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The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Stories
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was America's leading feminist intellectual of the early twentieth century. The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories makes available the fullest selection ever printed of her short fiction, featuring the pioneering feminist masterpiece of the title, her stories contemporary with The Yellow Wallpaper, the fiction from her neglected California period (1890-95), and her later explorations of "the woman of fifty." Together, these impressive works throw new light on Gilman as a writer of fiction.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
332 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
18 people are currently reading
299 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
1,069 books2,258 followersCharlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), also known as Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were exceptional for women, and she served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", which she wrote after a severe bout of post-partum depression.
She was the daughter of Frederic B. Perkins.
She was the daughter of Frederic B. Perkins.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
October 13, 2017
4 STARS
"The Yellow Wallpaper" will always be my favorite short-story by Gilman. However, her others are good too. Not nearly as good as her most famous short-story (A Yellow Wallpaper), but very thought provoking and pro-feminist.
Wonderful!
"The Yellow Wallpaper" will always be my favorite short-story by Gilman. However, her others are good too. Not nearly as good as her most famous short-story (A Yellow Wallpaper), but very thought provoking and pro-feminist.
Wonderful!
September 26, 2011
Interesting set of short stories about the role of women. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a feminist writing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The stories vary greatly in quality and some are formulaic, although they make a point that needed to be made again and again; women are perfectly capable and independent and tend to be held back by domineering and thoughtless men. The gothic stories are excellent, especially the title story about a descent into madness. The Yellow Wallpaper has been used by analysts (especially Freudian and Lacanian). It is deliberately ambiguous and tries to dispose of the nineteenth century ideal of the true woman being angelic. The other gothic stories (The Giant Wisteria and The Rocking Chair)are genuinely creepy.
The stories do vary in quality, but the message is clear and still relevant and thought provoking. Developing Darwinian ideas the point being made is that women not men are the central and driving force of human evolution.
The stories do vary in quality, but the message is clear and still relevant and thought provoking. Developing Darwinian ideas the point being made is that women not men are the central and driving force of human evolution.
October 11, 2016
Interesting collection, but gets a bit repetitive.
September 14, 2019
I read and loved the feminist masterpiece 'The Yellow Wallpaper' some years ago. Wanting to read more of her work, I decided to pick up this book, which includes almost 40 other short stories. While there are some good stories in this collection, they feel a little repetitive and tedious after a while as they are all on the same theme. That's not to say that they're not important as feminist works, I just preferred 'The Yellow Wallpaper' as it succeeded to invoke more emotion, and maybe because I also prefer tales of madness as well as variety in subject matter. The stories themselves are typical of the Victorian style, but they don't always hold up as they seem little more than battle of the sexes with first-wave feminist concerns. Again, still historically important, and some of the issues are still relevant today, but now with gender theories and different types of feminisms, many of these read as a kind of white feminism that conforms to binaries in their depictions of men and women.
August 27, 2019
The Yellow Wall Paper is SO GOOD, if you can find it on online or something, it’s only a few pages. It is an excellent gothic story with a feminist and medical critique of depression.
There are some great stories in this volume. Some are very funny, some with a definite socialist bent, all of a similar theme - women forging independence, identity and basically giving the metaphorical finger to their husbands, children, traditional marriage and men in general. Very enjoyable. The most moving ones for me were about the importance of self-improvement and meaningful activity after having children - I’m sure Charlotte was writing them about ME.
“I want you to grasp the fact that your mother is a Real Person with some interests of her own and half a lifetime yet.” (The Mighty Widow).
There are some great stories in this volume. Some are very funny, some with a definite socialist bent, all of a similar theme - women forging independence, identity and basically giving the metaphorical finger to their husbands, children, traditional marriage and men in general. Very enjoyable. The most moving ones for me were about the importance of self-improvement and meaningful activity after having children - I’m sure Charlotte was writing them about ME.
“I want you to grasp the fact that your mother is a Real Person with some interests of her own and half a lifetime yet.” (The Mighty Widow).
March 6, 2014
The Yellow Wall-paper was featured in New England Magazine(January 1890)647-656.
One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin.
Other stories:
That Rare Jewel (1890)
The Unexpected (1890)
One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin.
Other stories:
That Rare Jewel (1890)
The Unexpected (1890)
March 20, 2025
big bravo for the best translator B.
August 18, 2022
I read this because of the famous title story, spoken of fondly in the horror world. Thus, I expected some horror. A whopping three out of twenty eight stories are horror. The rest I'd put under the vague title of 'literature.'
These bits of pre-feminism exist in a time where the value of a woman lay in how good of a wife she was, which meant housekeeping, baby making, and being unopinionated. They read like colorful gossip. Short, simple, existing to make an often bluntly-stated point
The men in these stories aren't monsters. They're trapped in the same social constraints as the women. They believe a woman's place is in the home, and so carry the whole load of financial responsibility, supporting wives and children. A working wife is a husband's failure. It brings shame and disgrace, because they couldn't do it themselves. Much like the women, the men simply need to overcome these imagined mental obstacles.
These stories aren't just about how women needed to be cut free from society's bonds and be allowed to work and learn and move about freely, but about how society itself suffers from the limitations on women. When these women travel and start business ventures and gain knowledge, it's everyone who wins.
I didn't love the telling and not showing or the omnipresent perspective, nor did I love the lack of movement. Many of these are simply one character telling another a story. It's an interesting glimpse into an infuriating past, and probably fine for discussing in a Women's Studies class, but as a pleasure read, there isn't much pleasure.
These bits of pre-feminism exist in a time where the value of a woman lay in how good of a wife she was, which meant housekeeping, baby making, and being unopinionated. They read like colorful gossip. Short, simple, existing to make an often bluntly-stated point
The men in these stories aren't monsters. They're trapped in the same social constraints as the women. They believe a woman's place is in the home, and so carry the whole load of financial responsibility, supporting wives and children. A working wife is a husband's failure. It brings shame and disgrace, because they couldn't do it themselves. Much like the women, the men simply need to overcome these imagined mental obstacles.
These stories aren't just about how women needed to be cut free from society's bonds and be allowed to work and learn and move about freely, but about how society itself suffers from the limitations on women. When these women travel and start business ventures and gain knowledge, it's everyone who wins.
I didn't love the telling and not showing or the omnipresent perspective, nor did I love the lack of movement. Many of these are simply one character telling another a story. It's an interesting glimpse into an infuriating past, and probably fine for discussing in a Women's Studies class, but as a pleasure read, there isn't much pleasure.
November 1, 2022
In all honesty I think this collection leads with its strongest piece. There are others that are interesting, that have points of humour...but putting them all together like this highlights the way that Gilman repeats the same ideas and story structures a lot. Valuable as didactic feminist propaganda, perhaps, but it gets monotonous to read one after the other.
July 30, 2025
Yellow Wallpaper: 4
According to Solomon: 3
The Boys and the Butter: 5
The Great Wisteria: 3
According to Solomon: 3
The Boys and the Butter: 5
The Great Wisteria: 3
January 18, 2026
I have already reviewed The Yellow Wall-Paper, one of the greatest short stories ever written. I will not repeat the contents of my original review, but only mention its relationship to other stories in this volume.
One reason the story was written was to criticise the popular medical practices of the day, put about by a male doctor, that mentally ill women should rest for long periods, and not engage in any activities or use their imagination, and this would somehow cure them. It did not work for Charlotte Perkins Gilman or any other woman, and only served to make them more ill.
As a result, the unnamed narrator of The Yellow Wall-Paper grows worse, making this one of the most ambiguous of Gilman’s stories. Is it a horror story in which the narrator suffers a full descent into breakdown or insanity? Or is the narrator’s final gesture a triumph over her controlling husband, who has made her so unwell? Or both?
There are other stories in this selection in which men and women are sent on medical cures that involve them having something new and interesting to do with their lives. Based on her own experiences, Gilman realised that mental health for wives was about keeping active, and having an occupation of her own, and this is the theme of many of the stories here.
What are women to do with their lives once their children have grown up? Will they remain dependent on their children if their husband dies? Or can they find something more rewarding to do with the many years in which domestic responsibilities will no longer fill their lives?
We might describe the stories as reading rather like self-help exemplar for women, preaching feminist messages of independence. For this reason, The Yellow Wall-Paper is the only story here that deserves a five-star rating. The other stories merit only three or four stars. There are no bad stories in this selection, but in her attempts to put a simplistic message in every story, Gilman sacrifices style for content.
The stories here are just a little too wholesome. Women always succeed in what they set out to do. Wives with no experience of business prove to be better at handling companies than their husbands. When women work together, they do not fall apart due to internal squabbling, but work sensibly and capably to achieve their goals with minimal conflict.
While Gilman professed to be a non-revolutionary socialist, the message of the stories is essentially capitalist. While some of the women engage in charitable concerns, most of them demonstrate their strength by running profit-making concerns. Gilman values hard work and gumption over mere altruism.
For this reason, her heroines are generally middle class and white. Working class and black characters appear as servants, or employees, while only well-to-do women run the businesses. In this sense, the heroines are not truly self-made women, but women who already had enough capital to get their businesses off the ground.
Work, in Gilman’s view, makes women happier and healthier. The woman who watches while a rival takes the man she wants to marry will win out in the end. While the successful woman sees her health and looks fade as she dedicates her life to the drudgery of being a wife and mother, the unsuccessful rival will have a fulfilling existence running businesses and getting an education, and will emerge in middle age as healthier and better-looking.
Often it helps for women to have separatism from men. Some of Gilman’s heroines turn down prospective husbands who they fear will hold them back, or damage their independence. Wives occasionally leave their husbands. Some women form relationships in which they do not live with their partners.
Some marriages work well. The husband might (rarely) be open-minded and support his wife from the start. More usually, he expects his wife to occupy a traditional role, but is loving and enlightened enough to be reluctantly forced to admit that she has done a better job than he would have done when she begins to run her own business.
Gilman does not intend us to see this as a utopian exercise. When she shows women doing well for themselves, she outlines carefully what the women have done, even including the cost in dollars of their every enterprise.
Nonetheless, there is something unrealistic about Gilman’s stories. There is no room for failure here. No woman does badly. The reality about operating a business, especially a small one, is that the entrepreneur’s success depends on the ups and downs of the market at any given time. The success of any company is often a matter of luck, rather than simply the inevitable result of industry and intelligence.
The best stories here are those that apply a little humour and variety. The worst ones are a little samey. If we regard The Yellow Wall-Paper as a horror story (as some people do), then we should note that there are two more horror stories here.
In ‘The Giant Wistaria’, a ghost brings to light a sad story about the fate of an unmarried woman and her child in a previous age. This is a rare story in which the woman does not emerge on top. ‘The Rocking Chair’ is an effectively nasty story in which two males aggressively vie like stags for the attention of a female ghost with a silvery laugh, but she proves to be more terrible than either man.
As with many socialist novelists, Gilman is overly optimistic about the ability of those who are oppressed to overcome obstacles that will lead to greater equality. This has still not been achieved today. Nonetheless, the stories are interesting as a reflection of changing dynamics in the family household, which have grown more since Gilman’s time. She anticipated that women would need a greater role in society, and that the time-old roles of husband and wives would need to change.
One reason the story was written was to criticise the popular medical practices of the day, put about by a male doctor, that mentally ill women should rest for long periods, and not engage in any activities or use their imagination, and this would somehow cure them. It did not work for Charlotte Perkins Gilman or any other woman, and only served to make them more ill.
As a result, the unnamed narrator of The Yellow Wall-Paper grows worse, making this one of the most ambiguous of Gilman’s stories. Is it a horror story in which the narrator suffers a full descent into breakdown or insanity? Or is the narrator’s final gesture a triumph over her controlling husband, who has made her so unwell? Or both?
There are other stories in this selection in which men and women are sent on medical cures that involve them having something new and interesting to do with their lives. Based on her own experiences, Gilman realised that mental health for wives was about keeping active, and having an occupation of her own, and this is the theme of many of the stories here.
What are women to do with their lives once their children have grown up? Will they remain dependent on their children if their husband dies? Or can they find something more rewarding to do with the many years in which domestic responsibilities will no longer fill their lives?
We might describe the stories as reading rather like self-help exemplar for women, preaching feminist messages of independence. For this reason, The Yellow Wall-Paper is the only story here that deserves a five-star rating. The other stories merit only three or four stars. There are no bad stories in this selection, but in her attempts to put a simplistic message in every story, Gilman sacrifices style for content.
The stories here are just a little too wholesome. Women always succeed in what they set out to do. Wives with no experience of business prove to be better at handling companies than their husbands. When women work together, they do not fall apart due to internal squabbling, but work sensibly and capably to achieve their goals with minimal conflict.
While Gilman professed to be a non-revolutionary socialist, the message of the stories is essentially capitalist. While some of the women engage in charitable concerns, most of them demonstrate their strength by running profit-making concerns. Gilman values hard work and gumption over mere altruism.
For this reason, her heroines are generally middle class and white. Working class and black characters appear as servants, or employees, while only well-to-do women run the businesses. In this sense, the heroines are not truly self-made women, but women who already had enough capital to get their businesses off the ground.
Work, in Gilman’s view, makes women happier and healthier. The woman who watches while a rival takes the man she wants to marry will win out in the end. While the successful woman sees her health and looks fade as she dedicates her life to the drudgery of being a wife and mother, the unsuccessful rival will have a fulfilling existence running businesses and getting an education, and will emerge in middle age as healthier and better-looking.
Often it helps for women to have separatism from men. Some of Gilman’s heroines turn down prospective husbands who they fear will hold them back, or damage their independence. Wives occasionally leave their husbands. Some women form relationships in which they do not live with their partners.
Some marriages work well. The husband might (rarely) be open-minded and support his wife from the start. More usually, he expects his wife to occupy a traditional role, but is loving and enlightened enough to be reluctantly forced to admit that she has done a better job than he would have done when she begins to run her own business.
Gilman does not intend us to see this as a utopian exercise. When she shows women doing well for themselves, she outlines carefully what the women have done, even including the cost in dollars of their every enterprise.
Nonetheless, there is something unrealistic about Gilman’s stories. There is no room for failure here. No woman does badly. The reality about operating a business, especially a small one, is that the entrepreneur’s success depends on the ups and downs of the market at any given time. The success of any company is often a matter of luck, rather than simply the inevitable result of industry and intelligence.
The best stories here are those that apply a little humour and variety. The worst ones are a little samey. If we regard The Yellow Wall-Paper as a horror story (as some people do), then we should note that there are two more horror stories here.
In ‘The Giant Wistaria’, a ghost brings to light a sad story about the fate of an unmarried woman and her child in a previous age. This is a rare story in which the woman does not emerge on top. ‘The Rocking Chair’ is an effectively nasty story in which two males aggressively vie like stags for the attention of a female ghost with a silvery laugh, but she proves to be more terrible than either man.
As with many socialist novelists, Gilman is overly optimistic about the ability of those who are oppressed to overcome obstacles that will lead to greater equality. This has still not been achieved today. Nonetheless, the stories are interesting as a reflection of changing dynamics in the family household, which have grown more since Gilman’s time. She anticipated that women would need a greater role in society, and that the time-old roles of husband and wives would need to change.
April 18, 2020
If you are asked to name something that Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote, chances are you will be able to say The Yellow Wallpaper; chances are also that you aren't really able to name anything else she wrote (perhaps with the exception of her trilogy Herland). The reason for that has become clear to me whilst reading this short story collection: the rest of her stories are not nearly as thrilling or brilliant as The Yellow Wallpaper. In fact, most of them were quite boring. Kudos for Perkins Gilman for writing all these first-wave feminist short stories, though.
February 7, 2021
Gilman wrote almost 100 years ago. She is witty , brilliant and her stories are refreshing, breathtakingly fresh and very modern. She was the leading feminist of her age, no surprise there. Frankly I think she could leading feminist in any age. Absolutely loved her short stories, highly recommended.
June 24, 2007
Intriguing, compelling collection of stories; I found the short stories more interesting than the excerpts of longer works. There's a strength and fierce longing underpinning each story that is undeniable.
June 11, 2018
read with Westridge alum book club;
really enjoyed the novella and stories in the context of when the author was writing and her own history. stimulated great discussions about themes in women's writings.
also we liked the tie-ins to our recent readings on the Beecher family, and Pasadena.
really enjoyed the novella and stories in the context of when the author was writing and her own history. stimulated great discussions about themes in women's writings.
also we liked the tie-ins to our recent readings on the Beecher family, and Pasadena.
July 6, 2016
The best collection of short stories I've ever read.
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April 24, 2024In the end, I did not finish the entire book. I got most of the way there--I only had about 50 pages left--but I was tired of it and ready to move on to other things. The problem was, while the title story is really excellent, a great piece of classic fiction, the rest is just...not very good, from a storytelling standpoint. The writing itself, at a sentence level, is more than adequate. Gilman can string words together in an attractive way. That isn't the issue. The issue is that pretty much every story in this book is propaganda, rather than entertainment. And with only a few exceptions (the titular story being the most obvious one), it's pretty much the same story over and over again. A woman late in life decides to take matters into her own hands and get a job, or find a way to pay for her large property, and does it by herself and with much success, while men and grown children argue with her about it. It's a good story...the first or second time you read it. But then it just gets old. I'm not opposed to her agenda--feminism in the days of the Suffragettes--but all the same, I wanted entertainment, not propaganda.
That said, I was intrigued by how very modern it all felt. I guess while I knew that there obviously were feminists in that era, fighting for the advancement and freedom of women, it was still surprising to see women, in stories written by a woman of that time, expressing such desires. I think I just believed most were so subsumed by the ideals and beliefs of that era's society that women weren't even thinking about or wanting the freedoms that the women in this book are so determined to have. From that perspective, this was all fascinating. I always kind of wondered in an offhand way exactly where the feminist spark came from. What shook women out of the ideals of the era and acceptance of their existence as it was and into the recognition that they could have more? And now because of this book, I think the obvious answer is that the spark was there all along.
Because I don't rate books I didn't finish, I'm lucking out of having to figure this one out. Because this would be tricky. There is such a distinct plateau in the quality between The Yellow Wall-Paper and the other stories in this book. The former is a masterpiece. Of the latter, it is worth browsing through a few at random.
DNF at page 277.
That said, I was intrigued by how very modern it all felt. I guess while I knew that there obviously were feminists in that era, fighting for the advancement and freedom of women, it was still surprising to see women, in stories written by a woman of that time, expressing such desires. I think I just believed most were so subsumed by the ideals and beliefs of that era's society that women weren't even thinking about or wanting the freedoms that the women in this book are so determined to have. From that perspective, this was all fascinating. I always kind of wondered in an offhand way exactly where the feminist spark came from. What shook women out of the ideals of the era and acceptance of their existence as it was and into the recognition that they could have more? And now because of this book, I think the obvious answer is that the spark was there all along.
Because I don't rate books I didn't finish, I'm lucking out of having to figure this one out. Because this would be tricky. There is such a distinct plateau in the quality between The Yellow Wall-Paper and the other stories in this book. The former is a masterpiece. Of the latter, it is worth browsing through a few at random.
DNF at page 277.
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July 20, 2024THE YELLOW WALL-PAPER (1890)
THAT RARE JEWEL (1890)
THE UNEXPECTED (1890)
CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES (1890)
THE GIANT WISTARIA (1891)
AN EXTINCT ANGEL (1891)
THE ROCKING-CHAIR (1893)
DESERTED (1893)
AN ELOPEMENT (1893)
THROUGH THIS (1893)
THE MISLEADING OF PENDLETON OAKS (1894)
A DAY'S BERRYIN' (1894)
FIVE GIRLS (1894)
ONE WAY OUT (1894)
AN UNPATENTED PROCESS (1895)
AN UNNATURAL MOTHER (1895)
THREE THANKSGIVINGS (1909)
ACCORDING TO SOLOMON (1909)
THE COTTAGETTE (1910)
THE WIDOW'S MIGHT (19I1)
THE JUMPING-OFF PLACE (1911)
IN TWO HOUSES (1911)
TURNED (1911)
MAKING A CHANGE (1911)
MRS ELDER'S IDEA (1912)
THEIR HOUSE (1912)
HER BEAUTY (1913)
MRS HINES'S MONEY (1913)
BEE WISE (1913)
A COUNCIL OF WAR (1913)
FULFILMENT (1914)
A PARTNERSHIP (1914)
IF I WERE A MAN (1914)
MR PEEBLES'S HEART (1914)
MRS MERRILL'S DUTIES (1915)
GIRLS AND LAND (1915)
DR CLAIR'S PLACE (1915)
A SURPLUS WOMAN (1916)
JOAN'S DEFENDER (1916)
THAT RARE JEWEL (1890)
THE UNEXPECTED (1890)
CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES (1890)
THE GIANT WISTARIA (1891)
AN EXTINCT ANGEL (1891)
THE ROCKING-CHAIR (1893)
DESERTED (1893)
AN ELOPEMENT (1893)
THROUGH THIS (1893)
THE MISLEADING OF PENDLETON OAKS (1894)
A DAY'S BERRYIN' (1894)
FIVE GIRLS (1894)
ONE WAY OUT (1894)
AN UNPATENTED PROCESS (1895)
AN UNNATURAL MOTHER (1895)
THREE THANKSGIVINGS (1909)
ACCORDING TO SOLOMON (1909)
THE COTTAGETTE (1910)
THE WIDOW'S MIGHT (19I1)
THE JUMPING-OFF PLACE (1911)
IN TWO HOUSES (1911)
TURNED (1911)
MAKING A CHANGE (1911)
MRS ELDER'S IDEA (1912)
THEIR HOUSE (1912)
HER BEAUTY (1913)
MRS HINES'S MONEY (1913)
BEE WISE (1913)
A COUNCIL OF WAR (1913)
FULFILMENT (1914)
A PARTNERSHIP (1914)
IF I WERE A MAN (1914)
MR PEEBLES'S HEART (1914)
MRS MERRILL'S DUTIES (1915)
GIRLS AND LAND (1915)
DR CLAIR'S PLACE (1915)
A SURPLUS WOMAN (1916)
JOAN'S DEFENDER (1916)
March 31, 2022
"The Yellow Wall-Paper" is an exceptional, five star, gothic, oppressive work of genius. I'm not sure Gilman ever quite matched it again, though there are also a couple of good horror stories in her early work here in "The Rocking Chair" and "The Giant Wisteria". This collection seems to include everything she has ever written, and I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone but the most enthusiastic student of early feminism. Most of her later stories fit the same framework: Middle-aged woman is left seeking occupation after her children have left home; woman starts small business, usually a boarding house; business finds unexpected financial success. There are some variables (the type of business, the presence or absence of a husband, etc, etc). But really, you don't need to read this tale twenty times to get the point.
September 17, 2024
This book was such a joy to read! Told during the 19th century, it is a feminist tale of multiple stories of strong women navigating through society norms. There were quite a few stories that I absolutely loved. One of my favorites was The Boys and the Butter. Nothing beats a mother who stands strong for her kid in the face of injustice. Every story is powerful, witty, touching, sometimes funny. It is a very entertaining powerful and quick read that can be read in one sitting. It is really hard to turn away from this book. It's like opening up a box of chocolate and be pleasantly surprised and enjoy each one.
February 24, 2022
The title story is the best by far here, and fairly different from almost all the rest – sort of a psychological horror story, with feminist overtones. In the rest of the stories, almost all of them written later, her feminism has taken center stage. She tends to make many of the same points in multiple stories. Highly readable.
January 3, 2025
The Yellow Wallpaper was a really engaging short story - I really enjoyed it. The rest of the short stories did seem to get slightly repetitive over time. I did, however, find myself relating to some of the women and the way the men around them spoke about them and femininity. Slightly disheartening considering the fact that these stories were written over a hundred years ago.
August 24, 2022
she is the only feminist ever
August 7, 2023
3.5.
Favourite stories: The Yellow Wall-Paper
The Rocking-Chair
Three Thanksgivings
All the stories were enjoyable, but a lot of them were quite similar to each other.
Favourite stories: The Yellow Wall-Paper
The Rocking-Chair
Three Thanksgivings
All the stories were enjoyable, but a lot of them were quite similar to each other.
November 16, 2025
My favs: The Yellow Wallpaper, Circumstances Alter Cases, An Extinct Angel, An Unnatural Mother, The Widow’s Might, The Jumping Off Place, Turned, and Mrs Elder’s Idea
May 9, 2020
This collection of Gilman's short stories really are a mixed bag, hence the three-star review. While the quality and the charisma of Gilman's voice is clear and entertaining throughout, there are clearly a handful of stories that are better than the rest. Similarly there are a few stories that are not too interesting. Then there is The Yellow Wall-Paper which is a five-star masterpiece, one of the most powerful and haunting short stories I can think of. What's important in Gilman's work is that her personality shines through her stories; I listened to these stories as an excellent audio book that added another level of verve through the great narration. Also essential is the sense of when Gilman was writing. These are stories of female strength and emancipation that bely the era they were published. There is a sense of rebellion and resistance that makes Gilman infinately readable even when the stories themselves are not particularly thrilling.
Many of the stories revolve around independent women and tell unconventional stories, for the time they were written, of women taking control of their decisions, refusing marriage, living alone and making a living. The male characters in her stories also challenge these preconceptions and often enter into dialogues and discussions with the female leads which act as a stimulating analysis of a woman's place in society. "Her Housekeeper" for example offers a twist on the seduction tale as the suitor attempts to win over his lodger with counter arguments to all the reasons she doesn't want to marry. "Making a Living" raises up a poet brother over his more conventional brother and celebrates the woman's stubborn decision to believe in his success. "Mr Robert Grey Sr." similarly involves a women who holds out against the decision expected of her and shows how she avoids the fate of an unhappy marriage to an older man she doesn't love. The women in these stories are praised for ignoring social conventions and obligations, for making life-decisions based on their own wishes rather than what is expected of her.
Other stories in the collection are cautionary fables and allow Gilman to present her wicked sense of humour. "The Boys and the Butter" tells of two young brothers who agree to give up butter for a year in return for a sizable fortune from their elderly aunt, and how her trickery is thwarted in the end. "When I was a Witch" is the most surreal of the stories, about a women whose wishes suddenly come true - mostly they involve wishing for people who hurt animals or other people to feel the consequences of their cruelty. It's a perfect little black comedy that could easily be converted into a modern movie with a female equivalent of Jim Carrie. "The Giant Wistaria" is a brilliant piece of horror writing on a par with any of the greats - a group of friends viewing an old house eventually discover the murderous secrets of its past through a ghostly intervention. It's got the sly drama of a Poe story, the insiduous darkness of Lovecraft and the shivery, old-fashioned spookiness of Bram Stoker. Gilman is a remarkably flexible short story writer who can turn her hand to most genres and still maintain the wit, charm and humour of her own voice.
But "The Yellow Wall-Paper" is a cut above the rest. It is an autobiographical description of her postpartum depression and her doctor's proposed treatment that she should rest and stay inside the whole time. It hinges on the conviction and the presumption of women's weakness, highlights their vulnerability and repression unlike any other feminist literature piece. In the story the narrator suffers a kind of possession through the shapes and forms and atmosphere of her prison and its yellow wall-paper. It's entirely Lovecraftian in it's otherworldly madness, deeply disturbing and frightening with a chilling ending to crown this little masterpiece. Magnificently Gilman then sent this story to her doctor on completion, a brilliant cry of release and a throwing off of her chains. It stands so high above the rest of the collection that one is tempted to think the other stories are not very good. They are. Gilman is a very good writer and burning with anger, wit and sarcasm. Some of the stories are more throw away, but others stand up for themselves easily. "The Yellow Wall-Paper" towers above this great, eccentric and eclectic collection. 6
Many of the stories revolve around independent women and tell unconventional stories, for the time they were written, of women taking control of their decisions, refusing marriage, living alone and making a living. The male characters in her stories also challenge these preconceptions and often enter into dialogues and discussions with the female leads which act as a stimulating analysis of a woman's place in society. "Her Housekeeper" for example offers a twist on the seduction tale as the suitor attempts to win over his lodger with counter arguments to all the reasons she doesn't want to marry. "Making a Living" raises up a poet brother over his more conventional brother and celebrates the woman's stubborn decision to believe in his success. "Mr Robert Grey Sr." similarly involves a women who holds out against the decision expected of her and shows how she avoids the fate of an unhappy marriage to an older man she doesn't love. The women in these stories are praised for ignoring social conventions and obligations, for making life-decisions based on their own wishes rather than what is expected of her.
Other stories in the collection are cautionary fables and allow Gilman to present her wicked sense of humour. "The Boys and the Butter" tells of two young brothers who agree to give up butter for a year in return for a sizable fortune from their elderly aunt, and how her trickery is thwarted in the end. "When I was a Witch" is the most surreal of the stories, about a women whose wishes suddenly come true - mostly they involve wishing for people who hurt animals or other people to feel the consequences of their cruelty. It's a perfect little black comedy that could easily be converted into a modern movie with a female equivalent of Jim Carrie. "The Giant Wistaria" is a brilliant piece of horror writing on a par with any of the greats - a group of friends viewing an old house eventually discover the murderous secrets of its past through a ghostly intervention. It's got the sly drama of a Poe story, the insiduous darkness of Lovecraft and the shivery, old-fashioned spookiness of Bram Stoker. Gilman is a remarkably flexible short story writer who can turn her hand to most genres and still maintain the wit, charm and humour of her own voice.
But "The Yellow Wall-Paper" is a cut above the rest. It is an autobiographical description of her postpartum depression and her doctor's proposed treatment that she should rest and stay inside the whole time. It hinges on the conviction and the presumption of women's weakness, highlights their vulnerability and repression unlike any other feminist literature piece. In the story the narrator suffers a kind of possession through the shapes and forms and atmosphere of her prison and its yellow wall-paper. It's entirely Lovecraftian in it's otherworldly madness, deeply disturbing and frightening with a chilling ending to crown this little masterpiece. Magnificently Gilman then sent this story to her doctor on completion, a brilliant cry of release and a throwing off of her chains. It stands so high above the rest of the collection that one is tempted to think the other stories are not very good. They are. Gilman is a very good writer and burning with anger, wit and sarcasm. Some of the stories are more throw away, but others stand up for themselves easily. "The Yellow Wall-Paper" towers above this great, eccentric and eclectic collection. 6
May 12, 2011
Gilman's prose is of the scary type. Scary for its' intellect and practical advice for all women. First of all, she is an unapologetic feminist. These well-structured little stories could be divided into three themes which showcase Gilman's adeptness in her art. The first third of the book displays distinct Gothic elements where houses (what Freud called the 'Unheimliche') become objects that reflect female repression. In 'Yellow-Wallpaper', Gilman's most famous and disturbing story, the house is portrayed as a domestic prison, a warden, and later as a mirror that depicts the awful break-down of the main character. In truth, I was not prepared for the subtle horror of the final scene due to Gilman's clever use of language. There were also undertones to this story that paralleled partly with Virginia Woolf's own tragic death. Gilman's inspiration came from personal experience after being admitted to a mental institution whereupon the regime was so bad that it almost made her lose her mind. In her preface, she states in particular how the story was written to all doctors who think total rest and complete detachment from any activity are sure cures for a curious, flexible mind.
The second set of stories are mostly humorous satire's based on the style of different well-known authors such as Austen and R.L. Stevenson. While they were well-written these did not particularly interest me so much. The last part of the book however clearly hammered home the political and socio-economic potential of women in the world. The stories prove that Gilman was a woman very much ahead of her time. The stories themselves muct have caused a real stir and they are worded in such a way to stamp out any kind of protest from the 'male chauvinistic pigs' that she is comstantly pounding.
While the stories were entertaining, I did tire of the overly feminist tone, and soon the plots all began to merge together. Allow me to explain: a woman at the dregs of her life (a mere 50 years old) suddenly gets the urge to live for herself for once. Her children are married off, the husband is conveniently dead, so there is nothing stopping her. The children are trying to get at her money (what little is left of it) by getting her to sell off the property and move in with them. The matriarch refuses and instead of explaining what she'll do with her life, sets about renting off her property, setting up 'ladies clubs', starting up a jam-making business, whereupon in a year her income doubles and trebles. In two years she becomes a millionaire and laughs in the face of her children and everyone else who considered her a helpless good for nothing old lady. End of story.
As I said, while this is entertaining, it does get tedious. But all in all a must-read even if just for 'The Yellow Wallpaper'.
The second set of stories are mostly humorous satire's based on the style of different well-known authors such as Austen and R.L. Stevenson. While they were well-written these did not particularly interest me so much. The last part of the book however clearly hammered home the political and socio-economic potential of women in the world. The stories prove that Gilman was a woman very much ahead of her time. The stories themselves muct have caused a real stir and they are worded in such a way to stamp out any kind of protest from the 'male chauvinistic pigs' that she is comstantly pounding.
While the stories were entertaining, I did tire of the overly feminist tone, and soon the plots all began to merge together. Allow me to explain: a woman at the dregs of her life (a mere 50 years old) suddenly gets the urge to live for herself for once. Her children are married off, the husband is conveniently dead, so there is nothing stopping her. The children are trying to get at her money (what little is left of it) by getting her to sell off the property and move in with them. The matriarch refuses and instead of explaining what she'll do with her life, sets about renting off her property, setting up 'ladies clubs', starting up a jam-making business, whereupon in a year her income doubles and trebles. In two years she becomes a millionaire and laughs in the face of her children and everyone else who considered her a helpless good for nothing old lady. End of story.
As I said, while this is entertaining, it does get tedious. But all in all a must-read even if just for 'The Yellow Wallpaper'.
February 25, 2024
A full video review is available on our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/qUyK_pNOJ44?si=D9-ex...
There is so much to enjoy about this book. I feel it’s terribly underrated and certainly overlooked before and during its time.
What I appreciated were the common themes of the importance of healthy and respectful male-female relationships. Disrespectful relationships were met graciously, but firmly. Distasteful behavior was reprimanded or made obvious as bad behavior and almost always addressed.
I enjoyed that womanhood in all its forms was represented. Womanhood as a widow, as an older single woman, as married women of all ages, as women who work, and mothers including those who struggled or were not naturally motherly. All of these were shown with realistic, fairly respectful, and with mostly healthy and supportive female relationships, and those that were not supportive were not disrespected or humiliated, but met with gracious reprimand or action that accurately evaluated the relevance of criticism or lack of support.
I enjoyed seeing older women as heroines in their own lives and taking back their own narratives. Doing their best to make their lives what they want instead of following the standard of society. I loved seeing young women who were feminine, strong, and intelligent. Who took themselves and their futures seriously, even if the rest of society, the family, or friends didn’t. I loved seeing women building lives and industries they were passionate about with their friends and families. I loved seeing women who were strong snd helped build up the men in their lives, and chided or critiqued them respectfully and with sound logic and practicality instead of petty and illogical arguments.
I also loved seeing men who were not treated or portrayed as idiots as current western culture often does for comedic means. Men were serious and practical though realistically misguided in some ways by social concepts as is understandable in any society. The men did the best they could for their families and often were very emotionally healthy even if they were ignorant of situations in some cases. Though there is an occasional male character here and there in these stories that was meant to be an antagonist.
Of course there were some things lacking. Because of the age these were written in there are hints at the objectification and oppression of women. There are touches of racism and prejudice, though often subtle and understated. All this was predominately written before Civil Rights was a movement. I can see that being very difficult for some readers considering the current climate of social justice.
-Emily Schmidt
There is so much to enjoy about this book. I feel it’s terribly underrated and certainly overlooked before and during its time.
What I appreciated were the common themes of the importance of healthy and respectful male-female relationships. Disrespectful relationships were met graciously, but firmly. Distasteful behavior was reprimanded or made obvious as bad behavior and almost always addressed.
I enjoyed that womanhood in all its forms was represented. Womanhood as a widow, as an older single woman, as married women of all ages, as women who work, and mothers including those who struggled or were not naturally motherly. All of these were shown with realistic, fairly respectful, and with mostly healthy and supportive female relationships, and those that were not supportive were not disrespected or humiliated, but met with gracious reprimand or action that accurately evaluated the relevance of criticism or lack of support.
I enjoyed seeing older women as heroines in their own lives and taking back their own narratives. Doing their best to make their lives what they want instead of following the standard of society. I loved seeing young women who were feminine, strong, and intelligent. Who took themselves and their futures seriously, even if the rest of society, the family, or friends didn’t. I loved seeing women building lives and industries they were passionate about with their friends and families. I loved seeing women who were strong snd helped build up the men in their lives, and chided or critiqued them respectfully and with sound logic and practicality instead of petty and illogical arguments.
I also loved seeing men who were not treated or portrayed as idiots as current western culture often does for comedic means. Men were serious and practical though realistically misguided in some ways by social concepts as is understandable in any society. The men did the best they could for their families and often were very emotionally healthy even if they were ignorant of situations in some cases. Though there is an occasional male character here and there in these stories that was meant to be an antagonist.
Of course there were some things lacking. Because of the age these were written in there are hints at the objectification and oppression of women. There are touches of racism and prejudice, though often subtle and understated. All this was predominately written before Civil Rights was a movement. I can see that being very difficult for some readers considering the current climate of social justice.
-Emily Schmidt
June 5, 2021
I found it telling that part of the goal of the introduction was to mount a defense of the worth of Gilman's less famous short stories. "The Yellow Wall-paper" is ofc a masterpiece, searing and emotional and unforgettable, and yet unfortunately it is almost wholly unlike the rest of her short fiction. Shulman writes in the intro that Gilman considered her writing to be a "toolbox", and thought art without a clear purpose was "a pretty poor thing"; indeed most of the rest of these stories read much like either an instruction manual for a budding New Woman or an anti-patriarchal thesis statement. While it was refreshing and surprising to read this kinda of fiction written over 130 years ago, and it's clear that Gilman was without doubt talented and a wonderful bastion of early feminism at the turn of the last century, I found I struggled to actually engage with the mass of very similar, often quite simplistic stories herein, that felt like they were written primarily to make a point rather than to craft a complex and engaging work.
Shulman also notes the lack of representation of any point of view other than a middle class American straight woman in any of these stories, and makes the point that rather than simply being a product of its time (as surely it partially was), this significant lack may well be due to Gilman's own personal grief over the women she was intimate with marrying other men. The fact that, despite this personal experience, she deliberately places her fiction at a remove from this, treating women as either unhappy with men or happy alone and, may well explain why I felt like much of this stayed within well-explored and rather one-note territory. I don't expect the very earliest form of feminist fiction to already be in proto-Judith Butler territory obvs, but the fact that almost every story again and again seemed to follow the "woman unhappy in traditional society finds satisfaction by branching out herself" pattern only made this lack of variety and representation clearer.
I really don't want to get too unfairly personal here, or seem like I don't appreciate Gilman as a pioneering feminist or as a genuinely talented writer - the eponymous short story still ranks within my absolute favorites of the artform, and as well as a few other bright spots ("The Rocking Chair", "The Giant Wistaria") the stories and writing were more than serviceable - but I suppose that I just wish this clear passion and creativity was properly leveraged in more than half a dozen of the dozens of stories contained here.
Shulman also notes the lack of representation of any point of view other than a middle class American straight woman in any of these stories, and makes the point that rather than simply being a product of its time (as surely it partially was), this significant lack may well be due to Gilman's own personal grief over the women she was intimate with marrying other men. The fact that, despite this personal experience, she deliberately places her fiction at a remove from this, treating women as either unhappy with men or happy alone and, may well explain why I felt like much of this stayed within well-explored and rather one-note territory. I don't expect the very earliest form of feminist fiction to already be in proto-Judith Butler territory obvs, but the fact that almost every story again and again seemed to follow the "woman unhappy in traditional society finds satisfaction by branching out herself" pattern only made this lack of variety and representation clearer.
I really don't want to get too unfairly personal here, or seem like I don't appreciate Gilman as a pioneering feminist or as a genuinely talented writer - the eponymous short story still ranks within my absolute favorites of the artform, and as well as a few other bright spots ("The Rocking Chair", "The Giant Wistaria") the stories and writing were more than serviceable - but I suppose that I just wish this clear passion and creativity was properly leveraged in more than half a dozen of the dozens of stories contained here.
November 11, 2014
Browsing through the other reviews most readers seem to have only commented (and read) the story from the title, "The Yellow Wallpaper". If I had done the same I would hand out 5 stars now. That story is absolutely stunning, it is disturbing and fascinating, creepy, so well crafted and not that simple to decipher, a true gem.
Most of the other stories in this collection, which claims to be the most complete collection of Perkins Gillman's stories, are straight forward feminist stories. Surely relevant at the time, even shocking I assume, she constantly reveals society's double standards and presents modern thinking, confident women that make smart, confident choices. But there are 40 entries in here and almost all follow the same path, the same structure and hand-feed the same message. Naturally, the reading experience turns samey. I understand that the intention of this compilation was not to give a varied impression but, as I mentioned above, a complete picture of her writing. Nevertheless, I wished there would have been more stories like the "YWP", stories that leave something to the reader to work with, think about and stir something up. Not all the feminist stories read dated, sometimes I wash shocked that the presented and criticized stereo-type still holds some relevance today, but they all read highly predictable. Some people will consider this an interesting read for the historical significance, but I want more form the short stories I read, I want a personal significance. All that being said, the writing of Perkins Gilman is remarkable, within a few sentences she gives you 3-dimensional characters and setting, a true short story champion.
I need to mention the two gothic horror stories that for that reason stand out, "The Rocking-Chair" and especially "The Giant Wistaria", that second story reminded me a bit of Shirley Jackson, it was really good. I wish there would have been more writing like this.
Coming back to "The Yellow Wallpaper", it seems like a lot of people read it in high school years, I am positive it would have been over my head at the time, now I loved it and want to read it again in a couple of years because it seems like on of those that offers so many things that several reads should give you several interpretations. I love a story that gives me enough to have my interpretations but leaves room to ponder and wonder. Great, disturbing story!!
Most of the other stories in this collection, which claims to be the most complete collection of Perkins Gillman's stories, are straight forward feminist stories. Surely relevant at the time, even shocking I assume, she constantly reveals society's double standards and presents modern thinking, confident women that make smart, confident choices. But there are 40 entries in here and almost all follow the same path, the same structure and hand-feed the same message. Naturally, the reading experience turns samey. I understand that the intention of this compilation was not to give a varied impression but, as I mentioned above, a complete picture of her writing. Nevertheless, I wished there would have been more stories like the "YWP", stories that leave something to the reader to work with, think about and stir something up. Not all the feminist stories read dated, sometimes I wash shocked that the presented and criticized stereo-type still holds some relevance today, but they all read highly predictable. Some people will consider this an interesting read for the historical significance, but I want more form the short stories I read, I want a personal significance. All that being said, the writing of Perkins Gilman is remarkable, within a few sentences she gives you 3-dimensional characters and setting, a true short story champion.
I need to mention the two gothic horror stories that for that reason stand out, "The Rocking-Chair" and especially "The Giant Wistaria", that second story reminded me a bit of Shirley Jackson, it was really good. I wish there would have been more writing like this.
Coming back to "The Yellow Wallpaper", it seems like a lot of people read it in high school years, I am positive it would have been over my head at the time, now I loved it and want to read it again in a couple of years because it seems like on of those that offers so many things that several reads should give you several interpretations. I love a story that gives me enough to have my interpretations but leaves room to ponder and wonder. Great, disturbing story!!
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