Short story review: "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1892) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Welcome all to my latest offering on the blog! This time I am reviewing the mysterious gothic short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1892) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I read this short story for university when we looks at women writers of the Fin de Siècle, pronounced as /fæn dʊ si:ɛkl in phonetic or those who do not follow, simply pronounced as "fan du see-eh-kl" with the "du" sounding the same as in look or put. In case you actually wander what the Fin de Siècle is French for end of the century. The emphasis is on the ending of the 19th century and it's characteristics. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a good example of the Fin de Siècle.

The short story highlights the struggles that women can face and how women can fall victim to being diagnosed with hysteria. In the short story, the narrator reveals she cannot do certain things because she is unwell. She sees life as exciting and considers that a good thing. Her husband does not and is treated like a child. There is the room that he picked for them to stay in. It was previously a nursery for children and has windows ‘barred for little children’. It is in this room she often stays as she is often told what to do or how she is feeling. Then there is her writing which she keeps a secret because she knows she would not be allowed to continue it.

The whole keeping her trapped from being a free women to do as she pleases seems tiring. No one listens to her when she expresses her concerns on the wallpaper in the room and they believe she is hysterical. I keep getting this impression that the other characters see her just as a child. It creates depth to the short story seeing how they disbelieve what is the truth and illustrates that men can be wrong. I liked the short story and I think it is a key example of feminist reading, particularly where the Fin de Siècle is concerned. I am going to give "The Yellow Wallpaper" a 7/10.

Until next time,

Thomas.