The Yellow Wallpaper

The narrator and her physician husband, John, have rented a mansion for the summer so that she can recuperate from a "slight hysterical tendency." Although the narrator does not believe that she is actually ill, John is convinced that she is suffering from "neurasthenia" and prescribes the "rest cure" treatment. She is confined to bed rest in a former nursery room and is forbidden from working or writing. The spacious, sunlit room has yellow wallpaper stripped off in two places with a hideous, chaotic pattern. The narrator detests the wallpaper, but John refuses to change rooms, arguing that the nursery is best-suited for her recovery.

Two weeks later, the narrator's condition has worsened. She feels a constant sense of anxiety and fatigue and can barely muster enough energy to write in her secret journal. Fortunately, their nanny, Mary, takes care of their baby, and John's sister, Jennie, is a perfect housekeeper. The narrator's irritation with the wallpaper grows; she discovers a recurring pattern of bulbous eyes and broken necks, as well as the faint image of a skulking figure stuck behind the pattern.

Dettagli