The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis Essay

Through a woman's perspective of assumed insanity, Charlotte Perkins Gilman comments on the role of the female in the late nineteenth century society in relation to her male counterpart in her short story "The Yellow Wallpaper." Gilman uses her own experience with mental instability to show the lack of power that women wielded in shaping the course of their psychological treatment. Further she uses vivid and horrific imagery to draw on the imagination of the reader to conceive the terrors within the mind of the psychologically wounded.

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.

“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

In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the idea of “true womanhood” is challenged. The white woman portrayed in the story is prescribed what is known as the “rest cure” due to the overwhelming pressure of being the perfect woman, wife, and mother. Driven mad by the smothering of her husband and her inability to do anything for herself, the woman in this story goes crazy attempting to free herself from the constraints. In stark contrast to the woman in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Sojourner Truth, a former slave, delivers a speech titled, “Ain’t I a Woman,” in 1851 that shakes people to their very core. A little before “The Yellow Wallpaper” was released, Truth shares a message that is astoundingly different from the

“The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Gilman is a chilling portrayal of a woman’s downward spiral towards madness after undergoing treatment for postpartum depression in the 1800’s. The narrator, whose name remains nameless, represents the hundreds of middle to upper- class women who were diagnosed with “hysteria” and prescribed a “rest” treatment. Although Gilman’s story was a heroic attempt to “save people from being driven crazy” (Gilman p 1) by this type of “cure” it was much more. “The Yellow Wallpaper” opened the eyes of many to the apparent oppression of women in the 1800’s and “possibly the only way they could (unconsciously) resist or protest their traditional ‘feminine’

The first example of suppression is the usage of the “rest cure” as a treatment for mental illness, which the author indirectly criticizes by showing the negative impact this treatment has on the narrator of the story. Instead of finding ways to work through her depression, she wasn’t allowed to do any kind of work or leave the house area, which caused her to get lost in her own mind. By not being allowed to work or write, she wasn’t able to deal with her problems. She spent most of the time alone in a room, with just her thoughts. Therefore, it is not surprising that she developed a fascination with the pattern of the yellow wallpaper. Although the rest cure treatment obviously did more harm than good it was widely used in the 19th century to treat nervous illnesses. According to the sciencemuseum.org.uk, patients usually were prescribed the rest cure for six to eight week and it meant that were on a bed

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is an intricate story that uses the conflict between an “imaginative wife” and her “rational doctor” of a husband to convey underlying motifs (Shumaker n.pag.). The story is told from the narrator’s journal that she keeps hidden from her husband. It is clear throughout the story that the narrator suffers from some sort of mental illness. Her husband/physician, John, uses unethical remedies to try to cure the narrator’s disease. Isolation and complete bed rest are John’s idea of treatment for his

As the narrator’s mental barriers begin to fall, this new side begins to take shape. Once the woman finally takes control the narrator appears to have gone insane. However, one could look at the insanity not as a horrible outcome, but as a happy alternative for the narrator. She no longer has to live through the hell, specifically the husband, had been putting her through. Infact, this event could have been the best for this woman to achieve

The narrator, knows there is something wrong with her but, because her husband does not believe her she is left not seeking better treatment or having the ability to do what she feels might help her. Throughout the story she narrates how she attempts to explain to her husband what she is feeling. Her husband continually denies and give false remedies on how to help her. Gilman also writes that the narrator's husband gives her a false diagnosis to tell their friends and family, "temporary nervous depression" (992). By doing so, readers can see and experience the effects of a patriarchal society.

Throughout history and cultures today, women have been beaten, verbally abused, and taught to believe they have no purpose in life other than pleasing a man. Charlotte Perkins Gillam uses her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a weapon to help break down the walls surrounding women, society has put up. This story depicts the life of a young woman struggling with postpartum depression, whose serious illness is overlooked, by her physician husband, because of her gender. Gillman 's writing expresses the feelings of isolation, disregarded, and unworthiness the main character Jane feels regularly. This analysis will dive into the daily struggles women face through oppression, neglect, and physical distinction; by investigating each section

The story is about a woman who suffers from mental illness after the three months of being closeted in a room with her husband for the sake of her health. She becomes obsessed with the rooms revolting yellow wallpaper. Gilman wrote this story to change people’s mindset about the role of women in society, illustrating that how woman’s lack of autonomy has a direct impact on her mental health and it also affects their emotional and physical wellbeing. This story was inspired by the treatment she had suffered at the hands of her first husband. The narrator in the story must do as her husband, who is also her doctor demands, although the treatment he prescribes contrasts directly with what she truly, needs mental stimulation and the freedom to escape the monotony of the room to which she is confined.

In the meantime she is totally being misdiagnosed by her husband, a doctor who is unable to understand his wife’s mind. He believes the best treatment is for her is to be isolated. Little does he know what the outcome will result in. The narrator says, “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do?”(Gilman).

It is clear that the short story depicts the life of a mental sick woman who is experiencing large depths of

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

She finds herself old, reliant on her son, alone and witnessing her two greatest joys failing in life. She herself my feel like a failure and feel partial fault in her kids outcome. In order to escape from reality, she fantasizes about how beautiful she was not too long ago. She visualizes the countless numbers of gentlemen callers that dated her. She fabricates all these stories from the past to ease the tension of their current live and make everything perfect. Even her dialogue seems deceptive, as she speaks in a very jovial and frivolous manner as if she has no problems. Her illusions help her during the moment but once face with a reality she a broken woman.