Book appreciation: The Yellow Wallpaper - feminist parable a masterpiece
It is hard to miss the unsettling undertones in narrator Jane's description of life with husband John in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's work, yet at first theirs seems a marriage of touching concern and devotion.
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The New England Magazine
The first mention of yellow, besides the title, in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's feminist parable The Yellow Wallpaper occurs as an early exclamation of aesthetic disgust.
Our narrator, Jane, describes how she and her husband, John, have moved to an "ancestral hall", before noting that the room he has chosen for her is wallpapered with "one of those sprawling flamboyant patterns … and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide - plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves".
It is hard to miss the unsettling undertones: "commit suicide … destroy". Jane's revulsion rises to the surface: "The colour is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering, unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight."
Yet, at first, this seems a marriage of touching concern and spousal devotion. We learn Jane has been unwell: "Temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency - what is one to do?" she asks breezily. John has taken the situation, and Jane, in hand. "He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction … I have a schedule prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more."