Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ explores the struggles of a woman dealing with depression and anxiety in the late 19th century. The story is told in the first-person narrative style in which the main character is the narrator of the story. The woman describes her symptoms as ‘anxious and emotionally exhaustive’ - these are legitimate symptoms of depression, but her husband, John a physician does not believe that she is ill and these sentiments are shared by his sister
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a feminist, often considered a radical feminist, during a time when women raised children and maintained the home, while men supported the family. She wrote and published thousands of works during her lifetime, which included, essays, novels, poems, nonfiction books, short stories, and many journal articles. Like most revolutionaries, Gilman was well ahead of her time. What she believed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, is what ultimately became of
Both of the stories “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman present strikingly similar social plight related to women in the contemporary patriarchal society. These stories caused a sensation in the public as they were published in 19th century when women were confined to domestic roles and any discussion about female’s perspective on social issues was widely unacceptable. Furthermore, women were dependent on men for their needs in life. They were