Charlotte Perkins Stetson’s 1892 short story The Yellow Wall-Paper is based around an unknown narrator’s descriptions of a woman briefly referred to as Jane (though questioned), and her life confined in her household. Her husband and physician John and the narrator’s sister-in-law Jennie spent time within the piece taking care of her unstable mental state. Published over one hundred years ago, the story questions how to react to mental instabilities, especially in relation to women. John treats his wife more as a patient, and less as a wife throughout the narration. He keeps her inside, rarely allowing her to see other people or their son. It is not clear what ‘Jane’ is suffering from, but John appears to annihilate whatever illness she has, …show more content…
To answer a rhetorical question, the narrator writes the entire story in secrecy, and reveals all true feelings, whether good or bad. “I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus -- but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad.”. This isolation is reflected in both the narrator’s writing, and her life. John does not often allow her to be visited, even by family. He treats the idea of company like a reward, something that would be received when her health is superior, “When I get really well, John says we will ask Cousin Henry and Julia down for a long visit ; but he says he would as soon put fireworks in my pillow-case as to let me have those stimulating people about now.”. With no timeframe in mind, the narrator lives in a constant state of wonder, with no outcome visible. John believes that her illness is frivolous, if even existent. It is incredibly plausible that John is embarrassed by his wife’s mental state, and aims to save himself from the exposure due to it. His skittish actions line up with the idea, and
Berenji, Fahimeh Q. "Time and Gender in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”." Journal of History Culture and Art Research, vol. 2, no. 2, 1 Jan. 2013, pp. 221-234, Database: MLA International Bibliography -- Publications. kutaksam.karabuk.edu.tr/index.php. Accessed 18 Nov. 2017.
She has been trained to trust in her husband blindly and sees no other way. He calls her “little girl” (352) and “little goose” (349) and states “She will be as sick as she pleases!” (352) whenever she tries to express her issues. Instead of fighting for what she thinks will make her better she accepts it and keeps pushing her feelings aside, while he treats her like a child. We get an instant feel for her problem in the first page when she says, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that” (pg 346). A woman shouldn’t expect her husband to laugh at her concerns. Even after briefly writing about her condition she remembers her husband telling her the very worst thing she can do is think about it and follows his instructions. This is when she begins to focus on the house instead of her problems and the obsession with the wallpaper starts. She has nothing else to think about alone in the home; they don’t even allow her to write, which she has to do in secret.
John’s views as a doctor forbid any type of activity, because he feels it will only worsen her fragile condition. She says, “So I take phosphates or phosphites- whichever it is- and tonics, and air and exercise, and journeys, and am absolutely for bidden to ‘work’ until I am well again” (Gilman 221). But the narrator believes she would feel better if she could write because she does not believe it to be “work”. “Personally I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good” (Gilman 221). The narrator believes that writing would help her get better more than the rest cure. John addresses his wife as “‘little girl,’ and chooses the nursery rather than one of the adult bedrooms for his wife” (Griffin 11). The narrator has absolute no control over her own care, “she disagrees with her husband’s orders forbidding her to work, yet her opinion goes unrecognized.” (Griffin 11). He treats her like a weak, fragile child, which for the most part is what women were described as in that time period.
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.
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 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story in which the narrator is sequestered to undergo relaxation therapy. This short story, written in 1892, was considered to be controversial for its time and was based on Gilman's own experiences. It is full of symbolism and vivid imagery that highlighted the oppression of women during the 19th century and is considered to be a key feminist text. The narrator’s character draws attention to the reality that many women faced during that time. The narrator’s husband does not believe that she is sick and refuses to validate her feelings and experiences.
Another significant theme displayed in the short story is the oppression of women and the role of women in society. This is shown in an article which is an analysis of the short story, it is called “Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in The Yellow Wallpaper”. In the article, it shows how the narrator was oppressed because of the role of women in society. For example, it shows that John expects her to be a certain type of woman, that certain type of woman is a woman that doesn’t cry and shout/scream. Mostly, John wants to dominate the narrator, he wants her to follow his orders and he wants the narrator to be under his controls.
Abstract The yellow wallpaper is a short story, written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, in which she describes the authority of a man to woman. The woman in the story tells about how she is being treated by her husband John. John is a physician, who handles her medical needs about nervous condition. John took her to the colonial mansion, believes that the place is the best cure for her after the birth of their child.
My perspective of Gilman’s short story, "The Yellow Wall-Paper" is influenced by a great number of different and diverse methods of reading. However, one cannot overlook the feminist theorists’ on this story, for the story is often proclaimed to be a founding work of feminism. Further, the historical and biographical contexts the story was written in can be enlightened by mentioning Gilman’s relationship with S. Weir Mitchell. And I can’t help but read the story and think of Foucault’s concept of Panopticism as a method of social control. Lastly, of course, there’s the psychological perspective on the story, although in my readings of psychology, particularly the psychological knowledge surrounding both women and queers, I find the
Freedom is a right all people have but women who are imprisoned in a domestic marriage lose that right and are unable to convey themselves the way they should. In the story, The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Gilman a woman and her husband move into a large secluded house. The husband, being an intelligent physician, informs his wife that this would be the best cure for her illness. The wife wanting to please her husband does as he says. She becomes fascinated and oddly obsessed with the wallpaper in the bedroom. This fascination causes her to become even more insane then she was in the beginning. Charlotte Gilman’s story The Yellow Wallpaper and other works express the idea that women forced to remain in a domestic
I think the husband wanted the wife to go crazy. By the way the story it seemed like he did it on purpose to do this to her. Her and John lived in house that was outside of a village that was a couple miles away. She was kept in a room that had windows that were bared off. The bed was nailed down and was not able to move. The wall behind the bed had wallpaper torn off. There were also rings in the walls. It was a secured room on the top level of the house that had no way out of.
The nineteenth century was a trying time for women in America. A woman’s purpose in life was to take care of the home. The idea of ornamentality came about during this time period; this is the idea that a woman’s purpose is to stand there and look pretty like an ornament on a tree (Beam 189). This oppression affect women in every aspect of their lives. One way this was shown was through writing. Many authors of this time created fictional characters that lived the lives they wished they lived themselves; they made these women free. In both “The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the characters of Mrs. Mallard and Jane both are oppressed and find freedom through the story. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman lived in this time
“ The Yellow Wall-Paper” is a fictional short story, written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson in eighteen ninety-two. The story revolves around the secret journal entries of a mentally insane woman. As the story continues readers witness the progression of the mental deterioration of the narrator’s mental state. As the narrator’s grip on reality loosens, she comes closer to understanding her inner reality. In “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, the narrator's mental state progressively deteriorates from a dislike for the wallpaper to believing she came from
Reflecting their part in society, ladies expression are often altered and are overwhelmed by men dominant presence. Particularly in the nineteenth century, ladies were repressed by their significant other or persuaded by their Spouses and also other male. In, "The Yellow WallPaper," by charlotte Perkins Gilman, she asserts that women are overwhelmed by men dominance over them. This impact is made by using imagery, symbolism for example, such as the house, the window, and the wallpaper which contributed in her depression and self expression First the house is symbolism of a secure place for a troubled woman to portray her transformation and release her expressions.
The narrator listens to everything that her husband tells her. He is a physician along with her brother. If both of them are telling her that she's crazy then she thinks that she might be. John puts his wife in a room to be left by herself with ugly wallpaper and no one to talk to. If her husband was “caring” about her he wouldn't let her be by herself in a room she