The Yellow Wallpaper And What It Has On The Position And Treatment Of Women

"The Yellow Wallpaper" tells the story of a woman living in the nineteenth century who suffers from postpartum depression. The true meaning implicit in Charlotte's story goes beyond a simple psychological speculation. The story consists of a series of cleverly constructed short paragraphs, in which the author illustrates, through the unnamed protagonist's experiences, the possible outcome of women's acceptance of men's supposed intellectual superiority. The rigid social norms of the nineteenth century, characterized by oppression and discrimination against women, are supposedly among the causes of the protagonist's depression. However, it is her husband's tyrannical attitude what ultimately

In Gilman’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” John acts as the mirror through which women are viewed negatively in the society, a society in which women are not considered citizens. They are not supposed to be anywhere near the political or public environment. Instead, they should remain in their homes. This view has led to women creating women movements to fight for their place in the society.

  The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman can by read in many different ways.  Some think of it as a tragic horror story while others may find it to be a tale of a woman trying to find her identity in a male-dominated society.  The story is based on an episode in Gilman's life when she suffered from a nervous disease called melancholia.  A male specialist advised her to "live a domestic a life as far as possible.. and never to touch a pen, brush or pencil..."   (Gilman, 669).   She lived by these guidelines for three months until she came close to suffering from a nervous breakdown.  Gilman then decided to continue writing, despite the physicians advice, and overcame her illness.

In this world there have been causes of mass hysteria even back in the old days. In 1939 Mysterious girls were having cases of strange twitching making parents of the students curious. A big cause of hysteria was found in a case of a girl suffering in lack of attention. She was having sorts of insecurity and paranoia. For common people, twitching is a sign of nerve problem. But one case in Louisiana in 1939 involved numerous students suffering from twitching and all inflicted students were female. It began when one female student show sign of twitching in her right. It happened during an annual homecoming ball. Unfortunately, the twitching did not end up on that particular day, in fact, the twitching became worse as weeks went by. Following the incident, some of her fellow

Gender roles seem to be as old as time and have undergone constant, but sometime subtle, revisions throughout generations. Gender roles can be defined as the expectations for the behaviors, duties and attitudes of male and female members of a society, by that society. The story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” is a great example of this. There are clear divisions between genders. The story takes place in the late nineteenth century where a rigid distinction between the domestic role of women and the active working role of men exists (“Sparknotes”). The protagonist and female antagonists of the story exemplify the women of their time; trapped in a submissive, controlled, and isolated domestic sphere, where they are treated

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is about a creative woman whose talents are suppressed by her dominant husband. His efforts to oppress her in order to keep her within society's norms of what a wife is supposed to act like, only lead to her mental destruction. He is more concerned with societal norms than the mental health of his wife. In trying to become independent and overcome her own suppressed thoughts, and her husbands false diagnosis of her; she loses her sanity. One way the story illustrates his dominance is by the way he, a well-know and

Hysteria was one of the class diseases of the 19th century…for centuries hysteria has been seen as characteristically female- the hysterical woman the embodiment of a perverse or hyper femininity…and in [the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s…physicians reported a high incidence of nervous disease and hysteria among women who felt overwhelmed by the burdens of frequent pregnancies, the demands of children, the daily exertions of housekeeping and family management (Smith-Rosenberg, 1972, 652, 653, 657).

Until the medical breakthroughs that we have made in the modern day, psychology as a science was not fully understood. Modern technology has given us a clearer idea of psychology, but in the past there was less known about the science. This alongside a predominantly male medical discourse led to a medical diagnosis in many women called hysteria. Female hysteria was a medical diagnosis given to specifically women as far back as the ancient Greek civilization. Hysteria started as a supernatural phenomena, but as medicine evolved it would be described as a mental disorder, (Tasca). Hysteria. in actuality, is an absurd and fabricated diagnosis that institutionalized and discriminated countless women. The way it makes a women feel, and the fact that it strips a woman of any sort of free will is a sickening display of blatant misogyny. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman perfectly displays not only the misogyny, but the torture a woman must face trapped under a hysteria diagnosis. Hysteria as a diagnoses fails to effectively treat many women, instead leading to the mistreatment and wrongful institutionalization of women.

In the late eighteenth century hysteria was large in women that which may have made them been perceived a little different in society. In Nellie Bly’s excerpt she says “…. greatly dampened by the look of distress on the faces of my companions. Poor women they had no hopes of a speedy recovery.”(190) This saying says the women had no idea what they were getting into. The were nervous about going to this so called “mad house” and nervousness can lead to hysteria as it is said in Laura Briggs article. “As a description, “nervousness” did historic labor, and accounted for the most various disease of body and mind.” Even though most of the patients inside the asylum were

Hysterical, frantic and out of control; these were phrases that people used to describe a woman's state of mind when diagnosed with the condition known as hysteria. Hysteria is a condition that has been around for two-thousand years, but not accepted by doctors as such an issue. (Anderson) There are many examples of hysteria in women within our media today along with media from years before; Emily Dickinson, Charlotte from the Yellow Wallpaper, Tara from The United States of Tara, Abigail from The Crucible and various others. Even though, there are ample amount of examples within media and history concerning women, mental illness and hysteria; men are just as vulnerable to it. Hysteria is a legitimate issue that still exists today, but it is

In “Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media” by Elaine Showalter, she writes that Jean-Martin Charcot, who was also known as "the founder of modern neurology", stated that hysteria was determined by hereditary determinants. By researching

In her book Women's Madness, Misogyny or Mental Illness, Ussher notes that in the Victorian era, hysteria was diagnosed primarily in strong, outspoken women: in other words: women who transgressed the ideal of true womanhood and thus challenged patriarchy. This is

Hysteria is a mental disorder that causes uncontrollable emotions. When Hysteria was first diagnosed, it was something completely different than it was today. In about the 1800s Hysteria was thought of as a disease that the woman's sexual organs were not normal. Hysteria in today’s definition, causes social anxiety because the patient is anxious, and does not know when their next emotional outbreak will be.

Women who were autonomous in their sexual sphere, separating themselves from the patriarchal model by being economically and sexually independent. Prostitution manifested the worst of Victorian society into a profession that aimed to corrupt middle and upper class men. There was much fear of a woman’s sexuality due to the fact that it was seen as dangerous if a woman’s sexual urges became out of control or indulged in. This is due to the fact that women were defined by their menstrual cycle, which meant that they were prone to hysteria, with the word ‘hysteria’ literally derived from the Greek word for womb, entwining the idea of women being unreliable when they become sexually