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This short story is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature, illustrating attitudes in the 19th century toward women's health, both physical and mental.
Presented in the first person, the story is a collection of journal entries written by a woman whose physician husband (John) has rented an old mansion for the summer. Forgoing other rooms in the house, the couple moves into the upstairs nursery. As a form of treatment, the unnamed woman is forbidden from working, and is encouraged to eat well and get plenty of exercise and air, so she can recuperate from what he calls a "temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency", a diagnosis common to women in that period. Gilman used her writing to explore the role of women in America at the time. She explored 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.
Did you read any books in 2025 that are widely considered classics? If so, which ones and why?
...ire The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Robert Woodward The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie I'm currently reading Call of the Wild by Jack London. I've been tr...
-Lana_Maskus
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (12/11/2025)
...y Rudyard Kipling. They are timeless; wish my grandchildren would look up from their screens and enjoy some classic children's literature. Am reading The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It was written in the late 1800s, but I feel like I'm in the room with this young woman watching her being gaslighted and her sanity slipping away.
-Lana_Maskus
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This information about The Yellow Wallpaper was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), also known as Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were exceptional for women, and she served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", which she wrote after a severe bout of post-partum depression.
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