The Yellow Wallpaper Mental Illness

The Yellow Wallpaper is regarded as a classic feminist piece; written by a woman herself, Charlotte Gilman. The short story revolves around a woman forced into isolation and essentially a sensory deprivation routine titled the Rest Cure, due to her diagnosis of nervous exhaustion. This ultimately backfires and leads the protagonist to become obsessed with the yellow-patterned wallpaper in her confinement. Losing her sanity at the end of the story. Though it is deemed fiction, the story elements itself existed during the Victorian era, and the story was inspired by Gilman’s own experience. The entire book was published specifically to prevent and bring attention to the mistreatment of ill women. “The Yellow Wallpaper” addresses issues American

The beginning of The Yellow Wallpaper is based on Gilman’s own diagnosis of nervous exhaustion. Nervous Exhaustion, also known as neurasthenia, was classified as excessive fatigue and was coined in the 1800s identified as a mental illness. Obviously, excessive fatigue could be a symptom of another underlying problem such as depression, and in the protagonist's Chavez 2 and Gilman’s case, post-partum depression. Diagnoses of the Victorian era were often inaccurate, specifically the causes which were based on often contorted views of the possible causes for the illnesses. Which were very harmful, especially to American women of the time. Jumana helps enlighten the physician's thought process, “As a result of such distorted perceptions of the female reproductive system, doctors unequivocally disregarded the underlying

In the 1800s this was typical; a woman was expected to be domestic and desire that lifestyle. These women had to endure sexist treatment, in both diagnoses and how their health was dealt with. Jumana stated that the female reproductive system was often blamed as the cause of mental illness. Which came from a lack of knowledge and education and most likely intimidation from their natural system. Though this could be excused from lack of knowledge, the next reason cannot. Women were expected to fit their stereotype, and to domesticize was expected. Being domestic would mean complete obedience to their husband, cooking, cleaning, and residing in their home. This was considered a woman’s purpose and true nature so when women would not fit into their gender role, they “were reported to be putting themselves at risk of nervous collapse with their eagerness to take on roles unsuited to their gender, including higher education or political activities” (Marland), which was absurd. Women who engaged in activities that were not “lady-like” were considered strange and by physicians, ill. A part of the protagonist's treatment was no writing or reading. The rest cure probably developed from the stereotype that women should not engage in intellectual activities. For men, their treatment was to work, socialize, and explore, unlike women who were forced into