The yellow wallpaper

By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Subjects: Women, Mentally ill women, Sex role, Fiction, Married women, Psychology

Description: 'The Yellow Wall-Paper' is Gilman's pioneering Gothic masterpiece, telling the story of a woman's descent into madness. Confined to a room, with only the intricate wallpaper for stimulation, the narrator slowly loses her grip on reality. She becomes increasingly suspicious of the people who care for her, convinced they are conspiring against her. As she becomes increasingly transfixed by the sprawling pattern on her walls, her horrifying fantasy becomes disturbingly real. Also contained in this collection are eighteen other stories, which exhibit Gilman's imaginative treatment of women removed from their traditional roles.