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1. What was Gilman's childhood like?

Gilman had a tumultuous childhood. After her birth, she and her mother were abandoned by her father. Thereafter, Gilman's mother struggled to raise her daughter on her own. They moved nineteen times in eighteen years, and lived in fourteen different cities.

2. What spurred Gilman to leave her first marriage?

After the birth of her first daughter, Gilman apparently suffered from postpartum depression complicated by her unhappy marriage and the lingering effects of her difficult childhood. To recuperate, Gilman was forced to undergo a "rest cure" which prohibited her from writing and reading. Gilman decided to flee from this situation, and headed for California, leaving her marriage and daughter behind.

3. What was the theme of Gilman's work, "The Yellow Wallpaper"?

In "The Yellow Wallpaper", Gilman told the story of the damage a loving husband causes his wife by following misguided medical advice and imposing a rest cure.

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