Charlotte Perkins Gilman's first talent was painting. She was told by instructors that she held a natural gift and if she were to put her mind to it, she could paint anything as well as anyone on earth. However, this seemed to be a poor ambition to her and she rather set out to do something a little different. Her desire was to "improve the human race" and that is exactly what she did. She exposed readers of numerous generations to a piece of literature that is incomparable to other pieces of work written in the late nineteenth century. She raised issues concerning women's proper place in the modern American society. She became the focus of feminist controversy. On top of her great accomplishments, though, Charlotte Perkins Gilman lead a life filled with darkness for years. These tragic experiences offered her valuable lessons in which she used as stepping stones to continue her journey through life and accomplish what she desired. With a short summary and a detailed analysis of her autobiography The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, I will relate her true life experiences to the events that occurred in her short-fiction, "The Yellow Wallpaper," emphasizing on post-partum depression, the "rest cure" which was prescribed, and her overall ambivalence toward the male gender.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman lead an incredibly interesting life, from a childhood deprived of love and affection to being a prominent leader in feminist rallies. Her life was full of pain, agony, grief, and pressure, yet she still managed to rise to the top to fulfill the wishes, hopes, and dreams she had for herself and for the family she eventually came to love. As a child, Charlotte's mother stood up to her role as a caregiver and allowed her husband to leave the family for another wife as he pleased, thinking this decision would in turn, be beneficial to keeping the rest of the family together. However, her decision took a turn as Charlotte's mother elected to deny her all expression of affection in order to prevent Charlotte from longing for love as an adult; an attempt at preventing her from being hurt.