The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, written in 1892, that explores themes of mental health, gender roles, and societal oppression. The story is presented as the diary of an unnamed woman who is confined to a room by her husband, John, a physician, in order to recover from what he diagnoses as a "nervous condition." She is forbidden from working or engaging in any creative activities, such as writing, which she enjoys. Instead, she is prescribed complete rest.
The woman becomes obsessed with the room's yellow wallpaper, particularly with its strange, chaotic patterns. As time passes, she begins to believe there is a woman trapped behind the wallpaper trying to escape. Her mental state deteriorates as her sense of isolation grows, and she becomes convinced that she must free the woman in the wallpaper. By the end of the story, the narrator identifies with the trapped woman and, in a final act of desperation, tears down the wallpaper in an attempt to liberate her.
The story is a powerful critique of the way women’s mental health and autonomy were often misunderstood and controlled by male-dominated society and medical practices at the time. It also highlights the damaging effects of isolation and the lack of creative freedom on one's mental health.
Here are some resources that you may find useful during your studies. Search the Bennies catalogue Accessit for more, or browse the Non-fiction collection NFS.
The Yellow Wallpaper by 
Professor Kristen Over of Northeastern Illinois University explains the plot summary of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story The Yellow Wallpaper.
