The Yellow Wall-Paper, story summary

The Yellow Wall-Paper is an autographical story, written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman in 1892.

It is a story of a woman who was restricted in doing what she liked—writing books. The heroine fell into great depression after giving birth to her kid because she was not allowed to write anything but rest in the bed in the house which her husband, John, a practical physician, believed that lying on bed and doing nothing is the best treatment to her mental disease. The woman was trying to hide her husband and Jenny, John’s sister, from knowing that she was writing a diary. From time to time, she was trying to explain to him that she didn’t like the room she was staying at and proposed to move, but John never listened. Gradually, she’s discouraged from writing and started to spend time imagining and figuring out the patterns on the yellow wallpaper opposite of her bed. Her imagine became clearer and clearer and she could see a woman and later many women behind bars. This made her mental condition become worse because she could imagine but could not express it. Finally she became totally insane.

This story suggests that women should have the right to a profession they are interested in instead of being restricted to housework at home. The author also wants to tell us that treating someone physically well doesn’t mean care. Caring for a person means taking care of them both body and mind.