El Papel Pintado Amarillo (1892)

Another story about he slow process of loosing one's mind, it had a major twist and it took me a while to understand what really happened, but a great read. ( )

I am trying to read more key feminist texts in 2020, and this has been on my list for a while. It did not disappoint; the emphasis on women's subjugation, lack of rights at the start of the 20th century, and some colonial elements rendered this short story powerful, and haunting. ( )

I originally read this story in 1994, and I welcomed the chance to revisit it with Sara Barkat's 2020 graphic novel that uses GIlman's full and complete text.

Such a creepy bit of psychological horror. It reminded me of the Lovecraftian works I've read recently, and it got me to wondering how much Gilman might have influenced Lovecraft. Sure enough, his mother knew her while she was a governess in Providence and Lovecraft is on record mentioning the story on several occasions.

Barkat's art is not as polished as I prefer, but it certainly adds a wonderful new dimension to Gilman's most unsettling prose. ( )

Interesting piece of short fiction about a woman living in a rented house. She seems to be suffering from depression, perhaps even post-partum depression because there is mention of a baby. Her physician husband alternately coddles her and dismisses her complaints. At his insistance they made their bedroom the old nursery at the top of the house which is papered with a hideous yellow paper. The paper has been torn off in spots. The narrator thinks the room must have been used by young boys but it becomes clear that someone else was confined here before the narrator came. As the days go by she becomes fixated on the design in the wallpaper. She believes there is a woman behind bars who tries to get out, especially at night. Is this a hallucination or is she projecting her own self on the design? And is her husband imprisoning her or is she imprisoning herself? There are no answers just more questions. ( )

This was a surprisingly fascinating read. Some of the interpretations of the story say Charlotte was a feminist, may be so. What is unfortunate though is , even after more than a century has passed after the book was first published, mental health is yet to be understood by most of us and people suffering from any mental health issues are told to "Eat well, walk it off". The book still remains very much applicable in present times.

The story is a tale of a woman suffering through postpartum depression(the term may not have been coined when it was authored over a century ago), her slow descend into darkness and of course, everyone around her, including and especially her husband saying, there is nothing wrong with her , repeatedly. Her husband's controlling behaviour disguised behind "care". (Why after a 100 years after this tale is still a story of so many households!!) makes it all the more deep. The woman(unnamed in the book)'s mental health with its gradual declined is reflected on the blemishing yellow wallpaper in front of her.

I admit i picked up this book in my last ditch effort to catch up on my this year's reading challenge, and it being a very short one(16 pages). But turns out, i picked up a rare one. Loved it!! ( )