Mental Illness In The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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

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

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