Sliding Towards Madness in Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” relays to the reader something more than a simple story of a woman at the mercy of the limited medical knowledge in the late 1800’s. Gilman creates a character that expresses real emotions and a psyche that can be examined in the context of modern understanding. “The Yellow Wallpaper,” written in first person and first published in 1892 in the January edition of the New England Magazine, depicts the downward spiral of depression, loss of control and competence, and feelings of worthlessness which lead to greater depression and the possibility of sc