The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)

 

"This wallpaper has a kind of sub pattern in a different shade, a particularly irritating one, for you can only see it in certain lights, and not clearly then. But in the places where it isn’t faded and where the sun is just so—I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design."

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a remarkable woman and a feminist ahead of her time. This short story by her is a brave contribution to the women empowerment, promotes civil rights and economic independence for women, and confronts the notion of toxic masculinity.

"You see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?"

This is a story about a woman who seems to suffer of post-partum depression. Her treatment being locked away in her room by her husband and doctor until she is ”mentally capable” again to take care of her baby.

It was a common practice during this time to isolate women as if they will magically be cured of mental disorders especially depression and calling it "Hysteria" and commanding them to "rest" isn't always restful; it's maddening.  

The woman is constantly staring at the yellow wallpaper in her room and the window, constantly reassuring herself that this is all happening for her own good, and that the husband and doctor know best, until a point where we are not actually sure if she is in her right mind anymore.

She starts to see a woman inside the wallpaper, a metaphor used, as her subconscious knows she is trapped, and the end is so painful to read, but very powerful.

My Rating: ★★★★☆