the yellow wallpaper

Berenji, Fahimeh Q. "Time and Gender in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”." Journal of History Culture and Art Research, vol. 2, no. 2, 1 Jan. 2013, pp. 221-234, Database: MLA International Bibliography -- Publications. kutaksam.karabuk.edu.tr/index.php. Accessed 18 Nov. 2017.

She has been trained to trust in her husband blindly and sees no other way. He calls her “little girl” (352) and “little goose” (349) and states “She will be as sick as she pleases!” (352) whenever she tries to express her issues. Instead of fighting for what she thinks will make her better she accepts it and keeps pushing her feelings aside, while he treats her like a child. We get an instant feel for her problem in the first page when she says, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that” (pg 346). A woman shouldn’t expect her husband to laugh at her concerns. Even after briefly writing about her condition she remembers her husband telling her the very worst thing she can do is think about it and follows his instructions. This is when she begins to focus on the house instead of her problems and the obsession with the wallpaper starts. She has nothing else to think about alone in the home; they don’t even allow her to write, which she has to do in secret.

In the 19th century, mental illness was an uncommon issue to be discussed. The public would treat the illness only by avoiding the matter and forcing the sick to feel helpless. At that time, the medical profession had not yet distinguished between diseases of the mind and diseases of the brain. Neurologists such as Dr. Silas Mitchell treated the problems that would now be treated by psychiatrists, such as depression. The most accepted cure was Mitchell's “Rest Cure,” which required complete isolation from family and friends. It forbid any type of mental or physical energy, and required total bed rest. The harsh results of the “Rest Cure” are easily seen in the story titled “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by

She started looking at the room as if it was a mental prison and there were no escape “There are things in the wallpaper that nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape only very numerous. And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I don’t like it a bit. I wonder- I begin to think- I wish John would take me away from here!” (Schilb and Clifford 238). The author began seeing an image in the wallpaper of a woman trying to escape from the wallpaper and be free “The front pattern does move- and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it!” (Schilb and Clifford 241). The quotes are showing that the narrator has completely lost her mind as she is unstable mentally to realize what real or not. Another quote shows how stable her conditions are “I’m feeling ever so much better! I don’t sleep much at night, for it is so interesting to watch developments (Schilb and Clifford 240). This is psychologically unhealthy for the protagonist, showing how she went from being a well stable lady to an insane

She would write about everything that happened not to read it later but so she was more relaxed and could think a little clearer with whatever she wrote not in her mind. The whole story is her journal and she writes mostly about the wallpaper and how her husband is always gone. This journal idea is essential because we know what she is thinking and that really helps understand the story and her character better. Also, in order for her to forget about her surroundings she studies the wallpaper. This method, not unlike her husbands, just shows that she is avoiding the problem as well. She spends hours on end following the pattern of the wallpaper. The curves and patterns that go along it mystify her. This is avoidance from the obstacle at hand and she doesn't deal with them directly sometimes. However, unlike John, she always wanted to talk about her condition and other problems that they had. Her problem was when he just avoided the problem she just let it be when she should have persisted. Also, if she has an obstacle to get around, she focuses on that obstacle until she can clear it. This is shown with the lady in the wallpaper. All she thought about was the lady and how she could get her free from the wallpaper. She spent days plotting how to do so. And she persisted on it until the task at hand was completed. So although she has some traits that are the same as John's when dealing with obstacles, she also has some

She begins to fixate on the yellow wallpaper that coats the walls of their room. She hates this wallpaper, specifically stating, “I never saw a worse paper in my life” (Gilman, 1892). However, over time she slowly begins to see herself in the wallpaper. She is living a life where she feels trapped; something is wrong with her and every time she tries to talk to her husband about it he tells her it is all in her head. She wants to get out, she wants to feel better, but her thoughts begin to take her into a deep downward spiral. She believes she is the one stuck behind the wallpaper and that those around her put her back in every night, “I’ve got out at last, said I, in spite of you and Jane! And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!” (Gilman, 1892). Her husband faints because at last he finally sees just how sick his wife really is (Gilman,

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the story revolves around a woman who is presumably sick. Her illness is an obvious reason for her containment, and her daily interactions are limited to a few people who take care of her. Given this kind of environment, our protagonist proceeds to find a way to escape. She does not want to be locked in. She does not want to be confined.

John disregards the woman’s claim of sickness as a “temporary nervous depression- a slight hysterical tendency” (Gilman 655). His cure is for her to do nothing. Little by little he is taking away her freedom. He does not let her socialize or take care of her child. John ends the woman’s household duties by bringing in his sister, Jennie, to be the housekeeper. The woman is only allowed to lie down and eat lots of cod liver oil and tonics. When the woman asks John if he would take her away from the house, especially the wallpaper, he says that there is nothing wrong. He believes that her mind just has false and foolish fancies.

The first sentence of “The Yellow Wallpaper” gives insight to the setting of the story and essential

She could not do anything that her husband has said not to do. The narrator continues to write even though her husband has forbidden her to do so; however she has to hides the fact that she is writing again. The control that John has over his wife makes her feel as if she has been imprisoned; she has no say over her own thoughts and actions. Gilman use of symbolism in this next passage helps to shows the control that the husband has over the narrator is something that is considered normal for their time. “It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” was essentially a

In the short story “The Yellow Wall-Paper” the author Charlotte Perkins Gilman displays the central idea that no one can really know how it feels to be trapped in a way, but it can quickly happen to anyone. The story would be seen through a first person narrator point of view through the narrator whose name is never actually stated in the story other than in a quote at the end of the story where she says “ I’ve got out at last despite you and Jane”, it is believed that Jane is the narrator. Jane’s husband John is seen as the antagonist as his treatments on Jane to attempt and help her go very wrong. A large mansion, which the couple rent for a summer vacation will be the physical setting, the older style of the mansion is shown when they speak of the old wood floors and ancestor hall. The story also features three different views of conflict, one view that she has with herself, one which she will experience with her husband, John, and one that she experiences between herself and society.

She goes to the nursery, doesn’t go to work, and doesn’t write near John because she says “he hates to have me write a word.” (Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper, 675). Throughout the book, the narrator is walking on ‘eggshells’ and trying to avoid starting conflict with John. During the story she

This passage, if not the whole story, attempts argue against the mental health treatment that the narrator endured. John, a physician and husband to the narrator, believes little to nothing is wrong with his wife, and believes a summer escape to this house will do her “temporary nervous depression” much good. The narrator is in very curious position of double subordination by being both the wife and patient to John. The fact that her own brother is also a physician and reinforces what John is trying to treat her with does not help her situation much at all.

John’s sister is the exemplary woman; one who is pleased with her life, and wishes for no more. John’s wife, however, is revolting on her place in society by writing. This is why she includes the statement “I verily believe …… makes me sick!” (Gilman).