The Yellow Wallpaper: The Story that Changed How Women and Mental Illness Were Viewed

For a long period, those suffering from disorders were not given the most adequate treatments. In fact, it was believed that those with mental illnesses were possessed by demons or were accused of witchcraft because of their abnormal behavior (Comer, 2014). Later on new solutions for these illnesses rise. Those with mental disorders would either get operations called trephinations (Comer, 2014) or were locked away in a hospital, which is exactly what happened to the protagonist of this short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. However, the protagonist was not locked up away in a hospital, but she was locked up in a room in her house because of her husband, a physician, believed this would help “cure” her depression. Unfortunately, his treatment did not the way he expected. But recently, changes have been made, and breakthroughs in the cause and treatment of mental illness have been discovered. Unfortunately, these discoveries did not come soon enough for some. Luckily, psychologists have learned from the mistakes of doctors' treatments. Her husband diagnosed her with depression, therefore he should have encouraged her to go out and do activities she highly enjoys. It would have been great if he spent more time with her or surround her with her loved ones instead of having her

Secondly, not only does interior monologue give impact to Jane’s thoughts toward her situation and illness, but this point of view style gives unique insight into the relationships among Jane and the other characters, especially the those between Jane and her husband, John, and her sister-in-law, Jennie. At the beginning of Gilman’s story, the husband and wife relationship of Jane and John follows the pattern of the time with John taking the part of the dominant yet well-meaning husband, and Jane taking the part of the obedient wife. Except for her forbidden writing, Jane follows John’s treatment guidelines (326); however, throughout the story, the respect and obedience Jane exhibits toward John at the first start to deteriorate, and suspicion and resentment replace it. One example of this change is when Jane states, “John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious. I am glad that my case is not serious!” (327). Not only does her paranoia grow toward John, but also toward her sister-in-law, Jennie. The

Laurell K. Hamilton spoke in great words that, “there are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” Hamilton embodied a central state of mind of a person who is mentally ill. The wounds mentioned are those caused, and worsened, by traumatic events and public perception of a person with a mental illness. The women in the short stories that have been read embody an internal injury caused by an outward force. In “Story of an Hour”, “Rose for Emily”, and “Yellow Wallpaper” it is impactfully shown how traumatic life experiences can lead to and worsen mental illnesses.

First, the writings of her journal show that the narrator is not convinced with her “rest cure” treatment. Her writings depict that her husband, John, continuously belittles her condition and concerns while she knows that her illness is real and more severe than he

The unequal relationship between the narrator and John is a miniature of the larger gender inequity in society. Gilman makes it clear that much of John’s condescending and paternal behavior toward his wife has little to do with her illness. He dismisses her well-thought-out opinions and her “flights of fancy” with equal disdain, while he demeans her creative impulses. He speaks of her as he would a child, calling her his “little girl” and saying of her, “Bless her little heart.” He overrides her judgments on the best course of treatment for herself as he would on any issue, making her live in a house she does not like, in a room she detests, and in an isolated environment, which makes her unhappy and

Let us explore the first issue of her husband. It appears that she is always worried about what her husband is thinking. It is clear that John, her husband is a physician, but that he does not really believe in “mental disorders” which is clearly what she has going on. He does not let her go out in public,

The story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman reflects society's attitude and treatment of mental health issues in the late 1800s. As the story begins, the narrator chronicles her mental health deterioration after the birth of her baby. Her writings reflect her husband’s attitude about her condition, which represents society’s ignorance of women’s medical issues. As the story progresses, the wallpaper itself becomes personified as a prison warden, who oppresses her freedom. As the narrator peels away the wallpaper, Gilman uses setting and imagery to draw readers into the narrator’s world of confusion, anxiety, and depression to share her experience with what we now know to be post-partum depression (PPD).

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story written by the American feminist and author Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The story was first published in January 1892 in the New England Magazine and is credited with being one of the first books to talk about mental health issues within females. In 1887, Gilman after battling with depression for a number of years decided to see Silas Weir Mitchell, a well respected physician at the time. Writing it off as another female feigning illness Mitchell prescribed her with the treatment that was all the rage this century called the “rest cure”. Normally prescribed to women, the “rest cure” put the patient in a sort of solitary confinement; prohibiting any type of unnecessary human contact. Following the doctor’s

The acceptance of gender role by both the characters puts John in a place where his misrecognition of the narrator’s requirements makes him the villain of the story. John and the narrator have accepted the “normal” of the society like the fetishizing of women as an ignorant child, husband as the decision maker in a marriage and the conventional ideals of “reputable wife.” The narrator’s intention to keep her journal hidden is the cause of the expectations of society to treat literacy for women as a luxury which allows John to think writing to be useless for the narrator (a homemaker), and is rather laborious in a rest cure which he thinks to be necessary for the wellbeing of the narrator. The narrator’s mental illness grows without an understanding

The wife is the main focus in this story and as the story continues she begins to realize that her sickness results from her controlling husband. She learns that John is crippling her health and understands his reasoning behind why he chose the “nursery” to place her in. The wife is a dynamic character who gains insight as the story progresses. In the beginning of the wife’s diagnosis, her husband forbids her from working until she is well again. The wife writes in her journal, “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change would do me good” (489). This begins a trend of the wife’s disagreement with him. Instead of listening to John’s “professional” advice, she challenges his statement within the safety of her journal. The journal is a way to express herself freely, although John believes it does her more harm than good. The wife continues to write proclaiming “John would think it absurd. But I must say (write) what I feel and think in some way- it is such a relief” (494)!

Approximately 8-12% of new mother’s experience post-partum depression, which is showcased in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Subsequently, this often led to treatments which were really not treatments at all, like the rest cure and confinement in general. In Gilman’s short story, we experience the consequences of the rest cure, confinement, and the general idea that a woman’s husband knew best. The narrator goes on a very dark and twisted journey throughout the story, based on being relocated for the summer by her husband, John. Despite the fact that the physical journey she experiences is supposed to better her mental health, the isolation she feels, the fact that her husband was never around and did not take her seriously, and finally because of the negative feelings that she harbours towards the bedroom chosen for her, it actually aids the path she forges into madness.

Although, I knew while reading that the Yellow Wall-paper was written in 1892, a period where women were oppressed and where little was known about woman mental illness and their treatments, my first feeling was anger toward the significant others (brother and husband) of the narrator because they did not believe she was sick, and they did not provide the right kind of treatment for her illness. Instead of being supportive and caring, her significant others especially her husband were absent and were not listening when she wanted to talk about her family. After anger, what I felt was compassion for the husband. Like I said in the beginning, the story was happening in a society where men had total supremacy, and this was probably how they were

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story set in a 19th century colonial mansion, in which the narrator and her husband stay for the summer. The narrator, who is unnamed, is undergoing a rest cure for some kind of mental illness after giving birth. This mental illness is now known as postpartum depression. Rest cure involves doing absolutely nothing and this triggered the further deterioration of the narrator’s mental health. Her husband, John, monitors her condition while they stay in the mansion. She is confined in a room— supposedly a nursery room— with barred windows and scratches on the floor. The most noticeable feature of the room by the narrator is the yellow wallpaper. Each day, her description of the yellow wallpaper becomes more disturbing; from being just plain wallpaper to being a prison cell for trapped women, shaking the bars, wanting to be free from it. Instead of getting well from the rest cure, the narrator’s mental state worsened as what is depicted in her journal entries. She eventually goes mad and her husband fainted from the sight of her condition.

The narrator’s husband john not only plays the role of her partner but also is her doctor. John is the authoritative in the house and thinks he know what’s best for his wife and disregards her opinions and thoughts. Because john belittles and ignores his wife her postpartum depression goes untreated and turns into psychosis. at the ending of the story he actions showed that it was too late, the narrator said “Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time!”. She didn’t recognize her husband and he husband fainted in shock of not knowing who she is anymore.

In “The Yellow Wallpaper” story, the theme is mental illness. The woman in this story clearly is suffering from some sort of mental illness such as post part-partum depression and hysterical tendencies. Which can turn into something much more serious if someone does not intervene and get her some the help she really needs. However, they felt it was the right way to handle it at the time because they were following the old therapy treatment called “rest cure.” You watch her slowly go out her mind. Meanwhile she thinks her husband is taking perfect care of her. It seems like John was purely controlling her and prescribing her things that she probably did not really need. It was like he was making her