Written with barely controlled fury after she was confined to her room for "nerves" and forbidden to write, Gilman's pioneering feminist horror story scandalized 19th-century readers with its portrayal of a woman who loses her mind because she has literally nothing to do.

作家吉尔曼（Gilman）因抑郁症而被关在房间里并被禁止写作之后，极力控制住愤怒写下了这篇开创性的女性主义恐怖故事。这篇小说在19世纪引起了震动，描写了一个因禁锢而精神崩溃的女人。