Summary:
There are many elements in this story that can be analyzed to reveal that the woman in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman crosses from sanity to insanity because of her husband's theory and treatment for her "temporary nervous breakdown."
The Yellow Wallpaper
For centuries male dominance has existed, will it ever be equal? Are women in today's society subject to a modern "rest cure" theory by taking medications to "control" their "nervous breakdowns"" It's foolish to think that times have changed from Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" to today's society. Women are still living in the same male dominant world as in the short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper." The author presents a tragic story of a woman that suffers from what we can now identify as postpartum depression after the birth of her child and how she tries to regain her sanity from her well-intentioned husband that eventually drives her to her suicide. Gilman's story is parallel to that of the woman in "the Yellow Wallpaper," with the exception that she did heal herself by ignoring Mr. Mitchell's "rest cure" theory, which he later modifies only after reading this story. Perhaps the suicide ending in this story would have been an alternate ending for Gilman had she followed the "rest cure" theory. Perhaps in her struggle to free the woman behind the wallpaper, the woman in the story frees herself from her husband's demands and imprisonment.
The character in this story suffers from what her husband can only describe as a "temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency" and has been "forbidden to work" (p.590). As a result of this "temporary nervous depression," her husband takes her to a secluded estate that is away from the road and the nearest town. In his efforts to help her, he decided that it would be best to keep her locked upstairs in a room that is called a nursery, although it resembles a room for an insane person that was perhaps kept there once before. And although she disagreed with his ideas and believed that "congenial work, with excitement and change, would do her good" (p.590), there was not much she could say to him directly. John, her husband, a physician of "high standing" believed in facts and things he can touch and see. He "assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing wrong" (p.590) and manipulates the situation by making it seem that she is the one that is control.
When she talks about the house, she describes it as "the most beautiful place" (p591) although she hates her room. She elaborates about the wallpaper, which later becomes another character in the story, perhaps her split personality. She describes the wallpaper as "one of those sprawling, flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin" (p591) making it appears unattractive for a beautiful mansion and letting us know that she is sane at this time in the story. She goes on to say that "it is dull enough to confuse the eye," "constantly to irritate and provoke study" (p591) implying one could not help to look at it and wonder why would someone have picked such a color or design for a nursery. Although she would have preferred the room downstairs "that opened into the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings. John would not hear of it"(p.591), creating the effect that John is the one making the decisions and she will do as he says.
At this point in the story, it is indicative that he treats her more like a patient than his wife. We learn that he forbids her to write when she says talks about how writing made her tiresome "having to be so sly about it, or else met with heavy opposition" (p.590), signaling that she hid her writings from her husband. He laughs at her about the wallpaper, discounts her thoughts of renovating and refuses to make any changes she would like to make to her room, because it would be allowing her to make decisions and according to him she is in no position to make decisions. John does not allow her to care for the baby which is the number one reason she is ill and we know that this takes a toll on her when she states "And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous" (p.592), symbolizing that she is being kept away from her baby. John controls her diet and makes her take "cod liver oil and lots of tonics and things" (p.594), tells her when to sleep, when to exercise and mentally abuses her by convincing her that she is well and that it's all in her mind. John even goes to extremes by demeaning her when he refers to her as a "blessed little goose"(p.592) and "little girl" (p.595) as if she were incompetent to make any decisions on her own.
We can clearly see when the woman in the story crosses into insanity when she starts to describe the wallpaper pattern in more human terms, by giving it human characteristics such as committing suicide in some places, .".. - plunge off at outrageous angles, destroying themselves in unheard-of-contradictions" (p.591), "broken necks," and "bulbous eyes" (p.593). We can see that she even becomes delusional, because of her husband's imprisonment, when she mentions the "eyes" all over the pattern of wallpaper. How they stare at her without blinking, perhaps she feels this way since she is constantly being watched and controlled by John. She begins to obsess about the wallpaper more at night because of her insomnia. She notices different layers of the wallpaper and labels them "front" and "back" and sees a woman in the sub-pattern, possibly a reference to herself and how she's feeling at this time. She decides that the front pattern is the one that moves because "the woman behind shakes it" (p.597) as if it were her shaking the bars on her window in her room to be able to get out of her husband's prison. She states "nobody could climb through the pattern - it strangles so [ . . . ] They get through and then the pattern strangles them off and turns them upside down and makes their eyes white!"(p.597) insinuating that she is now thinking of suicide in order to escape her husband and his dominance over her.
There are many elements in this story that can be analyzed to reveal that the woman in "The Yellow Wallpaper" crosses from sanity to insanity because of her husband's theory and treatment for her "temporary nervous breakdown." The fact still remains . . . what is depression? How can we treat it? Is it treatable? How do we control it? These are the questions that are continuously being asked and women are still being studied and controlled by society to "help" cure the "disease" of postpartum depression. It seems like we've remained in the same controlling environment with medicines, treatment centers, nannies for the babies that can't be cared for by their mothers all with a modern day approach to help cure those from depressions and other mental illnesses.
This is the complete article, containing 1,152 words
(approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page).
