About the Author
Charlotte Anna Perkins Stetson Gilman was born in Hartford, Connecticut on July 3, 1860. A social activist, feminist and author of short stories, nonfiction and poetry, she is best known for writing “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The story was loosely based on her own experience with depression.
In 1884, at the age of 24, Gilman married Charles Stetson. Although they separated after four years, their divorce was not legally finalized until 1894. They had one daughter, Katherine, born in 1885. In the months following Katherine’s birth Gilman experienced severe postpartum psychosis.
In 1900 Gilman wed George Gilman, her first cousin. The marriage lasted 34 years, ending when George passed away. One year after his death Gilman took her own life by overdosing on chloroform. Having been diagnosed with incurable breast cancer, Gilman’s suicide note said she “chose chloroform over cancer.” She died on August 17, 1935 at age 75.
During her life Gilman was well-known for her works of fiction. However, she was also an activist that worked tirelessly for women’s rights. She was particularly interested in encouraging women to gain financial independence and authored the book Women and Economics in 1898. She did not care for the norm (at the time) that women did not have equal status in a marriage (husbands typically held more power and decision-making authority). Gilman created a magazine (The Forerunner) as a means to voice her opinions on women’s issues and social reform. The magazine was published for seven years (1909 – 1916).
In 1884, at the age of 24, Gilman married Charles Stetson. Although they separated after four years, their divorce was not legally finalized until 1894. They had one daughter, Katherine, born in 1885. In the months following Katherine’s birth Gilman experienced severe postpartum psychosis.
In 1900 Gilman wed George Gilman, her first cousin. The marriage lasted 34 years, ending when George passed away. One year after his death Gilman took her own life by overdosing on chloroform. Having been diagnosed with incurable breast cancer, Gilman’s suicide note said she “chose chloroform over cancer.” She died on August 17, 1935 at age 75.
During her life Gilman was well-known for her works of fiction. However, she was also an activist that worked tirelessly for women’s rights. She was particularly interested in encouraging women to gain financial independence and authored the book Women and Economics in 1898. She did not care for the norm (at the time) that women did not have equal status in a marriage (husbands typically held more power and decision-making authority). Gilman created a magazine (The Forerunner) as a means to voice her opinions on women’s issues and social reform. The magazine was published for seven years (1909 – 1916).
About "The Yellow Wallpaper"
In 1892 The New England Magazine published Charlotte Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The story is a first-person account of an unnamed mother’s mental breakdown after giving birth.
Due to her “nervous condition,” the mother is told she must refrain from “work.” She is told not to read or write. She is not even allowed near her child. In order to enforce these rules, her doctor husband takes her to a large mansion far removed from everyone she knows so she can recover in peace over the summer. She stays in a large upstairs room of the house. The room is decorated with yellow wallpaper that the woman finds horrid and revolting. As time progresses, she becomes obsessed with the wallpaper and imagines she sees shapes in the pattern. The shapes get clearer to her every day. She believes she sees “a woman stooping down and creeping about” behind the pattern. She thinks it’s as if the woman is trapped and trying to get out from behind the wallpaper. She is also becoming distrustful and frightened of her husband, John. She tells him she wants to leave the house, but he tells her she is getting better and must stay. As the story ends, the woman’s isolation has driven her insane. She sees numerous trapped women in the wallpaper patterns and believes she is one of them. She locks herself in the room and creeps around and around. When her husband John enters the room and sees what she has done (peeling wallpaper off the walls), he faints. The woman continues to creep around the room and steps over him as he lies in the doorway. READ "The Yellow Wallpaper." |