"I used to lie awake as a child and get more entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture than most children could find in a toystore."

This book has a collection of 7 short stories written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a utopian feminist author who inspired future generations of feminists with her works and lifestyle. All of the stories in this book share a common theme, having central female characters fighting against gender norms in some way. We delve into the minds of these women, who live under the confines of gender roles placed upon them during a relatively conservative time. Knowing the period these stories were written in, mainly during the late 19th century and early 20th century, makes them refreshing female centered classic reads.

I surprisingly enjoyed the other stories more than I enjoyed The Yellow Wallpaper, even though it does a good job in delving into the mind of a troubled woman who is being smothered by her over-attentive husband. The ending of that story, though an excellent representation of a woman desperately wanting to escape the confines society places her in, felt a little anti-climatic, though that is based on my own personal taste. The remaining stories go deeper into showing the reader the society a late 19th century woman had to deal with.

“I am, unfortunately, one of those much-berated New England women who have learned to think as well as feel; and to me, at least, marriage means more than a union of hearts and bodies--it must mean minds, too.”

The women in these stories defy the limitations they've been assigned at birth. They're restless, longing to get out of the golden cage of patriarchal society. I say golden since most of the women we happen to see in these stories live relatively privileged lives, with stable and even outlandish homes, servants tending to their needs and husbands eager to please. However, buried beneath that flowery surface, we see the toxicity of patriarchal society, placing women under the role of housekeepers and caretakers, with the assumption that they do not possess the intellectual capabilities men do, hence surely unable to work.

“The real danger,” began the Rev. Alfred Smythe, the new Episcopal clergyman, a thin, nervous, tall man with a face several centuries behind the times, “is that they will overstep the limits of their God-appointed sphere.” “Their natural limits ought to hold ’em, I think,” said cheerful Dr. Jones. “You can’t get around physiology, I tell you.”

The women in these stories are fighters. They refuse to submit to these toxic expectations and sow the seeds of their own success. It's refreshing to read, since we get to see many triumphs these women achieve, from being able to pay for their own houses by starting their own businesses, to being able to break away from the centuries-long imposed expectation of running the kitchen of the household and many other victories the author writes in a very flowery, easy to read and pleasant style. The writing technique is another aspect I enjoyed in these stories. The words flow smoothly, there's a calmness and serenity to the atmosphere Charlotte Perkins Gilman creates with her writing style, akin to a pleasant meadow and a warm spring morning.

“Women are pretty much people, seems to me. I know they dress like fools—but who’s to blame for that? We invent all those idiotic hats of theirs, and design their crazy fashions, and, what’s more, if a woman is courageous enough to wear common-sense clothes—and shoes—which of us wants to dance with her? “Yes, we blame them for grafting on us, but are we willing to let our wives work? We are not. It hurts our pride, that’s all. We are always criticizing them for making mercenary marriages, but what do we call a girl who marries a chump with no money? Just a poor fool, that’s all. And they know it. “As for Mother Eve—I wasn’t there and can’t deny the story, but I will say this. If she brought evil into the world, we men have had the lion’s share of keeping it going ever since—how about that?”

Finally, it's worth mentioning that the author does a good job in showing how this patriarchal system not only harms women, but also the men who are expected to fulfill a social role even if it's not their calling to do so. We see instances where men resent having to deal with the expectations society places on them. These strictly defined gender roles will only truly keep one happy if they surrender their own personal wishes and desires to be the ideal "man" or "woman" their peers demand of them to be. Another possibility is if someone is born with a natural predisposition to shine and blossom under these predetermined social roles, but my personal guess is that we are all forced to dim the light of our individuality at least for a little amount (if we're very "lucky") to fit into this ridiculous puzzle.

“Why not? Why not be your own man for once in your life—do what you want to—not what other people want you to?”

I will be giving this book an overall 3.5 star rating, since it is a collection of several stories and some I did enjoy more than others, though there wasn't any story I thought was bad. Some might be a bit duller than others, according to your personal taste, but each story contains a valuable message we as human beings not only needed to hear back then, but even now.

Give this short story collection a read, perhaps with a cup of tea on the side if that goes well with your taste. I believe it will most likely be a pleasant experience!