DESN 317 | Publication Design

Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892, this semi-autobiographical short story delves into the experience of a woman enduring postpartum depression.

Confined to a room adorned with ugly yellow wallpaper, she descends into psychosis, envisioning women trapped within its patterns. As her delusions intensify, she tears away the wallpaper in an attempt to free them, symbolizing her own struggle to free herself from the oppressive patriarchal society and her own mental confinement, as the second last line of the book reads, "I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!"

The cover artwork features a woman’s figure trappen in the torn wallpaper. The hand-drawn “ugly, yellow wallpaper” pattern, accented with circular forms, symbolizes the “absurd, unblinking eyes” that she sees within the pattern.