Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper

The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman proves that women were treated poorly before the 20th century, and that in their marriages they had no say, and were considered inferior to their husbands. This paper will analyze Gilman’s short story from the perspective of a depressed woman in the late 18th century to the early 19th century.

Before the 20th century women were treated poorly, we can see this in Gilman’s text, “.... he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?” (56) The narrator suffers from postpartum depression, but before the 20th century woman were considered inferior to men, and mental illness either did not exist or had horrible alternatives to get better. At first glance it looks like maybe her husband is right, and she is just suffering from “...temporary… depression” (56). As the character

The repetition “And what can one do?” (56) John does not believe her, when she tell him that she is sick. “what is one to do?” (56) It is only temporary. (56) “But what is one to do?” (57) The narrator believes that “congenial work, with excitement and change…” (57). Would do her some good, but again John forbiddens her from working. During this time period some men would want the classic housewife, good cook, good mother, able to do everything that a housewife would do, and nothing more. Even John’s sister believes that “the writing..” (60) Has made the narrator sick. But John’s sister is, “.... a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper… hopes for no better profession. (60). So both John and his sisters views are clouded by their own personal beliefs. If a women before the 20th century was to try and become a writer, or, anything more than a housewife it would be considered weird or unheard of, because it was thought to be a man’s job, the women's place in in the