Book Review - The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

I started it thinking it will be a light read, but it was dark and creepy. I’m not saying I didn’t like it, rather was in a different zone after reading it at night around 1:30. As the title of the story suggests the book is all about the yellow wallpaper but in a different context. There is nothing directly given in the story, but when you read you get what is happening in simple terms. What made me wonder is the ending, I could not get through it, especially the last paragraph. So, then I started the story in reverse. The book talks about how women were treated in the Victorian era. You can easily see the glimpse of it now and then.

The protagonist is suffering from mental illness, which as per her husband and brother isn’t something major. So, they treat her like that. They move to a new house and the protagonist doesn’t like the surrounding, and especially her room and that yellow wallpaper. Despite that, her husband keeps avoiding the thing by saying it’s just in her mind. So, she tries to rewire her understanding of things, but things take a different turn as now she is obsessed with the wallpaper to the point where she sees people in it. She is obsessed with the patterns and trying to figure herself out in those. All this while, she stops sharing things with her husband as according to him she is getting better and eating well. Where the actual situation is, they do not allow her to speak her mind, to go out and to write things. She is being watched all the time. Thus, she is trying to find solace with that yellow wallpaper as it is the only thing constant in her line of vision. When she was little, she used to wonder about plain walls and furniture, so one can get the reference of obsession from this thing.

I agreed with her husband at a few points as he was a Physician. So, whenever the protagonist tried to tell him something, he dismissed it because of her mental illness. Though, he was always polite and calm while talking to her. Now, not giving heed to her thoughts can be both good and bad. Because if he will, then she will think more about it. And if not, then she will feel he is dismissing her feelings and will stop expressing herself. Even though she knows he loves him, she cannot say things out loud which is wreaking havoc in her mind. On the outside, she might feel she is getting better, but inside she is losing herself. It was just 10-15-page story, but it was so good to that I couldn’t sleep for a while as it made me think what happened next and why she has to go through such things. If she would have been able to put her thoughts to rest by writing or speaking or some other way, things would not have led to making her feel crazy. It might not be a brilliant story but will provoke you to ask hidden questions which are always lying in the back of your mind. It is an actual story which might give one more reason to read this and then have discussions on what led her to such a miserable state of mind.

Rating - 4/5

Genre - Classics