The Yellow Wallpaper

Doctor’s orders confine a woman suffering from anxiety and depression to her bedroom, in an effort to prevent mental stimulation of any sort. Despite her forced “rest cure,” she continues to write in her journal when her husband isn’t looking. Her entries record her terrible and growing fascination with the hideous yellow wallpaper that dominates the room, documenting her slow descent into madness. This work by American author Charlotte Perkins Gilman was based on the author’s own experiences. She knew firsthand that the nineteenth-century medical establishment often had dangerously misguided ideas about women’s mental and physical health. It is considered to be a seminal feminist work by some, a prime example of Gothic horror by others. First published in 1892, this is an unabridged version of Gilman’s controversial short story.