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The Yellow Wallpaper

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The Yellow Wallpaper

Written by: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Narrated by: Cynthia Erivo
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About this listen

A woman and her husband rent a summer house, but what should be a restful getaway turns into a suffocating psychological battle. This chilling account of postpartum depression and a husband's controlling behaviour in the guise of treatment will leave you breathless.

Public Domain (P)2022 Audible, Ltd
Classics Genre Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Psychological Women's Fiction American Literature
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A woman suffering from postpartum depression is misdiagnosed with "hysteria" by her husband, a physician, who prescribes a "rest cure." This only worsens her condition, leading her to obsess over the yellow wallpaper in her room, where she begins seeing faces and figures trapped behind it. As things spiral further, she ultimately meets her downfall.

I can't say for sure whether misdiagnose is the right word—well, it certainly wasn’t right, but it’s possible that physicians at the time simply didn’t know any better and weren’t acting entirely out of ignorance. It’s well known that mental illness wasn’t taken seriously back then—honestly, even in 2025, it still isn’t in many places outside a few first-world countries. And considering this was the late 1800s, that checks out.

But the short story, originally published in a literary magazine (or something similar), likely helped raise much-needed awareness at the time. Since it’s now considered a classic, I imagine it played a significant role in shifting how people perceive mental illness, pushing them to take it seriously rather than dismissing it as hysteria or mere sadness.

Overall, an enjoyable yet haunting read(listen).

A Haunting Descent into Madness!

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should have shot the husband. I can NOT stress this enough: cock the gun and gun his cock.

should have shot the husband

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I’ve got an orange wall myself that I wouldn’t mind tearing myself free from! #relatable

I get it

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