The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper

For whatever reason, this short novella has been mentioned many times in the last few weeks by fellow book lovers as being quite scary.  

I quite enjoyed it, but not because it was scary - but because of how true this could be, even in this day and age.  

Published in 1892, it is presented as a series of journal entries from a woman suffering from an illness.  It has been discussed that perhaps she is suffering from postpartum depression, but I honestly it could have been just been gaslight into depression.  

She is given care from her husband who happens to be a doctor, but the care is less caring and more 'patriarch knows best', keeping her from reading, writing, and family. When she attempts to rebuttal the effectiveness of her treatment, she is greeted with some more gaslighting about the treatment is working and she only feels that it isn't because that is a symptom of the sickness.  

Her descent into depression or madness or perhaps realizing the truth of her treatment, is explained through the connection the main character has with the nursesry wallpaper, her imposed prison while she recovers  

For me, the scariest part was how nearly 150 years later, a woman's mental health is still not much of a consideration.  Angry or frustrated outbursts are said to be because she is crazy or its her time of the month.  The mental load for a mother is generally greater than a father, yet woman are still more likely to die by the hands of their partners than many other causes.  Its scary because this could happen today.