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    The Yellow Wallpaper
    The Yellow Wallpaper
    The Yellow Wallpaper
    Audiobook41 minutes

    The Yellow Wallpaper

    Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    Narrated by Colleen Delany

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman gained much of her fame with lectures on women's issues, ethics, labor, human rights, and social reform. She often referred to these themes in her fiction. She is best remembered for her 1892 short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," based on her own bout with severe depression and misguided medical treatment.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherListen & Live Audio
    Release dateOct 30, 2023
    ISBN9781593161248
    Author

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860 in Connecticut. Her father left when she was young and Gilman spent the rest of her childhood in poverty. As an adult she took classes at the Rhode Island School of Design and supported herself financially as a tutor, painter and artist. She had a short marriage with an artist and suffered serious postnatal depression after the birth of their daughter. In 1888 Gilman moved to California, where she became involved in feminist organizations. In California, she was inspired to write and she published The Yellow Wallpaper in The New England Magazine in 1892. In later life she was diagnosed with breast cancer and died by suicide in 1935.

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    Reviews for The Yellow Wallpaper

    4.5/5

    133 ratings69 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A woman and her husband and young child rent a house for a few months while their house is being renovated. They stay in an attic bedroom with confusingly-patterned yellow wallpaper. The woman, already dealing with mental health problems, slowly becomes delusional due to her husband keeping her in the room with nothing to do but stare at the wallpaper every day.I was expecting this story to speak to me much more than it actually did. I know what the generally accepted interpretation of this story is - the woman's husband is controlling and abusive and she projects that feeling on to the wallpaper as she goes crazy. However, if the reader is seeing things only from the woman's perspective, and the woman is definitely delusional by the end, and thus an unreliable narrator, who are we to say when exactly she turned delusional? I'm certainly among the first to point out when a man is too controlling of a woman, but I think if the woman was delusional and paranoid from before the narration begins this story would look exactly the same.The downside of listening to this story as an audiobook is that I had no sense of time passing. There were no dates or noticeable breaks in the narration, so one minute they are moving into the house for 3 months and the next minute they are a couple days from moving back home. The lack of sense of time might have had something to do with my interpretation. I did listen to it twice but that did not seem to help.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The Yellow Wall-Paper was one of the first short novels that I read. I made the exception because of its status on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I am glad that I read it. It is the perfect length for a cup of tea and the price is right. It is a part of Project Gutenberg, and an eBook can be obtained free of charge.
      The story is a series of journal entries told in first person by the narrator, a nameless woman who is locked in a room, after being diagnosed as ‘nervously depressed’ by her physician husband, John. I believe that John acts out of love, although questionable at times. His treatment of his wife is so oppressive, that it seems that the woman may have created her own sense of freedom, although it is seen as psychotic.
      The journal entries describe the woman’s descent into psychosis with the wallpaper in the room where she is locked in her own thoughts. The ending of the story has an odd, but feminist triumph of sorts. I can see that there are many ways that this story, albeit short, could be interpreted. The bottom line is that there is a lot of punch in this short little ditty.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The Yellow Wallpaper is a dark and powerfully written tale, first published in 1892, about a woman's descent into madness. Her psychosis is brought on by the social restrictions of the time, a controlling husband and the deteriorating yellow wallpaper that covers their bedroom.
    • 4/5
      A gradual descent into madness, as ‘journaled’ by a Victorian lady. Semi-autobiographical, and subtly written, this depression settling into something darker delivers chills along with the story.
    • 5/5
      I hadn’t any previous experience of this author. When reading the story I felt that it was the most horrifying piece of writing I had ever read, though when looking through it I didn’t feel that it was so bad. Reputedly, the story was based on the author’s own experience of her psychosis We’re not given the name of the woman recounting her experience, and I will call her the protagonist, or the P. Two of the first things that meet the eye are the protagonist’s negative comments about marriage, that the P’s husband John laughs at her (which is to be expected in marriage) and also negative comments about doctors. The P remarks that one reason she is not getting well faster may be because her husband is a physician. He does not believe she is “sick””, and what can one do? Both her husband and brother are doctors “of high standing” and both think there is nothing the matter with her except “a temporary nervous depression” or “slight hysterical tendency”. Perhaps at some level, then, the P feels obliged to prove them both wrong, that there really is something wrong with her; thus the need and “satisfaction” at some level to develop a full-blown psychosis. She is forbidden to work or write; but she is a woman with her own opinions and she herself feels that congenial work would do her good. She feels that if she had less “opposition” and “more society and stimulus”, she would feel better. We’re warned from the start that strange things are about to happen; she feels there is something queer, something strange, about the house. And otherwise, how had they been able to rent it so cheaply, and why would it have “"stood so long untenanted”? John is “very careful and loving” but he does not listen to his wife’s objections to the room he has chosen for them to sleep in. John is absolutely controlling; he chooses the house and the bedroom they’ve to sleep in and dictates what the P is permitted to do. When the P tells her left-brained husband what she feels about the house, he has so little understanding of what she’s talking about that he claims what she felt was a draught! She would have preferred to use as a bedroom a downstairs room with roses all over the window, but John wouldn’t hear of it. John has a “schedule prescription” for each hour in the day – the utnost control. Is this a general criticism of the control of all, or most, husbands of the times? At least the P is permitted to eat that which her appetite dictates, at any rate, “somewhat”. The room John chose for the bedroom was the former nursery that had bars on the windows. This is metaphoric for the P’s feeling of imprisonment when confined to the room. She had never seen worse wall-paper in her life. The colour of the wall-paper is a “smoldering unclean yellow”. John hates her to have to write a word. The P tells us that she is suffering, whereas logical John says there is no reason to suffer. (This is his subjective opinion.) She says her baby is “so dear” but she cannot be with him since it makes her so nervous. She supposes John was never nervous in his life. I will not cite any more details but will talk in a general manner. The author discloses in a gradual and subtle manner the start of the psychosis. First, she becomes convinced there is a woman or several women behind bars in the wall-paper, trying to get out. Later, she fails to distinguish between herself and the woman/women. She begins to display a slight paranoia, in that she gets a little afraid of John and Jennie (John’s sister), and feels they both give her strange looks. She projects her own problems onto John, and she thinks that he is getting queer now. She doesn’t like the look in John’s eyes and feels he is only pretending to be loving and kind. Now she. sees many creeping women outside, creeping so fast. Finally, she talks about she herself having to get back behind the pattern. She thinks she is the woman or one of the women behind the pattern. Eventually, John comes in the room and sees her creeping on the floor, realizes something is very wrong and faints. To sum up, I felt this to be an excellent and superbly written story and may read some of the author’s other stories.
    • 5/5
      Summary: While vacationing at a summer home in rural England to recover from depression and hystericism, the main character becomes obsessed with the wallpaper her room is papered with and descends into madness.Use and appropriateness in a HS classroom: This honestly was the first piece of literature I can remember that made me really think analytically about what the author actually meant by the story. Its length makes the story very accessible to students who haven’t had to analyze much (or at all) before and the topic is so unusual it creates a need to find out exactly why this seemingly innocuous wallpaper is so interesting and maddening. Overall, it’s a shocking but extremely effective short story that can be read and analyzed within one or two class periods. It’s most appropriate for 11th or 12th graders depending on their reading and comprehension levels.
    • 4/5
      A woman, confined to an upper-story bedroom in a creepy house for a "rest cure" following a mental breakdown, becomes obsessed with the hideous yellow wallpaper.I have read this story a few times and I always forget how creepy and chilling it is, especially the final image. Gilman has a knack of pointing out the horrific things that society does to women. In this story, depriving the narrator of her means of expressing herself and stimulating her brain is just as terrifying as confining her to her room. I believe the narrator was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum depression.Reread in 2015.
    • 5/5
      A re-read of a classic. ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is a spooky-as-hell ghost story which maintains a nice ambiguity all the way through – but it’s also a raw, effective protest against the infantilization of women and even a call to arms regarding awareness of mental illness. Gilman is great at leaving what doesn’t need to be said unsaid. There are no ‘morals’ stated here, but her stance is clear.
      (And was that room ever a ‘playroom’ or ‘gymnasium’? Oh hell no.)
    • 5/5
      ** spoiler alert ** This is a fantastic insight into the mind of someone who has been suffering from undiagnosed post-partum depression. Her husband believes she just needs rest and confines her to a room with yellow wallpaper. The result of this isolation is a mental breakdown.
    • 4/5
      The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story published in 1892. It is presented as a collection of journal entries written by a woman whose doctor husband has confined her to the upstairs bedroom of a house they’ve rented for the summer so she can recuperate from what he calls a “temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency,” a diagnosis common to women in that period.

      This early piece of feminist literature reflects 19th century male attitudes toward women's physical and mental health. What she seems to have is post partum depression. Rather than help her recover, her confinement in the room with the peeling yellow wallpaper has a very bad effect indeed on her mental health.

      I found myself outraged at the condescending attitude of her husband, as well as her acceptance of his decree. I also found the story of her mental decline deliciously creepy. The short story is definitely worth a read.
    • 4/5
      “Yellow Wall-Paper” Review“ It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sticky sulphur tint in others.” This quote, from the “Yellow Wall-Paper”, written by Charlotte Gilman in 1891, describes the wallpaper in Jane's room. John and Jane are a married couple and are renting an isolated country house. Jane is mentally ill, and she is locked up in her room for most of the day. John is a doctor and he thinks this is the best way for her to recover. While she sits in her room, she becomes insane. She is confused about the wallpaper, and eventually she gets the idea that a woman is trapped inside of the wallpaper. Jane’s condition is continually becoming worse. John denies it, and tells her she is improving. If you wish to learn more you should read this story. Charlotte Gilman was born on July 3, 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut. She died August 17, 1935 at the age of 75. When Charlotte was five years old, she taught herself to read because her mother was ill. Her father left her and her mom when she was young. “ For many years I suffered from a severe and continuous nervous breakdown tending to melancholia.” After writing the book, Charlotte said, “ It was not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy, and it worked.” This quote from Charlotte explains why she wrote this short story. I liked reading this story, but it was very confusing. “ I’ve got out at last, in spite of you and Jane? And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back.” This is one quote that made this text so confusing. Overall, I enjoyed reading this piece. Many parts of this book were hard to understand, and that made me want to keep on reading to try to figure out what was happening. I was really confused when she talked about Jane because I didn’t know who she was talking about until the very end of the story. After reading the end of the book, and thinking about it for awhile, I then understood what the plot was all about. I would recommend this story to anybody who likes reading mystery books and books that are hard to follow. I also think any adults who like reading quick, short stories might enjoy this story. I would not recommend this book to people younger than high school students, because they may not be able to understand what is happening throughout the story.
    • 3/5
      Interesting read from a different era. Not sure how I really feel even after 2 months. I like dark and books about insanity but this one was a bit out there.
    • 2/5
      Even as short as it is, still too long. It would be more compelling as a paragraph or two. Probably as highly rated as it is because of its position within feminist literature, which is fine and understandable (and moderately interesting); I just didn't care for it--I found it more comical than anything else.
    • 3/5
      Read this short story in 1 sitting. It is the story of a woman's descent into madness following the birth of her child and the subsequent enforced rest. She is taken to a country house to recover and spends most of her time confined to a room with horrid yellow wallpaper. The description of the room makes me think what happens to the woman has happened in the past. A creepy, thought provoking read.
    • 4/5
      John und seine Ehefrau mieten sich über den Sommer auf dem Land ein kleines Haus. John verordnet als Arzt seiner Frau Ruhe, denn sie hat eine stressige Zeit hinter sich. Doch in dem ihr zugewiesenen Zimmer findet sie diese zunächst nicht. Die Tapete macht ihrem Geist zu schaffen. Die Farbe ist nichts für Auge und das Muster sorgt für Verwirrung, denn es erschließt sich ihr nicht vollständig. Nur in der Nacht scheint es sich zu verändern und ein Geheimnis zu offenbaren.Charlotte Perkins Gilman verarbeitet in dieser Kurzgeschichte ihre eigenen Erfahrungen im Zusammenhang mit einer Nervenkrankheit. Die Frau in dieser Geschichte schreibt ihre Gedanken nieder, doch tut sie das heimlich, denn ihr Mann sieht es nicht gerne, wenn sie schreibt. Sie soll sich vollständig erholen. So erfährt der Leser nur auszugsweise aus der Gedankenwelt der Frau, die sich immer mehr in das Muster der Tapete steigert.Eine Geschichte über Wahnsinn, Einsamkeit und dem Unverständnis anderer Menschen. Sie kann mit niemandem darüber reden und so verstrickt sich ihre Welt immer mehr in den Wahnsinn.Eine großartige Geschichte. Man sollte sie genießen.
    • 4/5
      A creepy psychological horror with subtle feminism undertones. I truly enjoyed this one, because it showed how helpless women of the past were in certain situations, governed by their fathers, husbands, and brothers.
    • 5/5
      First published in 1892, The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story of choppy sentences that punctuate the rambling thoughts of a woman going mad. The narrator is an obedient wife and mother, sexually restrained and socially isolated. Her husband and brother, both physicians, confine her to an attic nursery in order to calm her nerves. Instead, she is tormented by a woman trapped inside the wallpaper “where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down.”
    • 3/5
      Never read this as a kid, realized I probably should. An interesting perspective on interior decorating.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed the deliciously creepy novella The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The author hit all the right notes and left the reader wondering if they had just read about a woman’s decent into madness or this was a story about spirit possession. This story was first published in 1892 and I would say it has definitely stood the test of time.Told entirely from the woman’s perspective, we learn that she, her husband, physician John, his sister and their baby are spending the summer in a remote colonial mansion. Her husband has diagnosed a need for a “rest cure” for her nervous depression. The negative aspects and limited understanding about this women’s psychological condition are soon apparent as she spends her time in isolation. She is confined to one room of the house, an old nursery and with nothing to fill her time with, she soon turns her attention to the room’s wallpaper, and in particular it’s intricate patterns.For such a short story there is a lot for the reader to think about including a woman’s role and rights in Victorian society and mental health issues. I loved how the author gave this story a haunting quality and left the conclusion up to the reader to determine. The Yellow Wallpaper had just the right amount of “unexpected” and I highly recommend this story.
    • 4/5
      This is an interesting short story about the psychological disintegration of a woman, seeing images in the eponymous object around her as she lays in her sickbed. Too short to exert a really powerful impact, though, for me. 3.5/5
    • 5/5
      First published in 1892, The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story of choppy sentences that punctuate the rambling thoughts of a woman going mad. The narrator is an obedient wife and mother, sexually restrained and socially isolated. Her husband and brother, both physicians, confine her to an attic nursery in order to calm her nerves. Instead, she is tormented by a woman trapped inside the wallpaper “where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down.”
    • 4/5
      It's fascinating and also mystifying how people handled mental stress, or mental disorders years ago, what things helped some people, and drove others further into madness. From what I understand, this story is partially true, based on the author's experience and hallucinations, and the frustration from people who largely had good intentions. Of course, from a feminist point of view, it's terrible how little people listened to what she wanted, or worked to truly understand and help.
    • 5/5
      This was shorter than I expected.. But interesting.. I loved the visuals I got from her description of the creeping woman behind the pattern in the wallpaper... And to learn ultimately that it was herself she saw trapped behind it.. Creepy.. And sad.. I enjoyed it!
    • 5/5
      The Yellow Wallpaper is short but powerful. It’s written in the first person, as a diary by an unnamed woman. She has some unspecified mental health issue after giving birth, and her husband has whisked her away to a country manor. The husband (John) has insisted that they sleep in what appears to be the old nursery, as it has bars on the windows and the horrible yellow wallpaper has been damaged.

      The writer is prevented from doing anything much by her husband (who insists that she needs rest) and spends increasing amounts of time staring at the wallpaper, becoming convinced that there is a woman behind the pattern, trying to get out.

      I can identify with this, because I remember having some curtains when I was a child that terrified me. When you looked at the pattern, the pattern seemed to look back…

      The ending is ambiguous; has the narrator finally gone over the edge or is it something else?

      Apparently, the reason Gilman wrote this was to protest at the treatment of women who, kept from any kind of intellectual pursuit, were essentially driven mad with boredom. The story itself is written in a cheerful, unconcerned style which manages to convey to the reader that the narrator has no insight whatsoever into what is happening to her mind, underscoring her mental disintegration.

      It’s also quite clear that John is calling the shots, and is ignoring his wife’s protests that the enforced inactivity is making her worse, not better. But the narrator accepts that there is nothing she can do about this, because she’s only a woman and of course the men in her life know best…

      What must it be like to be in a situation where, no matter how often you tell people that you have a problem, nobody will believe you, because they all think they know better than you? It’s for your own good…
    • 4/5
      A very quick read. The VMC edition I had included an Afterword which was almost as long as the book itself!I enjoyed this book (short story, or at most a novella). Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, an early feminist, it recounts a wife's descent into madness. The main character is the wife mentioned above; it is told in the first person, and the reader is not entirely convinced of what is real and what is in the narrator's mind.This was a disturbing book - I felt helpless, like the narrator. A good book.
    • 4/5
      A short story chronicling one woman's descent into madness, poorly understood by those around her, and tormented by the ghastly yellow wallpaper in her bedroom. Very well told. I only wish it were longer.
    • 5/5
      Excellent narration in American English. Beats the others I've heard.
    • 4/5
      Brilliant story of madness! Fascinating piece for its historical value as Ms. Gilman is protesting the common treatment at the time the story was written given to women who were suffering "nervous" disorders. A cautionary tale but extremely frightening because of its reality.
    • 4/5
      Wow, this is a great short story. Creepy, sinister and unbearably sad.
    • 5/5
      Short and über creepy, this story is told from the point-of-view of a woman staying in the country with her husband. She’s recovering from an unnamed illness (possibly post-partum depression) and her husband has set her up in a room by herself. The walls are covered with an ugly yellow wallpaper and as the story progresses she becomes obsessed with it. She begins to believe she can see a woman lurking behind the designs in the wallpaper. The longer she remains confined to the room the deeper she descends into her madness, taking the reader along for the ride. The story was published in 1892 and is often called one of the first pieces of feminist literature. It’s a chilling look at the “treatment” women were often given and the lack of freedom they were permitted in these situations. It’s also just a great scary story, so there’s something for everyone.