The Yellow Wallpaper

Credits and rights

Original writer

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Publisher of this edition

BoingyBooks Classics

Original publisher

Project Gutenberg

Adaptation credits

John Shoufler / BoingyBooks Classics — digital edition

Original source / edition

The Yellow Wallpaper (1892)

License

Public Domain

License link

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

Rights and adaptation notice

This work is in the public domain. John Shoufler published this digital edition through BoingyBooks Classics. The original work remains public domain and may be copied, adapted, and shared.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)

A woman confined to a room for a "rest cure" becomes obsessed with the pattern of the yellow wallpaper — and the woman she believes is trapped behind it. A shattering short story about women's mental health and patriarchal medicine.

Historical Significance:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" based on her own experience with the "rest cure" prescribed by Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell, the leading neurologist of his era. Mitchell's treatment for "female hysteria" consisted of complete bed rest, no intellectual activity, and forced feeding — a treatment that nearly drove Gilman insane. She wrote the story as a warning.

When published in 1892, the story was read as a horror tale. It was rediscovered in the 1970s by feminist scholars who recognized it as a masterpiece of feminist literature — a devastating critique of how patriarchal medicine pathologized women's independence. Mitchell reportedly changed his treatment methods after reading the story. It is now one of the most widely taught short stories in American literature.

This public domain classic was originally published in 1892. Free to read and share.