Is "The Yellow Wallpaper" crime fiction? If yes, what was the crime?

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is not an example of crime fiction or a crime story.

First, one should note that crime fiction is a genre defined by far more than the simple occurrence of a crime. Although crimes occur in many novels and plays, including Crime and Punishment, Oedipus Rex, and Hamlet, these are not considered crime stories because the main focus of the stories is not on the crime itself or...

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is not an example of crime fiction or a crime story.

First, one should note that crime fiction is a genre defined by far more than the simple occurrence of a crime. Although crimes occur in many novels and plays, including Crime and Punishment, Oedipus Rex, and Hamlet, these are not considered crime stories because the main focus of the stories is not on the crime itself or its solution, but on the characters and society being portrayed, whereas in crime fiction, such as the stories about Sherlock Holmes, the focus is purely on the crime and its solution. Also, crime fiction is by its nature plot-driven. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a character-driven story focusing on the mental deterioration of the protagonist, not action.

Next, there is no evidence of a crime. While the rest cure imposed on the protagonist is barbaric by our standards of mental health care, it was actually quite expensive (somewhat of a sacrifice for the family) and considered humane in its period. The protagonist's imagining a woman trapped behind the wallpaper is a hallucination that also serves as a metaphor for the protagonist's own state of mind, not some actual Gothic horror.