctor, isn't super unusual for the time period. He seems to genuinely want her to get better, but only as long as she recovers in the way he deems fit. Which is, of course, an absurd set of rules. What I found most interesting about this very short story was the usage of "delirium tremens" in something this old. I also admired Gilman's way of describing the "women" she saw outside the windows as she spun around fast; these are clearly her addled mind reacting to small visual stimuli and imagining it into larger things. I think we've all had this happen before: you think you see a dot on the wall, you look away, your mind says "That's a spider!", yet you turn back and it's either just a dot or maybe nothing at all. Gilman also does a good job of making this "peaceful" environment, one that's beautifully described, into a hostile one. A short, good read.

hot girls read the yellow wallpaper and weirdly relate to the narrator

woah

Too much symbolism, not as obscure as portrayed.

very fun style of writing! shortest story i've ever read but one of the deepest. it is about the neglect in women's mental health and freedom, being controlled by a husband (men). the wallpaper symbolizes her being trapped in hysteria due to mistreatment. i loved every bit!

Absolutely breathtaking. The sheer detail, the electrifying imagery...it's everything I could want in a novel and more. It's hard to believe this book is merely 63 pages, for every word breathes life into the story.

huh?

me anytime the husband spoke: OH BROTHER THIS GUY STINKS!

★★★,5

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic short story, The Yellow Wallpaper tells the story of a young woman’s gradual descent into psychosis. The Yellow Wallpaper is often cited as an early feminist work that predates a woman’s right to vote in the United States. The author was involved in first-wave feminism, and her other works questioned the origins of the subjugation of women, particularly in marriage. The Yellow Wallpaper is a widely read work that asks difficult questions about the role of women, particularly regarding their mental health and right to autonomy and self-identity. The Yellow Wallpaper is one of the defining works of feminist literature. Writing about a woman’s health, mental or physical, was considered a radical act at the time that Perkins Gilman wrote this short story. Writing at all about the lives of women was considered at best, frivolous, and at worst dangerous. As someone living with bipolar and schizophrenia, I found it easy to sympathize with a woman who lived in a time when mental health, especially women’s mental health, was something not understood or something that could be properly treated. This short story was decades ahead of its time and I finally understand why it belongs in the pool of classic literature taught in modern day.

Mysterious, fun, and historically educational.

I did not expect that... I feel like John was the obvious villain in the story, even though he wasn't entirely evil. He does, however, belittle his wife, calling her names like little girl, goose etc. He also does not take into regards anything his wife feels and says and acts as if he knows what's best for her. This only deteriorates her mental health at a fast pace, as she becomes more obsessed with the wallpaper.

3.5

This was suggested to me by Mark Holloway, author of The Soul’s Aspect, which is tremendous, so how could I ignore him…I ordered it immediately. Known for being a very early feminist work, the short story focuses on the way women’s physical and mental health was viewed in the 19th century. While written well, it’s written quite plainly in a way that could still be picked up and read today as a more modern piece if you were unawares, and that tracks well for me, especially when people still throw around the word “hysterical” about people as if it holds weight. For me this was surprisingly atmospheric, claustrophobic, and paranoiac. I feel like I may have had to read this during schooling, but it definitely was beyond me at the time. The writer feels that she needs the exact opposite of what her husband (and doctor) believes is best for her, going so far as to even say what he wanted was making her worse. There’s something to be said for the first person perspective and their self awareness that perhaps mentally they are losing it, or perhaps the others are. It lends credence to both sides of the argument while still being firm that she’s misdiagnosed. And all this through that godforsaken yellow, orange, green patterned wallpaper. Personally a 4/5* for me. A great short story

splendid: the writing, the stories, the girlbossing.

i had the most phenomenal experience reading this short story and another two short stories included in this edition which was 'the rocking chair' and 'old water'.

firstly, i read the yellow wall-paper in a dark room only lit by a single table lamp. i could sense and feel the descriptions of the wall-paper made by the narrator as if i were in the same room. i could feel for her insanity growing day by day. i could feel for her fear and deteriorating nature that only herself can understand and no one else. not even her husband, not even her own brother. i could feel for her need to conceal her mental illness just because the people around her, per se her own husband that dismisses her own mental illness as in there is nothing to worry about. she also had to conceal her ambitions of writing.

this book was all about the societal views on women and the patriarchy of the nineteenth century. charlotte perkins gilman did an excellent job in depicting the story with symbolisms of a room, of a furniture, of a view from the room, of every walkway as to symbolise something in order to expose the problems of the society of how they entrap women in their cages and expect them to be cured by imprisoning them and concealing it with a so-called treatment even though it resulted the contrary.

am i too stupid to understand this

my god