Wild Unrest: Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the Making of "The Yellow Wall-Paper"

by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz

In Wild Unrest , Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz offers a vivid portrait of Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the 1880s, drawing new connections between the author's life and work and illuminating the predicament of women then and now. Horowitz draws on a treasure trove of primary sources to explore the nature of 19th-century nervous illness and to illuminate the making of Gilman's famous short story, "The Yellow Wall-Paper": Gilman's journals and letters, which closely track her daily life and the reading that most influenced her; the voluminous diaries of her husband, Walter Stetson; and the writings, published and unpublished of S. Weir Mitchell, whose rest cure dominated the treatment of female "hysteria" in late 19th-century America. Horowitz argues that these sources ultimately reveal that Gilman's great story emerged more from emotions rooted in the confinement and tensions of her unhappy marriage than from distress following Mitchell's rest cure. Hailed by The Boston Globe as "an
engaging portrait of the woman and her times," Wild Unrest adds immeasurably to our understanding of Charlotte Perkins Gilman as well as the literary and personal sources behind "The Yellow Wall-Paper."

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Academic, Gender Studies

251 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2010

About the author

Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz is professor of history and American Studies at Smith College.

Reviews

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a profound disappointment. I, like so many others, was deeply changed by The Yellow Wallpaper when I first read it in college and have been re-reading it on an almost annual basis ever since. So I was incredibly excited when I stumbled across this biography of Perkins Gilman, with its promise of a fresh look into the "wild unrest" that led to the writing of The Yellow Wallpaper. But there's very little that's fresh in this account. In fact, in an apparent attempt to bring some novelty into Perkins Gilman's life story, Horowitz winds up offering a LOT of speculation. And while Horowitz deserves credit for explicitly acknowledging that most of this really is speculation, there's just too much overreach. I also found the writing style rather stilted and the amount of repetition quite grating. This already slim volume could have easily been edited down much further.

[Aric Cushing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book about Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the 'rest' cure, and Gilman's life during her time with her first husband, Charles Stetson. Incredibly well researched, with details abounding throughout.

[Linda Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent insight into the life, times, and writings of Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

[Jane Ponce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book makes sense only if you have read The Yellow Wallpaper. That book focuses on the extremes of the male-dominated, well-to-do, east coast society of the 1880s and 1890s. The wife was literally driven insane by the attempts of her husband to dominate, subjugate, and browbeat her into complete submission. He thought he was doing the right thing according to the morés of the time, and the contemporary male pundits supported him. Thank heavens the middle-and lower classes didn't have to conform, or the west would never have been settled.

That being said, Wild Unrest documents the life of Charlotte Perkins Gilman with academic precision. In fact, the bibliography comprises 25% of the book. It is well written, but the subject is a tedious one. How many pages does it take to tell us that Charlotte is depressed and nobody knew how to treat her, that she was misunderstood by her family, friends and society, and was really unhappy. Poor woman. Yet, although I tried to like her, I found that I really couldn't, in spite of the author's best efforts. She just wasn't "sympathique." Too much dysfunction on all levels for the modern reader to really relate to her; we become impatient with the whole system.

[Irma-The Book&Coffee Addict · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book and easy to read. I used it for one of my essays for school this year.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography traces Charlotte Perkins Gilman's mental illness, literary trajectory, and sexual development over the course of her life. Due to Gilman's own dedicated reportage of her thoughts and feelings (and the documentation of her first husband and those with whom she came into contact), it's possible to get a clear picture of his woman who balked at convention and strove to find a meaningful existence in a world that stifled her. Aware at an early age that she could not be a traditional life, she suffered because the world would not permit her to express herself an an independent woman free to love whom she chose or participate in a relationship how she chose. However, as a result of her challenges and a need to act out against them, she found an outlet for her writing and intellectual pursuits, carving a niche into literary and women's history for herself.

This book was well-focused, not unnecessarily verbose, and well-reasoned. Rather than taking Gilman's words at face value, it analyzed them within the context of the time and Gilman's own personality, offering evidence about their veracity or giving cause for doubt. It was also an objective look at Gilman, and it didn't over-emphasize any part of her life in a way that indicated the author had an agenda to prove anything except what Gilman's life revealed of its own accord. The author didn't try to sensationalize Gilman's life, nor, conversely, dwell on any one topic simply in order to hear herself talk, which was refreshing.

An excellent read for anyone interested in Gilman and "The Yellow Wall-Paper," the treatment of mental illness, or sexuality and women's circumstances in the late 19th century.

[Heather G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Bad

This book delves into the life and mental health of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and it is very thorough. It gets dry and tedious and the author repeats herself a lot