The Yellow Wallpaper

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a classic novella by American author Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Set in the late 19th century, the story revolves around a female narrator who is struggling with what is then diagnosed as "nervous depression" or "hysteria." Her husband, who is also her physician, prescribes her the "rest cure," a common treatment at the time. As part of this treatment, the narrator is confined to a single room in their summer house, isolated from the outside world, and forbidden from any form of activity. The only stimulus she has is the room's yellow wallpaper, which she becomes increasingly fixated upon.