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William Dean Howells, 1875
William Dean Howells, a prominent
author and critic who became an
ardent fan of Charlotte's work,
sent the story to his friend,
Horace E. Scudder, for publication in
The Atlantic Monthly.
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“It was not intended
to drive people crazy
but to save people
from being driven
crazy, and it worked.”
Gilman, The Forerunner 1913
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Courtesy Special Collections, Fine Arts Library, Harvard College Library
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Letter of rejection from the editor of
The Atlantic Monthly, 1890
Scudder rejected the piece outright. Instead,
“The Yellow Wall-Paper” was published more
than a year after it was written, in The New
England Magazine, in January 1892. Readers
were intrigued and disturbed. In a letter to the
editor, a respondent signing off only as “M. D.” described the piece as sensational and morbidly fascinating, and questioned if such literature
should even be permitted in print.
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Courtesy Schlesinger Library,
Radcliffe Institute,
Harvard University |
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Charlotte reading in her library,
ca. 1900
Charlotte argued that the story was
beneficial, not dangerous, and suggested
the letter must have been written by a physician, (an M.D.), who only criticized
the tale because of its negative
representation of the medical profession. |
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“Perilous Stuff”
Reader's response, 1892
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Courtesy Schlesinger Library,
Radcliffe Institute,
Harvard University
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“Why I Wrote ‘The Yellow
Wallpaper’,” The Forerunner,
Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
October 1913
Courtesy Schlesinger Library,
Radcliffe Institute,
Harvard University |
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“Perilous Stuff,”
Boston Evening Transcript,
April 8, 1892
Courtesy Library of Congress
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