The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Enjoy 7 thought-provoking stories that employ charm and humor to examine relations between the sexes from a feminist perspective. In addition to the title story, an 1892 classic that recounts a woman's descent into madness, this collection includes such masterful stories as "Cottagette," "Turned," "Mr. Peebles' Heart," and more.

Genres: Classics, Audiobook, Fiction, Short Stories

4 pages, Audiobook

Published March 28, 2011

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

[Jennifer (formerly Eccentric Muse) · Rating 5 out of 5]

remarkable. 40 minutes of an amazing number of layers and meanings.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm generally not a fan of short stories, but I must say I enjoyed this collection quite a bit. Outside of the titular short story and the one immediately after it ("The Giant Wisteria"), which are more on the eerie/creepy side, the stories generally end with justice being served and/or people finding love and joy. Almost all of them have some kind of feminist bent, whether it's showing the plight of women who don't have their full measure of freedom or showing how those who do mean to keep it. The stories are from the late 19th and early 20th century, so they have a handful of cringeworthy elements of the time, but not nearly as much as you'll find in the average Agatha Christie. "According to Solomon" was my favorite of the collection. Perhaps other readers would find it dissatisfying that most of these stories tie up in an ideal way, but personally I'd love to live in this world that Gilman has imagined, where wrongs are righted and people (especially women) can accomplish anything they set their mind to. Kirsten Potter did a stellar job with the narration here.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story of a women with postpartum depression. However, as it is the 1800s her husband assumes it is “nerves” and that she is slowly going mad. The story takes places in the space of one room with you guessed it — yellow wallpaper. Her desent and obesseion with the room’s decor leads the plot and held my attention, until the abrupt ending. The Yellow Wallpaper was well written and reminded me of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. My one complaint is that I wasn’t crazy about the narrator, Cathy Dobson. Her voice was a little wobbly and it was almost as if it was being played by a victrola. Overall, I enjoyed this small sampling to a classic horror tale,

[Pen&Quill Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

This blew my mind. In a very slow sleepy way. I'm still processing, and I'm not sure if I should rate this before a re-read, but I will. 4 stars.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for The Yellow Wallpaper alone. I haven’t come across such a perfect piece of short fiction in a long time - I listened to it twice and by the time it ended the second time I was beaming for Charlotte Perkins Gilman's triumph. It's a spot-on piece of feminist lit, and an eerie, gothic-style story of madness to boot.

I can see why TYW is the one she's known for, but I did really enjoy the others in this collection too. "When I Was a Witch" was also great.

[beau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did really enjoy this, and was happy for the quick read, but although I found the first story quite gripping some of the others didn’t interest me quite so much. I also found it frustrating that there wasn’t a copy of the book I could buy that had all of the stories in as the audiobook does, but instead most books had only some of these stories along with others.

[therookiereader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry but I listened to it before sleeping and I think half of it was lost on me. But it def reminded me of “the oval portrait” by Edgar Allan Poe with its lowkey horror and how both the stories take place in a room that has the oval portrait/ The yellow wallpaper which is the main theme of the story and also the titles so. That’s it I rest my case

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very feminist classic, it looks at equal partnership and women's roles in marriage and society. Really enjoyed Gilman's voice! Spent some time after reading this to look up more about Gilman and her life.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very disconcerting novella/short following a woman's descent from depression into madness. I found it extremely creepy in tone, but I only have to hear about the wallpaper to believe I'd have much the same reaction to it! *shudder*

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most reviews are about the title story. But the one I enjoyed most was "When I Was a Witch". About the bad consequences we secretly wish on others who annoy us. I mean, who doesn't want to give a wicked person a taste of the harm they cause others?

[Jennifer Barstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read. It's amazing the way people react to those that suffer with depression, sometimes not in a very good way either.

[Aria Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short stories from start to finish, pushing back against the norms of the patriarchy all along the way. The title story is clearly the standout, but I was glad to listen to them all.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved "The Yellow Wallpaper" the first time I read it, and I loved it even more the second time around. A disturbing narrative which I would absolutely recommend reading at least once.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy AF