What Happen To The Narrator In The Yellow Wallpaper

What happens to the narrator is not pure fiction. Gilman uses an experience from her life as inspiration for this short story, that the reader can see referenced throughout the story. In commentaries of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gilman mentions a doctor with the exact same name as the one she visited when she first tried to overcome her depression. "John says if I don't pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall. But I don't want to go there at all. I had a friend once who was in his hands once, and she says he is just like John and my brother, only more so" (Perkins Gilman “Yellow” 650). Weir Mitchell is the exact same name as the doctor she had who’s full title is Dr. S. Weir Mitchell. One could also argue too that the friend the narrator refers to could be Gilman

S. Weir Mitchell. "Gilman undertook a cure which stipulated extended bed rest to be followed by a return to working as a wife and mother. She was never to read for more than two hours a day. Not surprisingly, the cure, far from enabling Gilman to recover her emotional equilibrium, further exacerbated her instability. She almost experienced a mental break down" (“Charlotte Perkins Gilman’’ Authors). Just like Gilman’s treatment, the narrator was told a “rest cure” would be able to help her illness. Both were to stay in bed and not use their brain or body for any work. This treatment for both causes them to become a little insane because of the lack of stimulation. “The Yellow Wallpaper” heavily references Gilman’s life since this short story is considered “merely as a Poe-like rebuke to the neurologist who had mishandled Gilman's own illness several years earlier” (“Charlotte Perkins Gilman’’ Authors). Gilman mimicked Poe’s gothic style of writing; starting of normal and slowly getting more and more disturbing until the end. This was done to criticize the way her doctor handled her