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The Rocking-Chair
16 pages, Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1893
7 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
1,076 books2,276 followersCharlotte 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.
She was the daughter of Frederic B. Perkins.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
August 27, 2023
there’s no way they weren’t gay
May 10, 2025
3.8
“i will live no longer with a liar and a traitor.” “then you will have to kill yourself.” i was GAGGED
“i will live no longer with a liar and a traitor.” “then you will have to kill yourself.” i was GAGGED
June 23, 2023
"the unacknowledged attraction of the fair unknown."
"hal was a merry, prosaic, clear-headed fellow, and i sensitive and romantic. the fearless frankness of family life we shared, but held the right to unapproachable reserves, and so kept love unstrained."
"hers was a strange beauty, infinitely attractive yet infinitely perplexing."
"are you hurt, my dear boy?"
"i could not bear to tell that man, my more than brother, that he lied."
"hal was a merry, prosaic, clear-headed fellow, and i sensitive and romantic. the fearless frankness of family life we shared, but held the right to unapproachable reserves, and so kept love unstrained."
"hers was a strange beauty, infinitely attractive yet infinitely perplexing."
"are you hurt, my dear boy?"
"i could not bear to tell that man, my more than brother, that he lied."
June 26, 2025
they were gay
February 17, 2021
This was WILD but then again most of Gilman is.
October 1, 2025
idk if they were fighting over the girl or their feelings towards eachother
April 1, 2025
surprisingly I enjoyed this one more than 'The Yellow Wall-Paper", maybe I set too high expectations for it. anyway, I enjoyed the portrayal of men-men and men-women relationships through this short story!
overall I think this is the last Charlotte Perkins Gilman work I'll read - her writing doesn't do much for me, the style is not my cup of tea and I usually prefer (ironically) 'longer' short stories
overall I think this is the last Charlotte Perkins Gilman work I'll read - her writing doesn't do much for me, the style is not my cup of tea and I usually prefer (ironically) 'longer' short stories
May 16, 2022
It was fruity. Then... Idk
December 29, 2024
fruity
January 28, 2025
They were def gay
February 15, 2025
will reread on pride month ❤️🌈
May 6, 2025
3.5/5
I'm not sure how I feel about this but I feel that was the point.
It had me captivated.
A tale as old as time, two men competing over a woman, letting it come between their friendship and the inevitable death.
The woman being real or not does not change anything in the outcome, but of course in the execution
I'm not sure how I feel about this but I feel that was the point.
It had me captivated.
A tale as old as time, two men competing over a woman, letting it come between their friendship and the inevitable death.
The woman being real or not does not change anything in the outcome, but of course in the execution
December 9, 2023
let maurice kiss boys challenge!!! he clearly wants hal. “iago is a repressed homosexual”
May 20, 2022
Again, mega kort verhaaltje
Read
January 13, 2023A little horrified.
October 19, 2024
Die waren heel gay.
August 25, 2023
რა კარგი ჰორორი იქნებოდა სანახავად...
May 17, 2024
Idk how I feel about the fact that it’s a ghost story, the ending was the best part. (no, I’m not saying that I liked it because it ended)
October 7, 2025
I did not focus on the story as much as I focused on the relationship between them. As my fellow readers say. They’re definitely gays 🤣
January 24, 2026
« i will live no longer with a liar and a traitor. »
« then you will have to kill yourself. »
FLABBERGASTED
is this about the ghost girl or their feelings?? fruity
« then you will have to kill yourself. »
FLABBERGASTED
is this about the ghost girl or their feelings?? fruity
October 28, 2024
And historians will call them: Close friends, besties, roomates…
Very “The human chair” like, it gave me a sense of terror that only the idea of someone hiding in your most personal space can trigger.
Very “The human chair” like, it gave me a sense of terror that only the idea of someone hiding in your most personal space can trigger.
November 12, 2021
Ok short story, didnt really grip me like her other stories
December 21, 2025
I love the idea and exploration of obsession, especially when it's symbolized by a seemingly benign object. The friendship between these two men is something they're almost proud of.
"Better a nightmare than a contradiction; a vampire than a quarrel."
But how quickly that undying bond dissolves in the face of their obsession with an elusive woman. It's one of the most common tropes in fiction, the friendship between two more-than-brothers dissolving over a woman and of course, the woman is always the one blamed. But what if the woman was never there? An elusive figure, a phantom neither of them can catch, and their own perceptions making them think the other has a closer bond with her than them. The moving of the chair to symbolize how much it's haunting them, the physical injuries symbolizing the cracks in their friendship, and in the end, the death is not caused because a woman drove Hal to it, it's caused at Maurice's provocation. The woman was never there, the men were the cause of their own destruction. She? She was merely a conduit, a phantom that haunts, a symbol and nothing more.
Beautiful. Beautiful story.
"Better a nightmare than a contradiction; a vampire than a quarrel."
But how quickly that undying bond dissolves in the face of their obsession with an elusive woman. It's one of the most common tropes in fiction, the friendship between two more-than-brothers dissolving over a woman and of course, the woman is always the one blamed. But what if the woman was never there? An elusive figure, a phantom neither of them can catch, and their own perceptions making them think the other has a closer bond with her than them. The moving of the chair to symbolize how much it's haunting them, the physical injuries symbolizing the cracks in their friendship, and in the end, the death is not caused because a woman drove Hal to it, it's caused at Maurice's provocation. The woman was never there, the men were the cause of their own destruction. She? She was merely a conduit, a phantom that haunts, a symbol and nothing more.
Beautiful. Beautiful story.
August 14, 2023
3.25
The Rocking-Chair is the short story of two men, seemingly very close, who move into a rented accommodation after seeing a beautiful, golden haired woman rocking in a chair in the window.
This is a short, creepy and perfectly enjoyable story. It didn't blow me away, but the little messages about petty jealousy and the mockery of men fighting for a woman was nice. Similarly to the short story I read prior, An Extinct Angel, there was nothing wrong but nothing stood out to me or really caught my attention.
The ending was a little rushed though, a lot of things happened in too few pages which is a theme in Gilman's work so far. Most of her stories could do with a few extra pages of depth and development.
The Rocking-Chair is the short story of two men, seemingly very close, who move into a rented accommodation after seeing a beautiful, golden haired woman rocking in a chair in the window.
This is a short, creepy and perfectly enjoyable story. It didn't blow me away, but the little messages about petty jealousy and the mockery of men fighting for a woman was nice. Similarly to the short story I read prior, An Extinct Angel, there was nothing wrong but nothing stood out to me or really caught my attention.
The ending was a little rushed though, a lot of things happened in too few pages which is a theme in Gilman's work so far. Most of her stories could do with a few extra pages of depth and development.
April 10, 2025
This is a great story I would love to read more of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, it's really different from the yellow wallpaper, and that makes the story really unique, it's different, and also intricate on details, even though it's a short story, it never misses to emphasize "The Rocking Chair" and my thoughts during reading this story is that I think the girl doesn't exist, so they're kind of in a delirium, the narrator sees his friend with the girl, his best friend seeing the narrator with the girl, the unstoppable rocking in the rocking chair at night, so yeah this ghost or spirit is messing their friendship, and also using someone's death as the story resolution kinda caught me of guard to be honest.
November 23, 2020
Despite the fact its only 16 pages long, and isn't as notorious, widely known and unsettling as The Yellow Wallpaper, I did actually quite enjoy this little short story.
It seemed it did what it set out to do. It made me curious as to what exactly was going on (and despite knowing that the probability was ghost, I still wasn't sure at some parts), it set up a journey/development of the characters (even if that development of character was going down rather than up) and used language to really convey emotions/the obsessive nature Maurice shows throughout the story.
Other people didn't seem to like it much, but I thought it was a good little piece.
It seemed it did what it set out to do. It made me curious as to what exactly was going on (and despite knowing that the probability was ghost, I still wasn't sure at some parts), it set up a journey/development of the characters (even if that development of character was going down rather than up) and used language to really convey emotions/the obsessive nature Maurice shows throughout the story.
Other people didn't seem to like it much, but I thought it was a good little piece.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2022
Favorite lines;
▪︎"Hers was a strange beauty, infinitely attractive yet infinitely perplexing."
▪︎"‘Are you hurt, my dear boy?’"
▪︎"Hal was kindness itself"
▪︎"and sometimes this daily disappointment, this constant agony of hope deferred, would bring me to my knees by that door begging her to open to me, crying to her in every term of passionate endearment and persuasion that tortured heart of man could think to use."
▪︎"I do not know how long I sat there, in the company of hopeless love and jealousy and hate."
▪︎"Hers was a strange beauty, infinitely attractive yet infinitely perplexing."
▪︎"‘Are you hurt, my dear boy?’"
▪︎"Hal was kindness itself"
▪︎"and sometimes this daily disappointment, this constant agony of hope deferred, would bring me to my knees by that door begging her to open to me, crying to her in every term of passionate endearment and persuasion that tortured heart of man could think to use."
▪︎"I do not know how long I sat there, in the company of hopeless love and jealousy and hate."
November 6, 2023
3.5
37 “At times I even caught the click of the latch, heard the flutter of loose robes on the other side; and sometimes this daily disappointment, this constant agony in hope deferred, would bring me to my knees by that door begging her to open to me, crying to her in every term of passionate endearment and persuasion that tortured heart of man could think to use.”
39 “He had gone, I knew not where, and if he went to his death and a word of mine would have stopped him, I would not have said it. I do not know how long I sat there, in the company of hopeless love and jealousy and hate.”
37 “At times I even caught the click of the latch, heard the flutter of loose robes on the other side; and sometimes this daily disappointment, this constant agony in hope deferred, would bring me to my knees by that door begging her to open to me, crying to her in every term of passionate endearment and persuasion that tortured heart of man could think to use.”
39 “He had gone, I knew not where, and if he went to his death and a word of mine would have stopped him, I would not have said it. I do not know how long I sat there, in the company of hopeless love and jealousy and hate.”
December 2, 2025
(a)
3/5 ⭐
A strange, slippery little psychological story where nothing is quite what it seems — or maybe everything is only what the characters want to see. Two men become obsessed with a woman who seems to exist only in fragments, through windows, angles, and imagination. The squeaking rocking-chair becomes almost a third character: a symbol of projection, desire, and blurred reality.
Is it supernatural (a phantom)?
Is it delusion?
Is it just lonely men inventing a fantasy?
Left with more questions than answers 😹 That’s probably why it works.
3/5 ⭐
A strange, slippery little psychological story where nothing is quite what it seems — or maybe everything is only what the characters want to see. Two men become obsessed with a woman who seems to exist only in fragments, through windows, angles, and imagination. The squeaking rocking-chair becomes almost a third character: a symbol of projection, desire, and blurred reality.
Is it supernatural (a phantom)?
Is it delusion?
Is it just lonely men inventing a fantasy?
Left with more questions than answers 😹 That’s probably why it works.
July 14, 2024
i knew from a mile that this was a ghost story but all i can think of is the relationship of the two main characters 😭 there’s just no way they’re not into each other. with this aside, i really enjoyed gilman’s writing and they have such a way with writing prose that i just want to keep on reading more and more of their works. the rocking chair is brilliant story and it creeped me out a little bit because the ending was so good and well written.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews