A physician, attempting to treat his young wife’s postpartum depression, confines her to a single room in an old mansion he’s rented for the summer. Isolated from others, including her child, and forbidden from any activity, she becomes fixated on the room's hideous yellow wallpaper. This oppressive wallpaper grows into a projection screen for her fears, frustrations, and the anxieties of her forced isolation.

The chamber opera The Yellow Wallpaper, inspired by Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s iconic short story, delves into feminist themes that have resonated since its 1891 publication. Gilman’s narrative critiques the patriarchal limitations imposed on women, embodied by the husband-doctor’s authority, whose treatment conflicts with her needs. The wallpaper’s layered symbolism suggests both confinement within societal roles and a glimpse of a world where women can live freely.

The Yellow Wallpaper was commissioned by The Opera Story.