#Saturday_ShortStory-1 {The Yellow Wallpaper}

 HEY GUYS !!

Welcome to my first edition of Saturday Short Story. There are two reasons to do this on Saturday: [1] short stories that I'm going to recommend are thoughtful and requires deep understanding to like it, therefore you'll have have plenty of time to do that {pretty thoughtful idea too, right?}, and [2] the initials are same, i.e., SSS {pretty simple}. So, these two reasons made me do these posts on Saturdays.

Most of the stories are going to be classics because I think they are the BEST when it comes to short stories. But there is one more advantage to it {guess what?}, they are available for FREE most of the time. I'll link them down below whenever it is.

Along with short stories, this edition may sometimes contain novellas {is there a difference mm...I think so} and articles recommendations, so pretty much everything that some or the others like. I hope you enjoy this and if you do, please let me know or else I'll think its a flop idea.

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Today, I'll start with my most favorite one which is THE YELLOW WALLPAPER.   

Book: The Yellow Wallpaper
Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Genre: Feminism, Classics, Horror Fiction
Published in: 1892

"You think you have mastered it, but just as you get well underway in following, it turns a back somersault and there you are. It slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you. It is like a bad dream."

This exceptional and sometimes referred as Gothic piece of writing by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is about a woman who, after giving birth to a child, is weak both physically and mentally, She has been prescribed to take rest by her husband who is a physician.

They are living in an old mansion while their house is under renovation. Our main character, Jane {but mostly unnamed} finds herself in a room, with a yellow wallpaper on one side, which disturbs her a lot.

The story is themed on how a male dominated society suppresses women in all areas of life, whether professional or societal. Jane's husband prevented her from meeting anyone and writing anything, with the fear that this could turn into the fate of male dominated society.

 At first, the "pale" color and "yellow" smell of the wallpaper starts frustrating her. It seemed like its unusual patterns had something to say.Then she turns on to see different patterns in the old wallpaper of her room. She started trying to figure out the meaning of this. Eventually, she became obsessed with seeing the wallpaper all day and night and trying to find out the mystery behind it.

The story is written in first person with the perspective of Jane. Through Gilman's beautiful and captivating writing style we can feel how she is struggling with her mind. The psychological condition of a woman when she is confined by her very own is a bitter reality which is very well written in the form of this beautiful and sometimes intensely creepy story.

The story is a result of Gilman's own experience as a patient: "the real purpose of the story was to reach Dr S. Weir Mitchell, and convince him of the error of his ways". She had suffered years of depression and consulted a well-known specialist physician who prescribed a "rest cure" which required her to "live as domestic a life as possible". She was forbidden to touch pen, pencil, or brush, and was allowed only two hours of mental stimulation a day. 

She added that "The Yellow Wallpaper" was "not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy, and it worked". 

There have been a lot of interpretations made out of this short story which makes it even more incredible. You can read them here. All in all this is a must read short story which is powerful and leaves a deep impact every time you read it.

I read this book for free here.