Essay On The Oppression Of Women In The Yellow Wallpaper

In the 1800s a woman would go undiagnosed with depression due to the idea of women having hysteria versus a legitimate mental health issue. In the Yellow Wallpaper, Why I wrote the Yellow Wallpaper and the Awakening the mental illness is apparent. All three women are suffering from some sort of mental illness which has not been addressed which leads to the oppression of women. Not because doctors or men did intentionally try to hurt them but lack of knowledge and care were a major issue. First to start out with the Why I wrote the Yellow Wall Paper Gilman was a women suffering from severe and continuous breakdowns in the 1800s. Gilman’s depression steamed from a childhood with no father, her father abandoned her mother and left her with two

In the story she is a young lady suffering with a sort of depression, which they didn’t know how to identify in the 1800s, but is now recognized as postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is a depression suffered by mothers after giving birth it typically arises from a combination of hormonal changes, psychological adjustments to motherhood and fatigue. But in the 1800s it was understood by doctors to just be a temporary nervous depression but having her husband and brother to a physician in high standing and telling her nothing was wrong she believed she could not get better. The story goes on to explain how she felt fortunate to have a nanny take care of the baby because she CANNOT be with him it made her too nervous. The story leads you to believe there might be more to her illness then just a little bit of depression when she explains n details about her living conditions she could not reside down stairs she had the whole top floor to herself the room only has one window and that window is barred she explains that it is barred because she believes it was some sort of play room or gymnasium it also has rings on the