Isolating the sick is only necessary if the ailing is contagious. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the isolation of Jennie was the major foundation of her illness. If Jennie was surrounded by loved ones, she would feel their love and be encouraged to get stronger. By being isolated from family and friends Jennie slips into her abandoned, bleak thoughts. Her only way to express herself was through writing on “dead paper” in her journal. Those words alone should have been a warning signal. When one is sick they should be able to talk about it freely, articulate what they are going through, and vent their emotions out loud. Jennie should not have been isolating her thoughts to “dead paper.” Jennie’s husband …show more content…
Keeping a mentally ill person away from the ones she cares about is not helping her, it is avoiding the problem. Recently, Disney released a movie which helps prove that isolation is not a treatment. A princess named Elsa, in Disney’s Frozen, is born with the powers to create ice and snow. Soon she accidently harms her sister with her powers. Elsa is quickly sent into the loneliness of her bedroom, which she once shared with her sister. The isolation hurt her relationship with her sister and they quickly drifted apart. Elsa never got the chance to learn how to control her powers in public, due to her confinement. Jennie is locked away with only one companion, her distracting and ever present crazy thoughts. She is “encouraged to exercise “self-control” and avoid expressing negative thoughts and fears about her illness” the same requests were placed on Elsa and her powers. Elsa was told to “conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know” about her special powers the same as Jennie is concealed to isolation, and told to not feel the pain of her illness. Jennie is never given the chance to prove that she could control herself around others. It is hard to prove that one is harmless to be around if no one is allowed to get close to them. The isolation of Jennie and Elsa was wrong and only led to more problems. Jennie and Elsa were only ever given one option of healing, isolation. As a result of Jennie’s isolation, her life once known by her and her loved
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s "The Yellow Wall-Paper," does more than just tell the story of a woman who suffers at the hands of 19th century quack medicine. Gilman created a protagonist with real emotions and a real psych that can be examined and analyzed in the context of modern psychology. In fact, to understand the psychology of the unnamed protagonist is to be well on the way to understanding the story itself. "The Yellow Wall-Paper," written in first-person narrative, charts the psychological state of the protagonist as she slowly deteriorates into schizophrenia (a disintegration of the personality).
In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins describes the story of a woman suffering from a mental illness during the 19th century. The protagonist (an unknown narrator) is a wife and mother suffering from postpartum depression. Her husband John, who is also her doctor, diagnosed her with hysteria and he decided to move away with her to start a “rest cure,” at a mansion, isolated from the village. The narrator was powerless against her husband, and he had the authority of determining what she does, who she sees, and where she goes while she recovers from her illness. Throughout the story, the author used stylistic elements, such as strong symbolism, to show how the mental state of the narrator slowly deteriorates and ends
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a story told from the first person point of view of a doctor's wife who has nervous condition. The first person standpoint gives the reader access only to the woman’s thoughts, and thus, is limited. The limited viewpoint of this story helps the reader to experience a feeling of isolation, just as the wife feels throughout the story. The point of view is also limited in that the story takes places in the present, and as a result the wife has no benefit of hindsight, and is never able to actually see that the men in her life are part of the reason she never gets well. This paper will discuss how Gilman’s choice of point of
“The Yellow Wallpaper” a short story about a mentally ill women,written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman at age 32, in 1892 is a story with a hidden meaning and many truths. Charlotte Perkins Gilman coincidentally also had a mental illness and developed cancer leading her to kill herself in the sixties. The story begins with Jane, the mentally ill woman who feels a bit distressed, and although both of the well respected men in her life are physicians she is put simply on a “rest cure”. This rest cure as well as many symbols such as the Yellow Wallpaper, her journal, and her inevitable breakdown are prime examples of the typical life of a woman in this time period and their suppressed lives that they lived even with something as serious as a
As human beings, we play the cards that are dealt to us in this world. In life, every person goes through their individual ups and downs and occasionally may break down to the extent of not knowing what to do with oneself. In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” which takes place in the late 1800s, focuses on the first person narrator who is an infatuated woman. The disheartening story concentrates on a woman who is suffering from postpartum depression, and as well had mental breakdowns. The narrators husband John, moves her into a home isolated in the country where he wants her to “rest” and get better from her illness. During the course of being confined in the room with the wallpaper, she learns new
In "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents the narrator, being the main character, as an ill woman. However, she is not ill physically. She is ill in her mind. More than any chemical imbalance that may be present; the narrator's environment is what causes her to go mad.
Furthermore, despite all the awareness and campaigns to get people to sympathize and empathize with the mentally ill, many people believe in ignoring and even neglecting these illnesses to avoid public ostracization. This is widely seen in developing countries or in
Treichler’s “Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’” informs readers “The narrator is forbidden to engage in normal social conversation […] and avoid expressing negative thoughts and expressions about her illness” (61). Although both women were isolated, Emily isolated herself while the unnamed narrator was forcefully isolated.
Living in a world without connection seems like living without meaning. As humans, we need connection to thrive in spirit and health. Connection is felt by words, touch, gestures, and most importantly love. This profound connection can be taken away instantly by isolation. This revelation is shown in Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s 1892 story “The Yellow Wallpaper” and in a Everyday Health article that both shows what can happen to a person’s mental and physical health when they experience social isolation and disconnection with the world. Experiencing isolation in the wrong way will inevitably be hazardous to one’s health. People need human connection to diminish the negative impacts of isolation.
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator stays at a house with her husband John, and his sister Jennie, to help cure her nervousness. The narrator is under strict regime during her stay at the house, due to her husband, who is also her physician. You would think that a physician would treat an ill patient with the upmost care, but that is not the case in this short story. John forbids her to write or have any visitors that are too stimulating. He makes all the decisions for her, and eventually, she’s driven insane.
Mental illness, a problem mankind has had since the dawn of time. While we have not had any major breakthrough until modern times we have yet to uncover the cause and cure for the majority of them. While earlier physicians had fought with what they believed would help people to get better of their ailments. Charlotte Perkins Gillman was an author from the 1800’s that had own personal fight with a mental illness. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” it is said to be an autobiography of sorts even down to the fact that she uses her doctor’s name that diagnosed her with depression, Weir Mitchell (Gillman 6). Throughout the story the unnamed narrator speaks of different women who her husband John only mentions Jennie once and does not recognize her as being at the house but says "Why, how can I, dear? It is only three weeks more and then we will take a nice little trip of a few days while Jennie is getting the house ready. Really dear you are better! “(Gillman 6). He only speaks of people who are not around. This points to the narrator possibly having a dissociative identity disorder which the
In the story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator talks about several things: She feels she is sick and her brother and husband do not believe her, her husband moved her to a deserted house and keeps her isolated, he controls her every move, and she feels that she has no companionship. All of these things contribute to the theme of alienation and loneliness in this story.
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses symbols to portray recovery from the depth of mental illness. The main character, Jane, struggles throughout the story with severe depression. She is constantly haunted by the room she has to occupy during her stay. Yet despite it all, Jane sets herself free from her illness’s grasp. Gilman employs the symbols of the yellow wallpaper, the ripping of the yellow wallpaper, and the beautiful door to depict Jane’s journey out of her depression.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a detailed account of the author’s battle with depression and mental illness. Gilman’s state of mental illness and delusion is portrayed in this narrative essay. Through her account of this debilitating illness, the reader is able to relate her behavior and thoughts to that of an insane patient in an asylum. She exhibits the same type of thought processes and behaviors that are characteristic of this kind of person. In addition, she is constantly treated by those surrounding her as if she were actually in some form of mental hospital.
As the story begins, the narrator’s relationship with John is already erupting. She does not agree that extensive rest is the best thing for her and feels that “congenial work, with excitement and change,” would be more suitable for her needs. However, she does feel that he knows best and seems consciously guilty of overlooking it. She informs the reader that “I have a scheduled prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more” (Gilman 239). These conflicting emotions cause the narrator to have stress. There are times when she wishes she could write in her journal freely, but she knows that John would disapprove and condemn her for it. Writing is her way of expressing feelings and thoughts, but keeps it hidden from John which is tiring. As