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.

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.

The arabesque pattern of the yellow wallpaper in the novel symbolizes both a barrier, where the male-dominated society entraps the narrator’s creativity, as well as the many societal roles that women are supposed to take on that provided no end or shelter for the narrator’s mental health.

Every request the woman in the story has made to her husband has been dismissed and her depression continues to worsen because she has lost control of her own life. John fails to understand how it feels for his wife to be trapped in her room all day. “He forces his wife into a daily confinement by four walls whose paper, described as ‘debased Romanesque,’ is an omnipresent figuring of the

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.

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,

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

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 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.

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

The yellow wallpaper is a story about John and his wife who he keeps locked up due to her "nervous condition" of anxiety. John diagnoses her as sick and has his own remedy to cure her. His remedy s to keep her inside and deterring her from almost all activities. She is not allowed to write, make decisions on her own, or interact with the outside world. John claims that her condition is improving but she knows that it is not. She eats almost nothing all day and when it is suppertime she eats a normal meal. John sees this and proclaims her appetite is improving. Later in the story, the woman creates something of an imaginary friend trapped behind the horrible looking yellow wallpaper in

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

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).

The geographic setting of "The Yellow Wallpaper" adds irony between what the main character does and the connotation you get when you