The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892), by Charlotte Perkin Gilman, an American writer and advocate for social reform, speaks out about the social injustice women were put through for wanting to go against social norms. Within “The Yellow Wallpaper” we are introduced to a female narrator speaking about her move into a new summer home to rest after giving birth. She is only allowed to be in her room and not permitted to see her baby. Who is being cared for by Mary the nurse/babysitter? Her husband, John, reassures her she will return to normal and can return to their home. There is a turn of events and through the details of the stories we began to question our narrator and her credibility. Additionally, the true intentions of John,

Regardless there is a quote that defines the turning point to her losing any sanity she had left, “Life is very much more exciting now than it used to be. You see I have something more to expect, to look forward to, to watch” (Gilman 653). In this sentence we see her strip away from any rational decisions she could ever make because the narrator now finds “pleasure” in watching boring wallpaper all day. As well she is seeing a woman in the wallpaper trapped and has tried to help her escape but has failed. Because there is no woman and it is just part of her delusion but also because that trapped woman could represent herself. This leads me to believe that the narrator felt trapped in her own body and her own identity even. This is because her being a woman does not give her the freedom to seek help elsewhere. Especially because John is a physician lets him take control of her not only in their relationship but as a patient. Due to the fact, John does not believe she is truly sick and only has a nervous condition her credibility is almost non-existent if she were to try to explain herself to anyone because John has already discredited her as a husband, doctor, and

I believe the female narrator is going through an episode of postpartum depression. This is because she is not permitted to see her baby and does not really seem about them in the story since her baby is not really mentioned throughout the story. Additionally, she mentions the baby makes her nervous and does not seem to be around them,” It is fortunate Mary is so good to the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous” (Gilman 649). While reading this quote over angina I mention she does not seem to identify the baby at all and calls them “it” instead of any gender-conforming pro-noun. This signifies that she sees the baby as an object rather than someone precious she had just given birth to. This is what makes me lead to the narrator has postpartum depression, as well as her husband a physician, believes there was nothing wrong with her, “ If a physician of high standing, and one's husband, assures friends and relatives that there is nothing the matter with one” (Gilman 648). The reason I bring this up is that doctors in the 19th century did not believe in postpartum depression which is why the narrator was just put on pills and isolated because there were no real treatments for mental illness at the