Yellow Wallpaper Short Story Summary

The yellow wallpaper is a modern adaptation of the gothic short story written by charlotte perkin s gilman in 1892.

Yellow wallpaper short story summary. The yellow wallpaper is often cited as an early feminist work that predates a woman s right to vote in the united states. The yellow wallpaper is a short story by american writer charlotte perkins gilman first published in january 1892 in the new england magazine. The yellow wallpaper is written as a series of diary entries from the perspective of a woman who is suffering from post partum depression. A colonial mansion a hereditary estate i would say a haunted house and reach the height of romantic felicity but that would be asking too much of fate.

Two weeks later the narrator s condition has worsened. The yellow wallpaper it is very seldom that mere ordinary people like john and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer. It is regarded as an important early work of american feminist literature due to its illustration of the attitudes towards mental and physical health of women in the 19th century. Her husband john moves them both into his sister s house so mary can look after his sick wife and new born baby.

The narrator detests the wallpaper but john refuses to change rooms arguing that the nursery is best suited for her recovery. 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 the narrator begins her journal by marveling at the grandeur of the house and grounds her husband has taken for their summer vacation. The narrator begins by describing the large ornate home that she and her husband john have rented for the summer.

Charlotte perkins gilman s classic short story the yellow wallpaper tells the story of a young woman s gradual descent into psychosis. Summary read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. Unable to sympathize or help her with the condition. She describes it in romantic terms as an aristocratic estate or even a haunted house and wonders how they were able to afford it and why the house had been empty for so long.

As a result she has to stop writing. Her streams of thought are interrupted by the sudden appearance of john. The spacious sunlit room has yellow wallpaper stripped off in two places with a hideous chaotic pattern. The story revolves around a young woman charlotte who is suffering from postnatal depression.

The bedroom has yellow wallpaper which disturbs her. Narrated in the first person the story is a collection of journal entries written by a woman whose physician husband has rented an old mansion for the summer.