Insanity in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," a nervous wife, an overprotective husband, and a large, dank room covered in musty wallpaper all play important parts in driving the wife insane. The husband's smothering attention, combined with the isolated environment, incites the nervous nature of the wife, causing her to plunge into insanity to the point she sees herself in the wallpaper. The author's masterful use of not only the setting (of both time and place), but also of first person point of view, allows the reader to participate in the woman's growing insanity.

What is truly considered to be sane or insane can never be absolutely determined by any means, but Charlotte Perkins Gilman investigates, to the best of her abilities, who and what should be understood as sane or insane. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, any reader with any ability to interpret can see that this subject matter is discussed throughout the text. But which characters are really insane and what evidence is there to prove this? By using the author’s text and other credible outside sources, this paper will research the deep realms of the minds of the characters introduced in the short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” One of

“The Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892, is a great example of early works pertaining to feminism and the disease of insanity. Charlotte Gilman’s own struggles as a woman, mother, and wife shine through in this short story capturing the haunting realism of a mental breakdown.The main character, much like Gilman herself, slips into bouts of depression after the birth of her child and is prescribed a ‘rest cure’ to relieve the young woman of her suffering. Any use of the mind or source of stimulus is strictly prohibited, including the narrator’s favorite hobby of writing. The woman’s husband, a physician, installs into his wife that the rest treatment is correct and will only due harm if not followed through. This type of treatment ultimately drives the woman insane, causing her to envision a woman crawling behind the yellow wallpaper of her room. Powerlessness and repression the main character is subject to creates an even more poignant message through the narrator’s mental breakdown. The ever present theme of subordination of women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is advanced throughout the story by the literary devices of symbolism, imagery, and allegory.

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, The Yellow Wallpaper, the setting is very symbolic when analyzing the different the meanings of this book. The main character in the story is sick with nervous depression. In the story, John, her husband, and also a physician, takes his wife to a house in the middle of the summer and confines her to one room in hopes of perfect rest for her. As the story progresses, it is made clear that confinement, sanity, insanity, and freedom are all tied together and used to make the setting of the story symbolic.

In the 1950’s, women weren’t respected for doing anything besides being an outstanding wife and mother. Women and men weren’t on the same level when it came to rights in the eyes of the law. Also during this time, mental illnesses were not accurately researched, and since doctors weren’t fully aware of all the information about mental illnesses, patients did not always get the best treatment and were treated as freaks. In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, both of these elements are present. Gilman did a wonderful job portraying how women are not taken seriously and how lightly mental illnesses are taken. Gilman had, too, had firsthand experience with the physician in the story. Charlotte Perkins Gilman 's believes that there really was no difference in means of way of thinking between men or women is strongly. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story about a woman who has a mental illness but cannot heal due to her husband 's lack of belief. The story appears to happen during a time period where women were mistreated. Women were treated as second rate people in community during this time period. Charlotte Perkins Gilman shows the thought process of the community during the time period in which “The Yellow Wallpaper” is written. Using knowledge on equal rights between women and men, one can carefully study “The Yellow Wallpaper” by

Hysteria was the “go-to, catchall diagnosis” for all women, consisting of any “problem” including, but not limited to, nervousness, faintness, loss of appetite, (lack of) sexual desire, headaches, insomnia, muscle spasms, and trouble-making. For centuries, literature portrayed as submissive and obedient to men and oppressed by society, culture, and even men. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman presents readers with a story of a woman suffering from depression, possibly post-partum, but whose remedy is “rest cure,” a treatment invented by Silas Weir Mitchell for neurasthenia involving isolation and rest as a cure for hysteria in all its forms. The Yellow Wallpaper is a narrative concerning the gradual demise of the mental stability of an unnamed, newly married upper-middle class woman in late nineteenth century rural America. Gilman uses psychological terror to not only portray the narrator’s fall to insanity, but also to shed light on the rather unfortunate role of women in the institution of marriage. The narrator’s husband, John, is a physician who firmly expresses disbelief in his wife’s claims of depression. From the beginning of the story, the reader can tell immediately that the narrator has absolutely no voice. John assures her and others that nothing is wrong but “temporary nervous

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860, in the city of Hartford, CT. She would later move to California. She would end her own life in 1935, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She fought for women’s rights and was an advocate of socialism. She wrote novels, poetry and short stories. She was a woman who was educated; her writing reflected her knowledge, relating to her strong thoughts on woman’s rights and independence and how women of Victorian times suffered from this lack of rights. In her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman conveys her views on feminism and how women are treated through characters who represent this treatment. The characters she uses help the reader really get drawn into her story;

In this psychological tale we are introduced to a woman facing a mental illness in the late 1800’s writing secretly about essentially being belittled about her health by her husband, John, a doctor, who subjects her to bed rest and isolation to the real world to recover. Her words: “...John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad.” (page 2 of The Yellow Wall-Paper) struck with me. I understand the feeling of suddenly feeling useless, unproductive and sort of trapped in your own mind. As she loses touch with life outside of the house, she begins to obsess with the women she sees behind the yellow wallpaper of her bedroom. First, I believed the wallpaper to be a metaphor of her depression, “I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design [of the wallpaper].” (page 4 of The

The yellow wallpaper is the most obvious symbol in this story. This symbolizes the protagonist 's mind named Jane during the 19th century. The yellow wallpaper symbolizes the way women were perceived. The yellow wallpaper includes models, angles and curves so that they contradict each other. we could say that these angles represents the identity of women during the 19th century. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is about the control and attacks the role of women in society. What is expected of women of the 19th century is to have children, take care of the house and do only what the husband says. The man of this time have the privilege of having a good education, have their jobs and they make their own decisions. The

Madness is the state of being mentally ill. It is the spectrum of behavior characterized by abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Madness manifests as the violation of societal norms, including becoming a personal danger to one’s self. As a woman in the male-dominated society of the 19th century, the narrator has no control over her own life. This lack of control contributes to her descent into madness. The rest cure prescribed by her physician husband provided the environment for her madness to flourish because it was only in her imagination where she retained some control and could exercise the power of her mind. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman centers on the deteriorating mental condition of the female narrator. Gilman’s demonstrates of the progression of her madness throughout the story is reflected in the narrator’s change in attitude toward her husband, her growing obsession with the wallpaper, and her projection of herself as the woman behind the wallpaper.

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.

treats her like a child and just like a child she is kept in this

Charlotte Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” is centered on the deteriorating psychological condition of the female narrator. As a woman in a male dominating society in the 19th century, the narrator has no control over her life. This persistence eventually evolves into her madness. The insanity is triggered by her change in attitude towards her husband, the emergent obsession with the wallpaper and the projection of herself as the women behind the wallpaper. The “rest cure” which was prescribed by her physician husband, created the ideal environment for her madness to extend because, it was in her imagination that she had some freedom and control.

with a rest cure. The doctor in the story is much like the doctor that

The perception of the Other in literature can take on several forms and on one line of thought it is considered to be “an individual who is perceived by the group as not belonging; as being different in some fundamental way” (The City University of New York). The group sees itself as the standard and judges those who do not meet that standard. The Other is almost always seen as a lesser or inferior being and is treated accordingly. They are perceived as lacking essential characteristics possessed by the group. For an example, Charlotte Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wall-Paper” portrays a woman narrator as being the Other. The gender division, an important component of the late nineteenth-century society, is exemplified in “The Yellow Wall-Paper” much more significantly than in the typical “American” literary work. It attempts to shed light on the fierce alter egos and divided selves of the dominant tradition. However, the narrator seems to contradict the traditional feminine roles and becomes hysterical as her way of revolting. Gilman effectively uses the narrator’s intuition, obedience, and secret rebellion to challenge the authority John embodies as a husband and physician. This also engages the basic issue of late nineteenth-century assumptions about men and women. In this aspect, this essay aims to explore in detail the gender otherness present within the story and how this contrasts the central idea of what it is to essentially be “American”.