The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Anna Perkins Gilman (1892): A Review

Title: The Yellow Wallpaper

Author: Charlotte Anna Perkins Gilman

Publication Year: 1892

Pages: 28 pages

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Horror, Gothic, Feminist Literature

Source: Physical book

For me, “The Yellow Wallpaper” stands as one of the true masterpieces of short fiction. It’s not often that I return to a text multiple times—my reading habits usually lean towards the "one and done" strategy. But with Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s work, I found myself drawn back again and again. Sometimes it was out of necessity, perhaps for class or discussion; other times, it was entirely out of my own desire to bask in the brilliance of early feminist literature.

The story features an unnamed first-person narrator who shares her thoughts through her diaries—think of it as her version of a podcast, but without being broadcasted. She describes her prescribed “rest cure,” a supposedly innovative treatment for what was then labeled a “nervous disorder.” Back then, if you felt anything less than chipper, you were simply deemed hysterical. Her husband, a doctor who seems to have misplaced his medical degree in the attic, is convinced she’s fine, resulting in a delightful paradox of a woman who knows she’s not sick battling a household of relatives who couldn’t diagnose a common cold. Take note, dear reader: never let your husband moonlight as your physician—especially when he’s convinced he’s the reigning expert on your condition, right down to your feelings.

In that era, any hint of imaginative thinking, creativity, or even jotting down one’s thoughts was likely to earn a woman a one-way ticket to the brink of madness. Here’s a woman with a passion for writing, and yet she finds herself deprived of what could save her sanity. What could possibly go wrong, you ask? Well, everything, as it turns out. The story devolves into a surreal realm where women materialize from the wallpaper, our narrator among them, creeping about in what can only be described as the world’s most unsettling home décor—The Yellow Wallpaper. Gilman’s prose exquisitely maps her descent into insanity, which—sadly enough—emerges as her only path to liberation from repression.

I could dive deep into the intricacies of every word, but this is a review, not a graduate thesis. So, let me leave you with this final nugget: I appreciate how “The Yellow Wallpaper” critiques the medical practices of its time—especially regarding women. Imagine emerging from a treatment designed to “fix” you only to find yourself more fractured than before, just like Gilman's beleaguered narrator! It’s a wry reminder that not all cures come with a happy ending, especially when the cure is as laden with ignorance as the conditions it’s meant to treat.