The Yellow Wallpaper summary
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1892
A woman is confined in a room with yellow wallpaper and begins to unravel mentally.
The story follows a woman who is confined to a room by her husband for rest therapy. As she spends more time in the room, she becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper and starts to lose her grip on reality.
Setting: The story is set in a colonial mansion in the late 19th century, primarily in an upstairs nursery with yellow wallpaper.
Full plot summary
The story is about a woman who is taken to a colonial mansion by her husband, John, for a summer retreat. John, a physician, prescribes her rest therapy for her 'nervous depression' and confines her to an upstairs nursery with yellow wallpaper.
As the woman spends more time in the room, she becomes increasingly obsessed with the wallpaper's pattern, which she finds repulsive and confusing. She secretly writes in her journal to cope with her isolation and lack of stimulation.
Her mental state deteriorates as she becomes convinced that there is a woman trapped behind the wallpaper, trying to escape. She starts to see the woman creeping around the garden during the day.
The woman becomes determined to free the figure she believes is trapped behind the wallpaper. She begins peeling the wallpaper off in a frenzy, convinced that she is liberating the woman.
In the climax, she locks herself in the room and tears down the wallpaper. When John finally enters, he faints at the sight of her crawling around the room, having completely lost touch with reality.
The story ends with the woman declaring that she has finally freed herself, crawling over her unconscious husband as she continues to circle the room.
This summary contains spoilers, including the ending.
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