:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/7WXAIU3YRVBPLKWI434LZL2Q7Y.jpg "“The Yellow Wallpaper”, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: a vibrant feminist story republished in Spanish")
Originally published in 1892, this story had its first readers through a literary review in which, periodically, a new passage appeared that delighted readers, through diary entries. his author, Charlotte Perkins GilmanAmerican, feminist, restless, draws on her own experiences to tell this story of a woman’s descent into madness after giving birth.
Told in the first person “Yellow Wallpaper”title published in Spanish by the publisher Alpha decayis a cry of claim, as the writer also pointed out at the time Maggie O’farrell. “The demand to be heard, to be understood, to be recognized (…) The only thing we can do is listen.”
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This is the story of a woman who has just given birth. John, her husband, is a doctor and hasn’t enjoyed a good reputation lately due to his apparent lack of ethics. Faced with the strong emotions she feels, she decides to isolate him in an old colonial-style farm for the summer.
John orders the young woman to rest and make no effort, but she, reclusive in her room, begins to give in to madness. On the walls, there is a series of drawings that begin to attract his attention. At first it’s just that, something to watch out for, then it becomes an obsession.
Painted in a suffocating yellow, the images invade the mind of the young woman and do not leave her alone. Does this all have to do with your experience of giving birth to your child? Is it just your imagination?
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The plot delves into the treatments women of the time received for any mental disorder or illness. The peculiarity of the protagonist of this novel is the reflection of an episode of postpartum depression. From the first page, the author is completely immersed in the fragmented thoughts of this woman, taking readers deeper into her psyche.
The protagonist’s angst and obsession merge with the narrative rhythm of the story, and the reader experiences firsthand every sensation, every discomfort. the prose of Perkins Gilman it’s so clear and flowing that it’s welcoming from start to finish. The “Yellow Wallpaper” It is a disturbing tale of the decline of the spirit when it is violated.
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“He tells me that we have come here only for me, so that I can be at absolute rest and get as much air as possible. “My darling, your activity will depend on the energy you have, he says, and , in a way, what you eat will depend on your appetite, but the air you can absorb all you want.” So we settled in the children’s room, on the top floor. It’s a room large and spacious that occupies practically the entire floor, with windows facing in all directions, very bright and well ventilated I would say that it was first a children’s room, then a playroom and a bathroom sport, because there are bars on the windows for small children, and on the walls there are rings and other objects.From the paint and the paper, it looks like it used to be a school. Above the head of the bed the wallpaper is torn in large pieces as far as I can reach, and also at another end of the room. this, in a wide area along the ground. I had never seen such a horrible role in my life” – (Fragment).
There are barely 96 pages that make up the Spanish edition of this piece, which is accompanied by other good stories by the author, a faithful example of the transgression of the pen of Perkins Gilmanan author who dared, with her prose, to challenge the conventions of her time and the role occupied by women.
Considered by some to be a story, this story was written at the time by the author with the aim of exposing the treatment she received from doctors after a traumatic childbirth. The story, intense in its format, is a diary, grabbing readers’ attention in a very short time. It quickly became a cult work.
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