Episode 32: 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
First, an apology. I had promised to record The Yellow Wallpaper episodes ago, but I've been sidetracked for a couple of reasons. One is purely commercial. I have learned that the YouTube audience for audio horror crave novelty and that stories that haven't been readily available online draw higher views. As such, I've been reading widely and finding obscurities and curios - and these have jumped the queue while I try and grow the channel, diverting my attention from better-known stories. But since the podcast is the "Classic Horror Podcast" I ought to narrate some bona fide classics every so often - and The Yellow Wallpaper is in this category.
There is another reason, however, and that is that, maybe more than any other story I've so far covered, The Yellow Wallpaper is an important story, and a woman's story - and I confess to some hesitancy about whether I ought to tell it. In the end, I felt that were I to record it I should take particular care. I have heard numerous renditions of the story - some of which I felt either strayed too far into making the protagonist narrator (Jane) sound like a cartoon crazy person or didn't (in my opinion) draw out some of the nuances.
Anyway, those are my excuses for dragging my heels over recording this story after saying I was going to do it weeks ago.
Some words about the story:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper was first published in New England Magazine, 1892, caused a sensation from its first appearance. The passing of time, familiarity, not to mention its frequent inclusion in supernatural anthologies, might lead us to overlook how radical a work Gilman's story was, and is.
For The Yellow Wallpaper is open to multiple interpretations. It is a first-person descent into madness in which the imprisoned woman loses not only her sanity but her self, or it is a feminist assertion of empowerment as she steps out from behind the wallpaper and over her (fainted, immasculated) husband.
Although some have argued (tongue-in-cheek?) it is actually literally a diatribe against bad interior design, others a metaphor for so-called "yellow journalism", most commentators agree that it is a semi-autobiographical account of Gilman's personal experiences, undergoing treatment for postpartum depression from physician Silas Weir Mitchell (mentioned by name in the story). Mitchell's "rest cure" treatment for patients suffering mental disorders essentially amounted to sensory deprivation. Although Gilman was not separated from her baby, she was told to live as domestic a life as possible, and to restrain from pursuing creative activities - something that affected her badly. Indeed, Gilman sent the finished story to Dr. Mitchell, hoping that he might change his treatment of women with mental health, and was successful.
As it happens, we don't have to speculate about Gilman's motives for writing the story, because she explained it herself in a piece called, matter-of-factly enough, "Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper", published in 1913 and reproduced here.
That hasn't stopped "The Yellow Wallpaper" from being oft-anthologised in ghost and horror story collections, and nor did it stop me (ultimately) from including it on the Classic Horror Podcast. Introducing it in the 1988 anthology Haunted Women, Alan Ryan says: "Quite apart from its origins [it] is one of the finest, and strongest, tales of horror ever written. It may be a ghost story. Worse yet, it may not."
******
A brief note on the text used for my reading: towards the very end of the story, the narrator says:
“I’ve got out at last,” said I, “in spite of you and Jane! And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!”
I have seen (and heard) this line "corrected" to "in spite of you and Jennie", the assumption being that the original text misprinted "Jennie", the sister-in-law character who is looking after the narrator, as "Jane". I favour the theory that "Jane" is the narrator (it is Gilman's intention that we do not learn her name until the end because she has already lost her identity; her husband only addresses her by belittling pet-names). When she addresses Jane at the end it is an indication that she has become completely diassociated from herself.
******
Please support my work
Researching,
reading, re-reading, recording, mixing, uploading, promoting each of
these short story audio presentations takes many hours - possibly more
than you'd imagine. It is a labour of love and kind people have let me know how much they appreciate being able to listen.
If I have made your day or night more tolerable by soundtracking your commute or domestic chores, or just providing entertainment, please consider making a one-time donation or becoming a patron.
You can say thank you in the following ways:
One-off donation:
Music used : " Under The Bridge " composed and produced by "Vivek Abhishek" Music link : https://youtu.be/l1vJndV9hAU SUBSCRIBE us on YOUTUBE: https://bit.ly/3qumnPH Follow on Facebook : https://bit.ly/33RWRtP Follow on Instagram : https://bit.ly/2ImU2JV
Music used : " The Pain " composed and produced by "Vivek Abhishek" Music link :https://youtu.be/qR9MLS5yhWU SUBSCRIBE us on YOUTUBE: https://bit.ly/3qumnPH Follow on Facebook : https://bit.ly/33RWRtP Follow on Instagram : https://bit.ly/2ImU2JV
Music used : " The Tall Man " composed and produced by "Vivek Abhishek"
Music link : https://youtu.be/0pL8f59PmgM
SUBSCRIBE us on YOUTUBE: https://bit.ly/3qumnPH
Follow on Facebook : https://bit.ly/33RWRtP
Follow on Instagram : https://bit.ly/2ImU2JV
All sound effects sourced at Freesound.org
The recording was created using Audacity and BandLab. Podcast hosted by Anchor.
Comments
Post a Comment