The Yellow Wallpaper Essay

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Yellow Wallpaper, which was published in 1891, stirred controversy among US physicians as it raised issues that were on the agenda at the time. The perception of insanity was evolving throughout the 19th century. Mad people used to be considered as criminals or idiots that needed to be locked up. Then, there was a shift in mentality and a mad person was typically a troubled woman suffering either from hysteria or neurasthenia. According to psychiatrists, both of these ailments were due to selfishness and intentional self-destructiveness. The Yellow Wallpaper was critical of the neglect of women’s mental health problems and the standard rest cure meant to get women back on their feet to enable them to carry out the

Her account strives for orderliness. In point of fact, there are five main subsections that is to say those focusing on John and their relationship, her condition, the house she is staying in, the master bedroom (the nursery) and the wallpaper. On the other hand, her illness brings about some disorderliness with sudden thoughts, emotions and guiltiness that interrupt the narrative flow. The story is told in the first person by the protagonist. The narrative is descriptive ( John’s personal traits for instance). One may wonder whether the narrator is reliable due to her condition and the contrast orderliness-disorderliness of her account. Moreover, as stated above The Yellow Wallpaper exploits gender stereotypes and one does get the impression that the narrative is intently quite womanly: womanly according to the nineteenth-century definition. Indeed, a man would tell a factual story. It would not involve any emotions and above all it would be very orderly. There are some direct address mode examples such as “ You see he does not believe I am sick” and the questions “ And what can one do?”, “ But what is one to do?”. The latter seem to convey the protagonist’s helplessness when it comes to the rest cure that she has to