The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Best known for the 1892 title story of this collection, a harrowing tale of a woman's descent into madness, Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote more than 200 other short stories. Seven of her finest are reprinted here.

Written from a feminist perspective, often focusing on the inferior status accorded to women by society, the tales include "turned," an ironic story with a startling twist, in which a husband seduces and impregnates a naïve servant; "Cottagette," concerning the romance of a young artist and a man who's apparently too good to be true; "Mr. Peebles' Heart," a liberating tale of a fiftyish shopkeeper whose sister-in-law, a doctor, persuades him to take a solo trip to Europe, with revivifying results; "The Yellow Wallpaper"; and three other outstanding stories.

These charming tales are not only highly readable and full of humor and invention, but also offer ample food for thought about the social, economic, and personal relationship of men and women — and how they might be improved.

Collects:
—The Yellow Wallpaper
—Three Thanksgivings
—The Cottagette
—Turned
—Making a Change
—If I Were a Man
—Mr. Peebles' Heart

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Horror, Feminism, Short Story Collection, Historical Fiction

26 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2012

About the author

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), also known as Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were exceptional for women, and she served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", which she wrote after a severe bout of post-partum depression.

She was the daughter of Frederic B. Perkins.

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, so good, the belittling and infantilizing treatment of this poor woman, and her entrapment in the room with the yellow wallpaper by her physician husband is a case history in how to drive someone completely insane.

[Ivana - Diary of Difference · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read much classic reads this year, and a few days before the end of 2018, I decided to go for a classic short story, and I chose The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

This classic has been written by a woman in the 19th century. A time when women weren’t treated the same way as today. A difficult time, where women couldn’t express their opinion as they wished, but they were suppressed by the male authority in the family.

When The Yellow Wallpaper came out, it was considered a Gothic Horror Tale. It is hard to believe for me, knowing the world we live in today, and how we, as women can express our opinions openly. But back in the days, this is how it was. It wasn’t easy for the woman, and I am glad we have a lot of brave women from that time, that gathered the courage to tell stories for the next generations.

This is a story about a woman, who seems to suffer of post-partum depression (a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth). She has been forced by her husband and doctor to stay in her room until she is ”mentally capable” again to take care of her baby. I am not a mother, but I can imagine the pain and suffering of not being allowed to see and hold your unborn child. And people thought this was okay?

The woman is constantly staring at the yellow wallpaper 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, and believes the woman is struggling to break free. I loved the metaphor used, as her subconscious knows she is trapped, and the end is so painful to read, but oh, so powerful.

Even though such a short read, The Yellow Wallpaper is an impressive view on cultural traditions, and the position of women in the family. A classic and a must-have for every woman!

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[Celia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a prominent American feminist, sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform.

In her lifetime, she wrote over 200 short stories. 7 of them are included here.

The Yellow Wallpaper. I could have never imagined that a story describing wallpaper could be so engrossing. The descriptions, however, depict a woman going deeper and deeper into madness. And how the misdiagnosis of her husband aided in that descent.

Three Thanksgivings. How a woman triumphs and gets her own way.

The Cottagette. What IS the fastest way to a man’s heart?

Turned. A woman betrayed finds an answer.

Making a Change. Two women collaborate to bring happiness to their lives.

If I Were a Man. A woman morphed into a man, hears the men’s thoughts.

Mr. Peebles’ Heart. A strong, unselfish woman helps an unselfish man and changes her selfish sister, to boot!!

These stories are the workings of a strong, feminist author describing strong women who show their strength through charm and grace. Reminds me of a steel magnolia. The stories read so well and all ended so satisfactorily. Strongly recommend.

5 stars.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of short stories written firmly in the realist fiction genre. They contain situations we all face as we get older, ended in one form or another with a narration of the life-changing decisions the protagonists make to resolve their dilemmas.

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is the most famous of the stories in this book, but was my least favorite. It was not like the other stories. In "The Yellow Wallpaper" the protagonist had decisions made for her, causing her to become a victim. The story is the most polemical and the most depressing. In the other stories, the protagonist, usually female, is capable of making decisions that uplift her life, which she does.

The second story is a good example of this. The female protagonist, as in the first story, has people trying to make decisions for her. Had they succeeded she would probably have been miserable. Instead of acquiescing, this protagonist finds a way out of her dilemma. My only problem with the story is the gaping hole created by the completely unbelievable economics. No one is going to become wealthy and provide all the club services this protagonist does for the price of a dime per week per attending customer. It's a ludicrous proposition.

After the failure of the first two stories it took me a while to pick the collection back up again to read the third story. I'm glad I did though. The third story, "The Cottagette," is a bit slow at the start, but has one of the best endings I've ever read.

The fourth story, "Turned," was my favorite of the collection. The premise is age-old. A wife of middle years discovers her husband has been unfaithful with the household help. Her solution to his infidelity and her treatment of the other woman is shocking and completely unexpected, yet very fitting. I have wondered if it is possible to say anything new about this situation. I loved this story for its fresh new statement on a theme in which the conclusion would never have occurred to me in a million years, and best of all made pie out of lemons.

The rest of the stories were almost as good as "Turned." Solid 4 and a few 5 star stories. There's even one that borders on the Weird genre as a female character finds herself suddenly thrust into a male body and thus seeing the world in a radically different way. The power of Gilman's stories relies on her method of placing characters in life-changing situations and having them arrive at unique and fitting resolutions that truly amaze.

Gilman has been called a feminist writer, but I don't consider her one. For example, the last story in this collection is about a man's liberation. By achieving this his wife could then also become so, I admit. Nevertheless, I think Gilman writes about human liberation. What makes feminists think she belongs in their camp is that few authors before her were so equal opportunity regarding the gender of the character becoming liberated.

Gilman's stories are powerful because her characters find unusual often convoluted ways to achieve their potential. The stories are all (except for the titular first) coming of age stories for the middle-aged. One would think middle-aged people had arrived, but in truth they just face different developmental challenges. Gilman has made the purpose of her career writing about these issues.

[Elizabeth A.G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the stories in this collection and enjoyed them all! The Gothic horror of the title story depicted a decline to insanity caused by the treatment of the day for what is now post-partum depression.
Rest and confinement were prescribed as treatments and the "cure" in this case became the "harm." My two favorite stories were "If I Were a Man" (and not because it is grammatically correct) and "Mr. Peebles' Heart" because each presents a perspective view of the female and male - ability to see the opposite viewpoint between the male and female mindset. The female outbursts of extreme emotion, sobbing, consideration of suicide were called fits of hysteria and the term has remained in the vernacular language. Toward the 1900's more and more women were able to speak and act with more freedom and confidence; some of the problems in these short stories were resolved by the women themselves.

[فهد الفهد · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories

باستثناء قصة (ورق الجدران الأصفر) الرائعة بحق، تسيطر على بقية الكتاب نسوية المؤلفة بشكل خانق، ولا اعتراض هنا على موقف مؤلف ما أو رؤيته للحياة، ما لم تكن قصصه مسخرة وموجهة لتدعيم هذه الرؤية بشكل يجعل القصص مفتعلة، مارجريت أتوود مثلاً تكتب روايات يمكن تصنيفها على أنها نسوية، تظهر هذه الروايات ما قد يقع على المرأة من ظلم وما تتعرض له من استهانة بقدراتها وكرامتها، ولكن أتوود تفعل ذلك من خلال قصص وشخصيات مقنعة وجميلة، شارلوت جيلمان في المقابل قدمت في هذه المجموعة قصة عظيمة عن امرأة مهووسة بورق جدران أصفر مقلم، بحيث تتخيل بأن هناك أخرى وراء هذه القضبان الخيالية تحاول الخروج، وفي ذات المجموعة قدمت قصص ضعيفة عن نساء يحاولن مواجهة المشاكل التي قد تتعرض لها النساء في عصرها مثل قصة امرأة تواجه مشكلة في التعامل مع بكاء طفلها، وكيف تجد الحل من خلال تسليمه لوالدة زوجها والتي تكون بدورها حضانة صغيرة لأطفال الحي فيما تنصرف الأم إلى تقديم دروس موسيقية، وكيف أن هذا الحل يقدم لهما سلاماً داخلياً ومالاً إضافياً ويوافق الزوج في النهاية على هذه الحلول التي لا تناسب برستيجه الاجتماعي، بقية قصص المجموعة لها ذات المذاق وأهميتها ليست فنية وإنما تاريخية تساعد في فهم ظروف وأفكار النساء في زمن كتابتها.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of early feminist short stories. While “The Yellow Wallpaper” was horror-inducing (in a good way), the rest of the stories were triumphant and lauded female friendships — overall refreshing and hopeful.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compendium of short stories each with a differing view of the ways in which women exert their influence outside the norm for the times, which in this case is the late 1800s. Not my usual jam, but this book would likely appeal to fans of the short story format and early feminist perspectives.

[happylittlebirdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Cindy Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of short stories depicting strong women with strong opinions. Written in the late 1800s, many stories remain relevant today.

[JC South · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my first reading, but still just as interesting.

[Schaschlikia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die fand ich richtig gut

[Mallory Carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was chosen as part of the Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge as a book that was under 100 pages. I didn't realize at first that it was multiple short stories but that made it very interesting to me. It contained seven short stories by Charlotte Gilman.

The Yellow Wallpaper

No one would believe what an effort it is to do what little i am able -- to dress, entertain, and order things.

This was a very real look in to depression and how society tends to try and force those with mental illness in to "normalcy" and to "just get over it":

He says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me.

Written back in the late 1800s, I am sure this was received dramatically as depression back then, and even some still today, is viewed with a stigma. This story drove me a little mad, just like the woman staring at the yellow wallpaper.

Three Thanksgivings
There wasn't a lot to say about this short story, except rah rah old women and self-sufficiency. Instead of going to live with her children, who every year begged her to move in with them, and instead of just marrying a man who will take care of her in her old age, she decides to take charge of her life. She opens a hospitality house for a women's club, makes enough money to pay her house principal and be happy on her own.

The Cottagette
The main character is trying to capture the heart of a man, and is convinced by her friend that the way to a man's heart is his stomach. So she stops drawing and spends all her time cooking. By the end, he confesses his love for her, but only if she stops cooking and focuses on her art. #presh

Turned
Here were two women and a man. One woman was a wife, loving, trusting, affectionate. One was a servant; loving, trusting, affectionate.

Moral of the story: don't cheat on your wife, don't get a girl pregnant. Women always find out.

Through the wide doorway there came in to him two woman.
He looked from one to the other dumbly.
And the woman who had been his wife asked quietly: "What have you to say to us?"

Making a Change
I didn't like this one very much. The wife refused to have her mother-in-law help with the child and the husband was mad about it...so eventually she opened up a nursey that the mother-in-law took care of all the children and the wife gave music lessons, and every one was happy?

If I Were a Man
For some reason I really liked this story. The main character wishes she was a man, and basically becomes her husband (weird part), but she gets all this insight of being a woman and a man and basically:

Women are pretty much people, seems to me. I know they dress like fools-but who's to blame them for that? We invent all those idiotic hats of theirs, and design their crazy fashions, and, what's more, if a woman is courageous enough to wear common-sense clothes-and shoes-which of us wants to dance with her?"

Mr. Peebles’ Heart
I didn't like this one much either. A physician comes to live with Mr. and Mrs. Peebles. She notices the tension between the two married couple and recommends Mr. Peeble travel and that that will cure his heart problems...

He returned younger, stronger, thinner, an alert vigorous man, with a mind enlarged, refreshed, and stimulated. He had found himself.

And he found her, also, most agreeably changed; having developed not merely tentacles, but feet of her own to stand on.

[carlageek · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is an old quip one encounters in various forms, the jist of which is that the sexiest thing a man can say to a woman is “Honey, let me do the vacuuming.” With the exception of the famous, troubling story of its title, most of the stories in this collection are surprisingly reminiscent of that joke. The stories relate a cheerful series of proto-feminist fantasies. In one, a woman and her mother-in-law launch into entrepreneurship on the down-low; when discovered by the woman’s husband, they appeal to him for his approval - and receive it. In another story, a young artist, under the advice of a friend, transforms herself into a perfect domestic goddess to win a man she admires, at the cost of her art; when he proposes to her, however, it is with the condition that she give up the cooking and cleaning and focus all her efforts on painting. There is even an early sort of science fiction endeavor, in which a woman wakes up in the body of her husband; after marveling at the freedom and power that comes with being male (his suit has pockets, she notes with astonishment), she subversively plants the seeds of sympathy and respect for women in her husband’s social circle.

But about about that yellow wallpaper? That story endures because of its darkness, one supposes; there is a naïveté to the others, though also a charming wryness in their varied observations about patriarchy. The women in the other stories find their way out of patriarchal oppression through their own will, but also with a generous helping of support from an array of too-good-to-be-true men. The narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper - one of literature’s canonical madwomen in the attic - is not lifted by the care of her husband, but is done in by it. That husband is a walking, talking emblem of patriarchy, the infantilizing, controlling force of Man Who Knows Best. And the narrator, so much the worse for her, has internalized the mores of the society run by such men. The contrast between the fate of this woman, who accedes to patriarchy, and the fates of the other women of the book, who find ways to mitigate it, makes the book as a whole more than the sum of its parts, a more powerful anti-patriarchal statement than any of the stories taken on their own.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the "other" stories. While The Yellow Wallpaper was my main reason for reading this, the more I read I came to the realization how well written these stories truly are.

My favorite was The Yellow Wallpaper but "If I were a man" and "Mr. Peebles Heart" was quite good as well. I read this for October after having read about The Yellow Wallpaper and it being creepy, it turned into quite a different read.

Published in 1892, "Written from a feminist perspective, often focusing on the inferior status accorded to women by society" which I didn't know beforehand, but while reading I kind of figured as much. This might turn some people off to reading it but do not let it! The way it is written is quite an insight and didn't feel pushy or like an afterthought, being injected into the stories unnaturally. (I hope this makes sense)

If you are looking for something different, or maybe just the creepy "The Yellow Wallpaper" give it a try.

[Carina Magyar · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a reason, alas, that CPG is a one-hit wonder. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is still an astonishing read, and trailblazed several methods of imparting psychological horror, but the rest of her output is rather obvious morality tales imparted with journalistic plodding. Still, the morals themselves are pretty punk rock for her time. Every story hammers home the point that relations between men and women are broken, and the existing mores of the time should be cast aside in favor of fresh reconsiderations. Women should have money and property. Men should have empathy and freedom. Marriages should have equality. While the writing itself is nothing that sparkles, the ideas themselves were pure fire.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

More feminism and less horror than I expected in the collection. Also a little more simplistic. Every story has A Point, which is fine, just not new to me. I did like the (intended?) reference to being trans though.

[floral · Rating 5 out of 5]

i enjoyed reading all of these short stories. of course iconic yellow wallpaper will rank first as it creeps in my head in a certain way.

cry count: 0

[Heather Godwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seven short stories by Charlotte Gilman. Each one was very different, though there were repeated themes of struggling with motherhood, having an identity and maintaining one's life without help, and depression.


I had the longest opinions on the first story, the Yellow Wallpaper:

You see, he does not believe I am sick!
And what can one do?
When your super smarty pants doctor of a husband & your own brother (equally smarty pants doctorish) don’t believe that you are sick and encourage you to sleep, rest not work, don’t socialize. That’s bad.
But that’s depression. No one understands it unless they’ve been through it. And this is years and years ago so we really didn’t know shit about it.
They are staying a beautiful, old estate and she is kept up mostly in an old nursery with terrible, terrible yellow wallpaper.

I never saw a worse paper in my life. One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin...The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight.

All the author wants to do is be better & write some because she’s sorta trapped in head unable to talk about the sadness and feeling bad.
But she’s being encouraged to sleep and not write. Which just sounds like terrible advice, sleeping during the day when you're depressed is usually a bad thing.

John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious.
I am glad my case is not serious!
John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer and that satisfies him.

That is one of the things about depression, it doesn’t come on with a reason sometimes. Though she’s mentioned a baby a few times, I wonder if she hasn’t got a bad case of postpartum depression.
She notes, that she really is trying. She takes some walks, she eats well when he’s home and I think doing stuff to look better for others is probably a good sign that you still care.

He says that with my imaginative power and habit of story-making, a nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies and that I ought to use my will and good sense to check the tendency.

Let’s just be honest here, John’s an asshole.
That being said, that author is really sick and probably does need some help with self control and not imagining stuff because this is coming back around to that wallpaper soon.

I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time.
Of course I don’t when John is here, or anybody else. But when I am alone.

Hiding it!

He says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self control and not let any silly fancies run away with me.

This is like watching someone go through all the steps of accepting depression. First it’s maybe you just need some rest. Maybe you’re just over imagining bad things, think happy! Then it’s use your self control/will and stop being so damn sad!
And back to the wallpaper, which she’s fixating on.

It is the strangest yellow, that wallpaper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw - not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things.

And now she’s imagining a woman shaking and moving beneath the wall paper.

The woman creeps during the day and tries to escape at night.
...she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard. And she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern - it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads.

Seriously scary stuff here. The author is projecting her own feeling of imprisonment at being locking up and not taken seriously, or really understood in her depression and now she’s straight up imagining things. She doesn’t feel that anyone could ‘climb through that pattern’ or fight off what she’s feeling.

As soon as it was moonlight and that poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern, I got up and raun to help her. I pulled and she shook, I shook and she pulled, and before morning we had peeling off yards of that paper.

#notgetingthedepositback
She’s trying to help herself, it’s like she can visualize the ‘problem’ now and wants to ‘peel’ it off.

“I’ve got out at last,” said I, “in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!”

Depression is super scary.

Three Thanksgivings
I really enjoyed this one, Mrs. Morrison has raised two children who have their own children now with a preacher husband who has left her widowed.
Each of her children want her to sell the house and come live with them so they can use her help or care for her out of familiar obligation.
But Mrs. Morrison just wants to live in her family home with her family maid, Sally.

...while living in the Welcome House she was never unhappy. Her father had built it, she was born there, she grew up playing on the broad green lawns in front and in the acre of garden behind. It was the finest house in the village and she then thought it the finest in the world.

So she has a suitor, a childhood person who wants to marry her and get that house so he traps her into a mortgage that she can’t really pay off in the two years given. So she comes up with a few different ideas and tries a thanksgiving at each of her children's house (#1 & #2).
She really doesn’t want to live with them and has a family friend (some one super important though) come convince the woman of her town that they need a club house and women’s club and wouldn’t Mrs. Morrison’s house be perfect? 10 cents a gal a week and Mrs. Morrison has he money and her home and no thank you Mr. Butts.
She has a thanksgiving (#3) at her home and invites her children.
There’s a cute bit where they’ve both sent her money to visit them in the beginning and she sends them money at the end to come to her.

The Cottagette
Soo the cottagette is a tiny 3 room ‘cottage’ in the mountains at a music school/commune for art peoples.
Malda & Lois take on the cottagette and hang out with Mr. Mathews while practicing all their ‘arts’. Malda is the main character here and she loves the cottage, plain and quiet as it is and does small paintings and embroidery. She falls for Mr. Mathews and at Lois’s convincing, because Lois has been married before and knows these things, shows off some domestication skills like cooking & cleaning.
Which is super funny because at the end of it all Mr. Mathews proposes but only if she doesn’t cook & stuff because her art suffers for it and he wants her to be happy.

Do real men like this exist? In limited quantities only.

Turned

Here were two women and a man. One woman was a wife, loving, trusting, affectionate. One was a servant; loving, trusting, affectionate.

So this starts off with two different women crying in a ‘struggling mass of emotion’.
Mrs. Marion Marroner, Boston-bred, late 30ish, Ph.D holder and former faculty of a college somewhere important probably has discovered her husband has had an affair.
Gerta, meek young goddess from Sweden, 18, now totally knocked up by Mr. Marroner is about to get kicked out of her employers home.
Mrs. & Mr. Marroner, childless, have been teaching Gerta English and helping her figure out being a maid and stuff, enjoying how pretty Gerta is and how totally obedient she is.
It’s noted that Mrs. Marroner totally isn’t the jealous type.
Mr. Marroner goes off after a while for some business stuff and a few months later Mrs. Marroner figures out Gerta is knocked up and feels bad for her but will continue teaching her and helping.
Then the letters come.
Mr. Marroner-moron has switched the lover, Gerta’s, letter for his wife’s letter and now Mrs. Marroner knows who knocked up the maid. #sawthatcoming.
Initially, she throws Gerta out and cries a lot.

“This is the sin of man against woman, she said. “The offense is against womanhood. Against motherhood. Against - the child.”

So she changes her mind and realizes that the person who will be punished the most from all of this is the child, a child she was never able to give Mr. Marroner.
Gerta & Marion leave without a letter or anything for poor ole Mr. Marroner who comes home from business the next day.
He’s super pissed and super sad because he misses his wife and stuff, who cares about that knocked up swed.
After a while he hired detectives to find his wife, Miss Wheeling who is back to being a Ph.D welding scholar person.

He was ushered into a still parlor, cool and sweet with the scent of flowers, the flowers she has always loved best. Surely she would forgive him - she must forgive him.
Through the wide doorway there came in to him two woman.
He looked from one to the other dumbly.
And the woman who had been his wife asked quietly: “What have you to say to us?”

Making a Change
This was the weirdest one, and I didn’t care for it.
Frank & Julia have had their first child. Frank’s mom moves in with them & they hire a maid to help out. Julia is having a hard time caring for the child (second story this has come up!) and without frank knowing about it Julia & the Mom figure out a plan were mom looks after a bunch of babies for some profit and Julia goes back to giving music classes. Frank finds out and everyone panics till they explain that this works for them and sorry he thought that mom & Julia were just happily at home watching the baby together.

And in after years he was heard to remark, “this being married and bringing up children is as easy as can be - when you learn how!”

If I Were a Man

Women are pretty much people, seems to me.

So, Mollie Mathewson, a true woman wishes to be a man so that men will treat her better and some other reasons becomes a man. She realizes woman are a tad silly and how man are really viewed and how they view things. She really enjoys having pockets.
Makes a speech to a bunch of men about how woman are really just the same and are people too.

Mr. Peebles' Heart
Mr Peebles has always done his perceived ‘duty’ to the woman in his life, taking care of his mother, wife, and daughters.
His sister-in-law a doctor sees that he’s not really living his life though and convinces him for his health he should go travel, without Mrs. Peebles.
Mrs. Peebles is super clingy and doesn’t seem to be standing on her own feet.

He returned younger, stronger, thinner, an alert vigorous man, with a mind enlarged, refreshed, and stimulated. He had found himself.
And he found her, also, most agreebly changed; having developed not merely tentacles, but feet of her own to stand on.

[Susan Loone · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's 19th century in America. But Charlotte Perkins Gilman's is far ahead of her time with her novella "The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories".

Browsing early feminist writings led me to this book.

It's a collection of seven short stories, be surprised by twists of feminist fury and psychological suspense that cut open the suffocating traditions caging women in that era.

Seven unforgettable tales seen through Gilman's laser sharp gaze and hitting critiques. They still resonate with a fierce urgency today.

A sneak peek into the thrilling dramas include:

1. A doctor's wife descending into madness as she battles the grotesque yellow wallpaper in her bedroom. She tries to free herself from the creeping horrors, while all this time her physician husband is blind to her torment. A semi-autobiography of the writer's post partum psychosis.

2. An aged widow says a big NO to selling her santuary, her home, remarriage, companionship and dependency on her children. Instead, she dares societal expectations by running a network of profit making vibrant clubs!

3. Love, Art, and Food with a twist. The artist is in for a delightful surprise from her writer lover who prefers to do the cooking while she focuses on her art. Now, is it possible that  such a man exist?

4. A seemingly idyllic marriage shatters. Lies, betrayal as a devoted wife uncovers her husband's devastating secret with the vulnerable servant girl. Instead of wallowing in victim mode, the wife forges solidarity with the girl, sparking a new, unconventional family.

5. Music teacher and mother-in-law join forces to manage the household. A joyful rebellion as both women get to fulfil their own ambitions. The single breadwinner, husband and son is left bewildered, wondering what hit him.

6. A woman's lifelong wish to be a man is granted. As Gerald, he discovers the delightful details of women's fashion, fiercely defending them against the chauvinistic banter of his male companions. The outcome? Absolutely hilarious.

7. A Doctor's Prescription for Freedom! A two-year escape to Europe, away from his monotonous wife. His adventures ignite a spark of rebellion, leading her to chase her own thrilling destiny across continents!

Indeed, a must read timeless tales for feminists.

ENDS.

[Rachel Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most people, I had only ever read one of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's stories before, the famous "The Yellow Wallpaper" that is ubiquitous in high school English classes. So when I found this compilation in a Little Free Library, I was thrilled to be able to read more of Gilman's work. And indeed, I found that "The Yellow Wallpaper," while stood a good story and still a classic, barely scratches the surface of Gilman's writing. Although I didn't love any of the stories in this collection, I greatly appreciated the novelty and probably the boldness of Gilman's writing about the status of women in that day and age, well more than a century ago; I imagine some of the things she wrote about would have been considered shocking subjects for a woman writer to tackle for more than just a female audience. So in that sense I enjoyed this collection, just seeing what kind of commentary Gilman might have on women in society. But other than that, none of the stories, "The Yellow Wallpaper" included, really stuck with me.

[J.S. Nelson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Yellow Wallpaper, 5 stars.
Problem was, I expected all of her stories to be as interesting & well-written as the yellow wallpaper.
Nope, this was a one-hit wonder for me. Especially the constant push of her opinion that the world would be better off without men. Sad for her, I guess, that she had no men in her life that she felt even a human bond with, but, reality check, not all men are jerks. They are individuals, just like women. (Although she clearly doesn't view women as being individuals, either, since she seemed to think all any woman would ever want to do is have or raise babies. Yet she calls herself a feminist. 🙄)

[oscar_unplugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

La forma en la que la autora escribe el encierro que vivió, deja en su lugar a lo que en realidad su marido (un médico patán, inepto y gilipollas que acude a otro médico patán, inepto y más gilipollas aun) es. Un marido médico patán, inepto y gilipollas que ante todo es un marido.

[Sara Rothery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Showing how historical medically how to send someone insane. Looking now and seeing it wasn't her it was her good willed husband causing her symptoms. The other stories all have similar feelings to it, others caring and causing issues for their nearest and dearest.

[tannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting, tbh.
the woman slowly creeps into madness and she just gave birth and the only cure the physicists said was take to rest?!? oh well.
reminds me of the meek one/ the gentle creature by doestoevsky where the wife commits suicide because of the manipulation of her husband 😥

[Gracie Ruebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

“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 behind that silly and conspicuous front design.”

“There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will.”

AH so good

[Cailyn Yallop · Rating 4 out of 5]

well that was… one of the strangest things i have ever read — 3.5 ⭐️

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean…. It was nothing extraordinary ( to me ) but it was a good short read. I do feel bad for the woman. Poor lady trapped in a nursery with trashy wallpaper, losing her mind even more 😪

[Izzy Miles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not into it

[Mimi Wolske · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first time I read Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s slim book was in the late 1970s for a an Honors class “500 - How Women Are Portrayed in The Media, Literature, and Art” (a Journalism Class at ASU) and, when I was going through my bookcase looking for something else and came across it, I pulled it down to reread…and so glad I did.

This is an amazing story by a female author in the 19th century. Her writing wasn’t following any of the “norms” for women of that time. In fact, Jane, the narrator/protagonist, is confined, by her doctor/husband, to an attic nursery with barred windows and a bed “bolted-down” to the floor. She’s even forbidden to write.

She’s imprisoned for seeking freedom of thought.

So, with nothing to do but sit on the bolted-down bed all day and sleep in it all night, she becomes obsessed with the wallpaper.

At first, she finds it repellant.

Then, she finds it riveting.

Eventually, on the paper’s chaotic surface, she discovers an imprisoned woman. She tries to liberate her by peeling the paper off the wall.

The theme is BRILLIANT; it’s the story of a woman who, not crazy before she entered the room, was driven mad by a patriarchy controlling her “for her own good”. It’s a commentary of the state of women in the late 1800s, and since Gilman is writing this unique story for its time, don’t you wonder if it might be based on her own struggles, and/or those of her female friends, with a society run and controlled by males?

Gilman makes the theme a little clearer through her characterization of John (the protagonist’s husband), the thoughts and writing of Jane, and the environment she’s placed in. Combined, all of these elements work to describe the imprisonment of women and of the control held over them by the opposite sex.

The majority of the story takes place in that room with the yellow wallpaper and that induces nothing but scorn and insanity from Jane and we see, it becomes clear, that her “feminist” views are further accentuated by her surroundings. She wishes for the wall to be repapered but John refuses, stating, “that after the wallpaper was changed it would be the heavy bedstead, and then the barred windows, and then the gate at the head of the stairs, and so on”.

John, who has absolute control over Jane, isn’t merely a domineering/dominating male, he treats her worse than an inferior by today’s standards. I don’t want to give away too much of the story because I think it would spoil it for you if I wrote what happens to each of these characters as the story progresses.

Of course, this story is used as a tool to express the author’s views. Isn’t that typically what books do? The Yellow Wallpaper gives us an idea of Gilman’s’ feminist views and illustrates what she saw and the physical and mental hardships her sisters faced in this time period. Gilman writes so John expresses her ideas through his actions, through the thoughts of Jane, and the setting of the story. The reader sees the imprisonment and psychological struggles placed on women by society.

When you’ve finished reading this book, see if you agree that in Gilman’s mind gender roles should be/must be removed for the social order for women to ever be free.