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The main character in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a young, feeble woman, who is loved, yet repressed, by her husband, John. In response to John’s unchallengeable request that she rest in seclusion in order for her to recuperate from an undiagnosed illness, she begins to illustrate signs of insanity. Being left alone in a large, airy bedroom, occupying most of the top floor of an old colonial mansion, leaves her …

…to soon discover that secret. The perceived success of keeping secret her new discovery leads her to a false sense of superiority, a superiority that existed solely in her mind. So remember this the next time you find yourself staring thoughtlessly at a pattern on the floor, on a piece of furniture, or even on the surface of a lake. Just ask yourself, “Did I really see something move—or am I just going crazy?”