Mental Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, The Yellow Wallpaper, portrays the life and mind of a woman suffering from post-partum depression in the late eighteenth century. Gilman uses setting to strengthen the impact of her story by allowing the distant country mansion symbolize the loneliness of her narrator, Jane. Gilman also uses flat characters to enhance the depth of Jane’s thoughts; however, Gilman’s use of narrative technique impacts her story the most. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses interior monologue to add impact to Jane’s progression into insanity, to add insight into the relationships in the story, and to increase the depth of Jane’s connection with the yellow wallpaper it self.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” tells the story of a woman suffering from post-partum depression, undergoing the sexist psychological treatments of mental health, that took place during the late nineteenth century. The narrator in Gilman’s story writes about being forced to do nothing, and how that she feels that is the worst possible treatment for her. In this particular scene, the narrator writes that she thinks normal work would do her some good, and that writing allows her to vent, and get across her ideas that no one seems to listen to. Gilman’s use of the rhetorical appeal pathos, first-person point of view, and forceful tone convey her message that confinement is not a good cure for mental health, and that writing,

The "Yellow Wall Paper "by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a chilling study and experiment of mental disorder in nineteenth century. This is a story of a miserable wife, a young woman in anguish, stress surrounding her in the walls of her bedroom and under the control of her husband doctor, who had given her the treatment of isolation and rest. This short story vividly reflects both a woman in torment and oppression as well as a woman struggling for self expression. The setting of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the driving force in the story because it is the main factor that caused the narrator to go insane.

In the "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman describes her postpartum depression through the character of Jane. Jane was locked up for bed rest and was not able to go outside to help alleviate her nervous condition. Jane develops an attachment to the wallpaper and discovers a woman in the wallpaper. This shows that her physical treatment is only leading her to madness. The background of postpartum depression can be summarized by the symptoms of postpartum depression, the current treatment, and its prevention. Many people ask themselves what happens if postpartum depression gets really bad or what increases their chances. Jane's treatment can show what can happen if it is

“The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, tells the story of a woman’s descent into madness as a result of postpartum psychosis. Postpartum psychosis is a condition that affects between one and two of every thousand live births. The condition of postpartum psychosis usually begins within two weeks of giving birth and sometimes within a matter of days. (“Depression”, 2009)

In the short story. "The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, we are introduced to a woman, the narrator, who suffers from postpartum depression, a disorder in women that results from childbirth. This disorder can have serious effects on the individual and may result in extreme behaviors such as suicide. (Mahoney 1) The narrator of the story is symbolic of Gilman, as she had experienced this illness after the birth of her daughter. (Gilman 181) Postpartum depression is a serious issue that must be dealt with in order to help its victums carry on with everyday life. In order for society to effictively help those affected with postpartum depression, they must know what it is, what its symptoms are,

Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Fall of The House of Usher’ both serve a highly horrific purpose which is both good examples for the gothic. The strongest example of gothic is ‘The Fall of The House of Usher’ as it established the extreme horror intense and shows the gothic scene of the house.

Several analyses have been made of the book "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman mostly focusing on patriarchal society as the main source of narrator’s mental illness. However, less has depicted acknowledgement of legitimate biological causes of depression. Postpartum depression is often diagnosed in women especially new mothers. This is characterized by mood swings, crying spells, anxiety and difficulty in sleeping. Some women can experience long-lasting depression that can lead to postpartum psychosis. Symptoms of this psychosis may include; hallucinations, delusions, hyperactivity, paranoia, rapid mood swings, insomnia, unsupported feelings of worthlessness and even thoughts of death. In the modern society, postpartum psychosis is temporary and treatable with professional help. The paper analyses the possibilities of society induced depression and

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is the story of a woman descending into psychosis in a creepy tale which depicts the harm of an old therapy called “rest cure.” This therapy was used to treat women who had “slight hysterical tendencies” and depression, and basically it consisted of the inhibition of the mental processes. The label “slight hysterical tendency” indicates that it is not seen as a very important issue, and it is taken rather lightly. It is also ironic because her illness is obviously not “slight” by any means, especially towards the end when the images painted of her are reminiscent of a psychotic, maniacal person, while she aggressively tears off wallpaper and confuses the real world with her alternative world she has

  "The Yellow Wallpaper," written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the late nineteenth century, explores the dark forbidding world of one woman's plunge into a severe post-partum depressive state. The story presents a theme of the search for self-identity. Through interacting with human beings and the environment, the protagonist creates for herself a life of her own.

Gilman used her own experience with Postpartum Depression to craft The Yellow Wallpaper and guide the reader through the “cure” for this ailment. Medicine and science in the yellow wallpaper are representative of the oppression women faced in the Victorian Era by perpetuating sexist practices and minimizing women’s health as a means of control.

Mental health and women; two of the most misunderstood subjects in history, most often aligned with major misinformation and wildly inaccurate stereotypes since the Victorian Era and even up until now. Nobody ever really wants to talk about it, however Charlotte Perkins Gilman choses to go against the grain. Gilman draws from her very own personal experiences with mental illness and postpartum depression to deliver the powerful narrative of a woman’s descent into madness, a reflection of the implications of medical malpractice due to widespread sexism in her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”. From the start of the story the most noticeable is the uneven dynamic and divide of power between the narrator

Lastly, Gilman uses language to express a metaphor with the woman in the yellow wallpaper, using it to represent the narrator's feelings of being trapped and alone by her illness and the rest cure treatment. Jane creates a character in the yellow wallpaper trapped behind bars in order to feel like she has a connection with someone. She admits that the things she sees in the wallpaper are figments of her imagination when she says, "There are things in that paper that nobody knows about but me, or ever will." (333) She also makes it clear that she identifies with/as the woman in the wallpaper when she later claims," "I've got out at last!"

Imagine having a mental illness in the 1800s with no doctors that actually have experience with these conditions. Charlotte Perkins Gilman has written this short story to relate to her mental condition. She has come up with a character that goes through a similar illness and undergoes the rest cure. In the 1800s, the rest cure was believed to cure someone with a mental illness by not allowing them to read, write, or speak to anyone. They could only lay in bed and eat the food that they were given.

Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkin Griffin is a personal experience of the author, who describes the own emotional and mental state after having a baby. Due to the historical context of the short story which defined a cultural one, a position of the woman within society was oppressed by males. Moreover, mental diseases, especially, post-natal depression were not perceived as serious ones.