Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper

This story was published when new ideas were coming into society. In earlier times, a woman's place was in her home, where she carried out the roles of wife and mother. Men, on the other hand, were involved in work, politics and economics. However this way of thinking began to change as women started to fight for their rights and pursued equality with men. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a feminist, but she focused more on the unequal status of women within marriage. In fact, Gilman actually suffered severe depression from her marriage and went through unusual treatments for it. This experience is believed to have inspired her best-known short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper.' The main character of the story is unnamed, the only thing known is

Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able—to dress and entertain, and order things.” The narrator is fighting a battle with herself. Once again it is shown that the narrator knows what she is supposed to be but she is unable to fulfill the role. These are obvious signs of a mental illness. In fact, this is similar to Lacanian psychosis. Jacques Lacan, the creator of this theory believed the human psyche was framed by three orders; the imaginary, the symbolic and the real. In order to move from the imagination realm to the symbolic order, the individual must cross the mirror stage. This is when a person begins to realize their true self, or social identity, and leads to the meeting of the Name-of-the-Father. The Name-of-the-Father is basically the law, and the governor of the Symbolic Order. When entering the Symbolic Order, you gain access to language, establish a relationship with the Name-of-the-Father, and find a place in the world of others. In other words, the individual is able to socialize and feel accepted. However, Patrick Colm Hogan believed that a psychotic individual cannot obtain a self identity, which would make them unable to enter the Symbolic Order. Thus, making the psychotic person incapable of any connection to society, or language. Michael Walsh presents an interesting argument in regard of what a psychotic

“I’ve got out at last,” said I, “in spite of you and Jane! And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!” The readers finally hear the narrators name, the former Jane and John could be interpreted as the wall keeping the narrator away from making her own order. Now that she has broken that wall, she is now fully insane and unable to ever go back to the way she