The Yellow Wallpaper
Ratings277
Average rating4
It was an unsettling but fascinating read. It shows how mental health was wrongly treated back in the day.
Relatable. I creep all over my husband when he faints on the floor too, girl! #BlessedGoose
Imagine the fucking boredom alone. Anyway, I didn't know that much about this piece's time period and exactly the "rest" type of treatment was. Learning more about what this treatment and who this author was - I found helpful in getting a full scope of this piece. Alone, I think this piece is great. With a little more knowledge I found this piece to be excellent. Unsettling and obsessive.
"Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able,—to dress and entertain, and order things."
4.5 stars
oh so horrifying and unnerving... very sad... this'll marinate in my head, for sure.
Contains spoilers
I really enjoyed this short story. I think the progression of the story was really well done, and the psychological breakdown happened so smoothly despite how quickly it progressed. Especially as someone working in a healthcare profession, I really quite enjoyed the exchanges between the main character and her husband and comparing modern practices to the historical context. The only thing that is nagging at me is that the story is written as journal entries from the main character, and during the last entry, I really struggled to imagine her in this highly psychotic state where she is stuck pushing around the room and then shortly turn around and write about what happened. All in all, though, I thought this was a very memorable story and would recommend it to anyone.
I really don't know what to think of this... I might just be too dumb for it... Or maybe it has something to do with me keeping to fall asleep when I first tried reading it (not the book's fault but my tiredness)
Anyway I really don't know how to rate it. Maybe I have to re-read it for that...
huh that was interesting? I don't think I can ever look at yellow wallpaper the same now.
My thoughts below are initial without reading any other source.
“Obviously about depression. The wall paper is all powerful in the thought process of the narrator.The husband is trying to use his limited understanding of depression but is failing. The narrator thinks this is a prison, but he is not of the same opinion. She wants company, and he is scared to give her such. This could also be a horror story. Was it one, and that the narrator is using depression as a trope? I am not that good at metaphor at times, so is it obviously about depression?. What am I missing?”
At this point I read a blog post that had linked this short story and then the wiki on the book. It is about depression. If this had been written today, I would consider it an excellent short story in the horror genre. As it was not, it was published in 1892, it was a cry for help.
A very short read and well worth chasing down.
this was sad more than anything, especially considering that this was based on the author's own experiences. I'm glad this story inspired some physicians to reconsider how they treat mental illness.
Rating: 3.48 leaves out of 5Characters: 3/5 Cover: 5/5Story: 3.4/5Writing: 4/5Horror: 2/5Genre: Gothic/Horror/ClassicType: AudiobookWorth?: EhHated Disliked It Was Okay Liked LovedI will be honest, I don't understand the hype around this short story. It was okay at best. The main gal clearly has mental issues, but I do think it had to do with being stuck in a room a good chunk of time so that is understandable. I think people with lower mental levels will succumb easier to histeria than some. John can kiss my arse. I have no nice words for him and that ending with him? WHY? Why did he do that? That confused me so much.
Rating: 5 / 5 starsShort review: unconventionally and irrevocably, a horror story.
Quiet an easy and fast read; just a few minutes and you're done with this story. But it's been a few hours, and I'm still really sad.
A terrifying tale in its own way, with no apparent monsters or ghosts, but rather ourselves. Ourselves, and our capability to do wrong to others, even with our best intentions, and our mind's capability to do us harm.
I'll leave with you with a couple of highlights, that really just broke my heart.
John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.
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I tried to have a real earnest, reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how I wished he would let me go and make a visit to cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I wasn't able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there; and I did not make out a very good case for myself, for I was crying before I had finished.
“If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do? . . .So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am well again.”
Starting the year of strong with this absolutely infuriating short masterpiece of a book.
This was suggested to me by Mark Holloway, author of The Soul's Aspect, which is tremendous, so how could I ignore him...I ordered it immediately.
Known for being a very early feminist work, the short story focuses on the way women's physical and mental health was viewed in the 19th century. While written well, it's written quite plainly in a way that could still be picked up and read today as a more modern piece if you were unawares, and that tracks well for me, especially when people still throw around the work “hysterical” about people as if it holds weight.
For me this was surprisingly atmospheric, claustrophobic, and paranoiac. I feel like I may have had to read this during schooling, but it definitely was beyond me at the time. The writer feels that she needs the exact opposite of what her husband (and doctor) believes is best for her, going so far as to even say what he wanted was making her worse. There's something to be said for the first person perspective and their self awareness that perhaps mentally they are losing it, or perhaps the others are. It lends credence to both sides of the argument while still being firm that she's misdiagnosed.
And all this through that godforsaken yellow, orange, green patterned wallpaper. Personally a 4/5* for me. A great short story
very quick read, nothing shocking or amazing but i enjoyed it + i appreciate the commentary about women struggling with depression and marriage which was rare back in the day