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Mental Illness In The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

713 Words3 Pages

During the nineteenth century, there were many causes of mental illness from constant pressure of their secondary role in society, lack of love, or even from childbirth. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman produces a short story that mirrors her past experiences of having her mental illness belittled and misunderstood by men. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Gilman’s protagonist, Jane, experiences the same illness Gilman suffered. Jane describes in her diary what she withstands having mental illness and an overprotective husband. The narrator undergoes postpartum depression, and her husband, who is a doctor, is unable to provide the help she deserves to recover from her illness. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator is experiencing …show more content…

Jane’s diary can be interpreted as a symbol of her uprising against John’s demands. John is protective, prudent, and decisive. He refers to his wife as a “little girl” and ignores her complaints as they seem to be irrelevant to him. He explains to Jane how “‘There is nothing so dangerous, so fascinating, to a temperament like yours. It is a false and foolish fancy’” (478). Because of traditional domestic life, John is unable to connect with his wife and communicate with her about how her illness is …show more content…

She believes that writing in her diary is precisely what she needs to feel better. Because she is unable to communicate with her husband, her diary becomes a sort of safe space for her to record her thoughts and feelings that would cause John to worry. Jane’s thoughts written in the diary expose the extent to which “John does not know how much I [she] really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (475). The reader can see how John ignores the fact that his relationship with his wife is growing apart throughout the story and how he does nothing to save it. Able to witness this but not being able to interact, the reader experiences a similar situation as the narrator in isolation. The reader is able to perceive Jane’s world from her perspective, but is unable to contribute to sharing them in an effective

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Jane also includes that she is left alone for extended amounts of time. Even in John’s claims of caring he is constantly gone and away from the person who he needs to watch after most. Jane writes, “John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious” (2). There should be no reason why John would leave her alone in the country in a house she is unnerved by when he I trying to cure her nervous depression. He seems to be contradicting

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The narrator is constantly going back and forth between accepting her husband’s opinion and begging for help. She explains, “John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious. I am glad my case is not serious! But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer.

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John is Jane’s husband who is trying to control every aspect of Jane’s life. Jane states, “There comes John, and I must put this away-he hates to have me write a word.” (Gilman) This is just one of numerous situations and statements that the narrator shares with the audience. John’s influence also plays a big part in his dysfunctional marriage with Jane.

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She would even go on to write a few poems, such as “In Duty Bound” which showed rebellion toward her housewife societal roles. This is expressed throughout the story, as the woman in the story constantly refers to John and how he must be right since he loves her so much. “Dear John! He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick. I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how I wish he would let me go and make a visit to Cousin Henry and Julia.

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The trajectory of John throughout the story is that of him being controlling, and not understanding of what Jane is feeling. The story relays that “But John says if I feel so, I shall neglect proper self-control; so I take pains to control myself-before him”(Stetson

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Mental health has been a prominent theme used in many works of literature. Through their writing, authors are able to bring to light the stigma surrounding mental health. Through vivid imagery, colorful language, and thoughtful narratives, literary works are able to provide a glimpse into the complexities of the human mind. In Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s story The Yellow Wallpaper, Gillman tells the story of a woman who is on bedrest due to what she is told is a temporary nervous condition. By telling the story through the lens of the narrator, Gillman is able to convey the story on a much more personal level, allowing her audience to experience what it is like in the mind of a woman suffering from what appears to be postpartum depression, among many other harrowing psychological

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It is ironic that Jane is seen as the guilty party in the incident with John Reed because John started the fight when he slapped Jane. Then when John’s sisters, Eliza and Georgina, go to “tattle tale” on Jane, their mother blames Jane for the whole situation. Jane compares John to a “murderer,” “slave-driver,” and “Roman Emperors” (Bronte 9). During this comparison, she is implying that he is a very cruel and awful person. That he would beat her and boss her around.

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The narrator has a sense of guilt when it comes to her husband, John. The narrator describes this feeling when she says “he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more.” Since she is in bed all day and is unable to take care of her child, she feels useless to him and

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Secondly, throughout the story, the narrator describes seeing an evolving woman trapped inside of the wall. Although readers can assume that this woman is merely a product of the narrator’s mind, the woman can also be seen as a symbol of the narrator and her feelings of being trapped. Eventually, the woman in the wall aids the narrator in her escape. In conclusion, many elements of the narrator’s increasing madness throughout The Yellow Wallpaper contributed to her freedom from the confines of the room, the confines of society, and the confines of her

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Not a day goes by that he does not belittle her thoughts and concerns in some kind of way. Jane says “I do not like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs… with roses all over the window... but John would not hear of it.”

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As we come to discover John, controls the narrator and she, with her benevolence and love that she has for John trusts whatever he advises her. All through the start of the story, it is obvious that the narrator wishes to talk, however, something holds her back and this consumes her since she has nobody to converse with. The narrator says, "It is so hard to talk with John about my case, because he is so wise, and because he loves me so". The incongruity of this quote and of the entire story is that this is a marriage, but the relationship amongst John and the narrator are

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Mental Illness There are several important topics in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper. ”Throughout the story the narrator is experiencing severe mental illnesses. The audience can see the build up of the narrator's mental health and the way it declines throughout the short story. Gilman explains signs of madness, depression, despair, and negative self worth. The narrator has nothing to keep herself busy since she is required bed rest by her husband (Gilman 571).

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At the beginning of the short story Jane absolutely hates the wallpaper in her bedroom, but at the end Jane claims that she is “getting really fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper.” (page ) At the beginning of the story Jane is aggravated at John and after John’s treatment she describes him as “so wise” (page ) and “loving [her] so.” (page ) Throughout the “Yellow Wallpaper” John consistently makes Jane’s condition worse and worse until she finally has a mental breakdown.

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Secondly, there is also a sense of confinement throughout the story. The Yellow Wallpaper fits the winter or the anti-romantic phase of Northrop Frye's monomyth diagram as it, "tells the story of imprisonment … and fear." (Bressler 152). The narrator is imprisoned in the room which has yellow wallpaper. Basically, the room where the narrator is staying in is like a prison.

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The story “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892 shows mental illness through the narrator first hand. The theme in this story is going insane verses loneliness as well as being trapped. These themes are shown through the main character (the narrator of the story) as she works through her own mind, life, and surroundings. First, the theme of the woman’s state of mind is the main focus in this story.

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