Perhaps some other people here are familiar with a short story called The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman. I recently had to write an essay about it because I was studying it in my Literature class...
The general plot is this; it was written and set in the late 1800's, and a couple have rented a large manor house for a while since their house is being decorated. The woman suffers from mental illness and has been prescribed a very primitive "cure" which simply states that she must do as little as possible and sleep as much as she can. I won't ruin the rest of the story for you though.
It took 2 days to write and you can read it in about an hour (that's if you're a slow reader).
If you have an hour spare... here's a link. It's no longer copyright protected.
I have to say, it's now one of my favourite stories, and by far better than anything else I've had to read for school work.
I am really fascinated by some of the underlying themes, especially the idea that the yellow of the wallpaper symbolises daylight, during which men dominate. Jane, the narrator, is liberated by night, when she awakes are tears away the paper. There are so many ideas and undertones in this story that I really wonder how Gilman wrote it in only 2 days.
Anyone else here who's read it? What undertones did you pick up on?
The general plot is this; it was written and set in the late 1800's, and a couple have rented a large manor house for a while since their house is being decorated. The woman suffers from mental illness and has been prescribed a very primitive "cure" which simply states that she must do as little as possible and sleep as much as she can. I won't ruin the rest of the story for you though.
It took 2 days to write and you can read it in about an hour (that's if you're a slow reader).
If you have an hour spare... here's a link. It's no longer copyright protected.
I have to say, it's now one of my favourite stories, and by far better than anything else I've had to read for school work.
I am really fascinated by some of the underlying themes, especially the idea that the yellow of the wallpaper symbolises daylight, during which men dominate. Jane, the narrator, is liberated by night, when she awakes are tears away the paper. There are so many ideas and undertones in this story that I really wonder how Gilman wrote it in only 2 days.
Anyone else here who's read it? What undertones did you pick up on?
