What is the original title of the Yellow Wallpaper?
The Yellow Wallpaper. "The Yellow Wallpaper" (original title: "The Yellow Wall-paper. A Story") is a short story by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine.
What inspired Perkins Gilman to write the Yellow Wallpaper?
Perkins Gilman used her own experience in her first marriage and postpartum depression as inspiration for The Yellow Wallpaper, and illustrates how a woman’s lack of autonomy is detrimental to her mental health.
What is the plot of the Yellow Wallpaper?
"The Yellow Wallpaper" Summary "The Yellow Wallpaper" details the deterioration of a woman's mental health while she is on a "rest cure" on a rented summer country estate with her family. Her obsession with the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom marks her descent into psychosis from her depression throughout the story.
What does the room look like with the Yellow Wallpaper?
The room is covered in a dull and chaotic yellow wallpaper, and it has one piece of furniture—a heavy bed. The narrator spends a lot of time studying the wallpaper, trying to figure out its pattern. She sees another pattern beneath the main one, but then that pattern turns into the figure of a woman.
Who published The Yellow Wallpaper?
The Yellow Wallpaper, short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, published in New England Magazine in May 1892 and in book form in 1899.
What category is The Yellow Wallpaper?
The Yellow Wallpaper is considered to be fiction. While it may seem to be a memoir of the author's life and Charlotte Perkins Gilman has said it was based on her experiences, the work is actually fiction as it is not entirely true to her life.
Is The Yellow Wallpaper a primary or secondary source?
For instnace, Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote The Yellow Wallpaper at the turn of the 19th century. Therefore, relevant literature (articles, journals, other stories, etc.) during that time period are considered primary source documents.
Is The Yellow Wallpaper an article?
"The Yellow Wallpaper" (original title: "The Yellow Wall-paper. A Story") is a short story by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine.
How do you cite The Yellow Wallpaper?
How to cite “The yellow wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins GilmanAPA. Gilman, C. P. (1981). The yellow wallpaper. Virago Press.Chicago. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. 1981. The Yellow Wallpaper. Virago Modern Classics. London, England: Virago Press.MLA. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. Virago Press, 1981.
Is The Yellow Wallpaper a feminist story?
Early readers were appreciative of the sheer horror of the tale, and, indeed, it still stands as a wonderful example of the genre. But it was not until the rediscovery of the story in the early 1970's that “The Yellow Wallpaper” was recognized as an early feminist indictment of Victorian patriarchy.
What does The Yellow Wallpaper symbolize?
The yellow wallpaper in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a symbol of society and patriarchy. It is ugly, faded, and torn in some spots, and a figure of a woman is trapped in the paper. It symbolizes women, or the woman in the story, being trapped within the constraints of a patriarchal society.
What is the main argument in The Yellow Wallpaper?
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is an illustration of the way a mind that is already plagued with anxiety can deteriorate and begin to prey on itself when it is forced into inactivity and kept from healthy work.
What is the rest cure in The Yellow Wallpaper?
In addition to narcotics, Mitchell prescribed a rest cure to calm them and limit movement that would keep them from healing. The cure involved four basic elements: bed rest, force-feeding and overfeeding, massage, and electrical stimulation of the muscles.
What mental illness does the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper have?
The narrator is brought by her physician husband to a summer retreat in the countryside to recover from her “temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency”. There she is to rest, take tonics, air and exercise – and absolutely forbidden to engage in intellectual work until well again.
What does her illness symbolize in The Yellow Wallpaper?
The yellow wallpaper symbolizes Jane's depression and her struggle with her overwhelming mental illness. At night, Jane lies awake studying the paper desperately trying to keep watch over the woman behind it (316). Gilman shows that Jane's depression…show more content…
Is the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper insane?
Due to her isolation in the yellow room, her brain is consumed with the color and her senses become entangled with the smell. The narrator's confinement is what ultimately drives her insane.
What is the theme of The Yellow Wallpaper?
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is an illustration of the way a mind that is already plagued with anxiety can deteriorate and begin to prey on itself when it is forced into inactivity and kept from healthy work.
What does The Yellow Wallpaper symbolize?
The yellow wallpaper in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a symbol of society and patriarchy. It is ugly, faded, and torn in some spots, and a figure of a woman is trapped in the paper. It symbolizes women, or the woman in the story, being trapped within the constraints of a patriarchal society.
What is the purpose of The Yellow Wallpaper?
The purpose of “The Yellow Wallpaper” is to tell the reader that you can have negative effect on someone's mental health if they are denied their freedom of expression. This is because the narrator (Jane) was kept in a room that had yellow wallpaper, which she did not like.
What era was The Yellow Wallpaper in?
A short story set in New England in the 1880s; published in 1892. A woman suffering from depression is subjected to a “Rest Cure.” Relegated to an isolated country house and forbidden to work or exercise, she goes insane.
When was the yellow wallpaper featured?
The Yellow Wallpaper was featured as The Short Story of the Day on Fri, Jul 19, 2019. If you enjoyed this story, you may also like her short story about this story, Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper. 7.7. Create a library and add your favorite stories. Get started by clicking the "Add" button.
Why did Gilman write the yellow wallpaper?
The Yellow Wallpaper is an important cornerstone of feminist literature. Gilman wrote the story to change public perception about the role of women in society by demonstrating the harmful mental and emotional effects that women suffered when denied their autonomy and decision-making authority. It was her response to Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell's attempt to cure her severe postpartum depression via a "rest cure." Enjoy her short story about this story, Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper. The story is featured in our Feminist Literature Study Guide and The Unreliable Narrator.
Is it rare that ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer?
IT is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer.
What is the Yellow Wallpaper?
" 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 ...
When was the Yellow Wallpaper published?
Publication. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was first published in January 1892 in New England Magazine. During Perkins Gilman's lifetime, the role of women in American society was heavily restricted both socially and legally. At the time of its publication, women were still twenty-six years away from gaining the right to vote .
When did Perkins Gilman write the Yellow Wallpaper?
The couple separated in 1888, the year that Perkins Gilman wrote her first book, Art Gems for the Home and Fireside. She later wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" in 1890, while she was in a relationship with Adeline Knapp, and living apart from her legal husband. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was published in 1892, and in 1893 she published a book ...
Why does the narrator turn to the yellow wallpaper?
The narrator, because she doesn’t have anything else to think about or other mental stimulation, turns to the yellow wallpaper as something to analyze and interpret. The pattern eventually comes into focus as bars, and then she sees a woman inside the pattern . This represents feeling trapped.
What does the narrator believe when she first enters the room with the yellow wallpaper?
For example, when the narrator first enters the room with the yellow wallpaper, she believes it to be a nursery. However, the reader can clearly see that the room could have just as easily been used to contain a mentally unstable person.
What is the narrator discouraged from doing?
The narrator is also discouraged from doing activities, whether they are domestic- like cleaning or caring for her baby- in addition to things like reading, writing, and exploring the grounds of the house. She is stifled and confined both physically and mentally, which only adds to her condition.
Guiding Questions
What was life like for some American women in the mid- to late-nineteenth century and early twentieth century?
Learning Objectives
Analyze how factors such as race, class, nationality/immigration status, and marital status affected a woman's place in society.
Lesson Plan Details
"This wise [...] sent me home with solemn advice to 'live as domestic a life as possible,' to 'have but two hours' intelligent life a day,' and 'never to touch pen, brush or pencil again as long as I lived."
The Room With the Yellow Wallpaper
The narrator and her husband use an old nursery as their bedroom. She writes, "It was a nursery first and then playground and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the wall." The room is also covered in a confusing and dingy yellow wallpaper.
What Does the Yellow Wallpaper Symbolize?
The yellow wallpaper infuriates the narrator.
The Mysterious Figure in "The Yellow Wallpaper"
At first, the narrator thinks she sees a dim "sub-pattern" on the wallpaper, but she soon sees that it is the shadow of a woman. During the day, the narrator sees the woman outside.
Overview
External links
• The Yellow Wall Paper at Project Gutenberg
• The Yellow Wallpaper public domain audiobook at LibriVox
• Full Text of The Yellow Wallpaper. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
• Full text of The Yellow Wallpaper at the CUNY Library
Plot summary
The story describes a young woman and her husband. He imposes a rest cure on her when she suffers "temporary nervous depression" after the birth of their baby. They spend the summer at a colonial mansion, where the narrator is largely confined to an upstairs nursery. The story makes striking use of an unreliable narrator in order to gradually reveal the degree to which her husband has imprisoned her: she describes torn wallpaper, barred windows, metal rings in the walls, a flo…
Interpretation
Gilman used her writing to explore the role of women in America around 1900. She expanded upon many issues, such as the lack of a life outside the home and the oppressive forces of the patriarchal society. Through her work, Gilman paved the way for writers such as Alice Walker and Sylvia Plath.
In "The Yellow Wallpaper," she portrays the narrator's insanity as a way to prote…
Dramatic adaptations
• Agnes Moorehead performed a version twice, in 1948 and 1957, on the radio program Suspense.
• The CBC Radio drama Vanishing Point did a radio version of Mary Vingoe's adaptation for the stage at Toronto's Nightwood Theatre in 1985.
• An audio book of "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1997) was produced by Durkin Hayes and read by Winifred Phillips. This Radio Tales version can also be heard on Sonic Theater on XM Radio.
See also
• Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman – an unfinished novel about a woman imprisoned in an asylum
• Changeling – a film about a woman imprisoned in a mental hospital
Bibliography
• Carnley, Peter (2001). The Yellow Wallpaper and other sermons HarperCollins, Sydney ISBN 1-86371-799-4
• Ford, Karen (Autumn 1985). ""The Yellow Wallpaper" and Women's Discourse". Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. 4 (2): 309–314. doi:10.2307/463709. JSTOR 463709.
• Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (1892). The Yellow Wallpaper (1997 ed.). Dover Publications.
Further reading
• Bak, John S. (1994). "Escaping the Jaundiced Eye: Foucauldian Panopticism in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper'", Studies in Short Fiction 31.1 (Winter 1994), pp. 39–46.
• Barkat, Sara N. (2020). "Literary Analysis: The Yellow Wall-Paper Affects Us All", at Tweetspeak Poetry (Spring 2020)