The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Stetson was published the same year as An International Episode by Henry James. When examining the social constructs at play in a work of literature, one should consider the world in which the work is produced and consumed. The second edition of An International Episode, with illustrations by Harry McVickar, was published in 1892. This is the same year that Charlotte Perkins Stetson The Yellow Wallpaper was originally published. Thus, it was published at a time when women were continuously questioning their roles as domestic beings. Stetson advocated that women’s roles exceed the boundaries of domestic life, as merely wife or mother. Beyond being a fictitious short story about a woman losing her sanity, “The Yellow WallPaper” is a condemnation of the subjugation of women. The way that the protagonist’s husband treats her illness raises questions of power in her mind. In 1913, Stetson published an article detailing why she wrote The Yellow Wallpaper. In the explanation, she said that to treat her nervous breakdowns a physician once prescribed that she "’live as domestic a life as far as possible,’ to ‘have but two hours' intellectual life a day,’ and ‘never to touch pen, brush, or pencil again’ as long as [she] lived.” Thus, one could look beyond the misdiagnosis and mistreatment that typically occured at the time, and identify the underlying misogyny at work in the doctor’s orders. The characters in An International Episode showcase the concept of “The New Woman” that was popularized in the late 19th century. Bessie Alden is an educated, intellectual woman. She challenges Lord Lambeth’s knowledge of his home country, England, criticizes English high society, and rejects his proposal at the end of the story. This “New Woman,” that James is portraying in the novel is juxtaposed with McVickar’s subliminal sexist illustrations of women, which perfectly encapsulates the controversy surrounding women’s rights at the time of conception for both of these works.

“Charlotte Perkins Gilman's ‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’-Writing Women | EDSITEment.” EDSITEment! , edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/charlotte-perkins-gilmans-yellow-wall-paper-writing-women.

Gilman, Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper, csivc.csi.cuny.edu/history/files/lavender/whyyw.html.

Charlotte Perkins Stetson

HathiTrust

Rockwell & Churchill Press

1899

Octavo, 55 pages

Short Story