Women During The 1900s

During the 1900s, upper class women in America lived luxurious lives that consisted of maintaining a pleasant appearance and entertaining guests. However, women of this prestige typically underwent more social restrictions than those of a lessor status. For example, societies view on women failed to revolve around equality. These previous concepts of how life was during the 1900s are illuminated greatly in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Gilman. This accumulative story is about a woman named Jane whose thoughts are suppressed by her husband who prescribes her a treatment for her nervousness. The treatment is specifically called the Rest Cure which is aimed at improving her mental, physical health, and the easing of her nervousness.

For example, they were expected to put their husband’s career and happiness as their top priority as well as overseeing the domestic duties of their home which were done by the vast majority of their servants. Asha Nadkarni “Links women's adaptability to their training as wives in their culture of origin” (Nadkarni). In addition, women in general were entirely dependent on the man. They were unable to purchase an individual piece of property and have it under their name and were not allowed to vote. Education levels were also viewed differently in this era. Ordinarily, the men would go on to pursue higher education levels which would allow them to obtain higher paying careers such as a physician. It was a social blunder for females to pursue a path to better education due to the expectations of them staying at home and overseeing the home. Even if a woman desired a better education, it was unlikely for them to be accepted into a college because prestigious universities such as Harvard or Princeton refused to admit women. This unbalanced system would handicap women in their understanding of complex issues such as medicine, the political system and mental illness which could lead to them being taken advantage of. In short their identity was dependent on their husband’s

Early on in the story, Jane is instructed by her husband John, who is a physician, to partake in the Rest Cure. The treatment is aimed at improving ones overall health by isolating them from any form of stress by encouraging the user to do absolutely nothing. Due to this treatment being implemented on Jane, many social and psychological changes are seen morphing into something much worse than what she originally started with. Consequently, Jane slowly begins to lose all trace of sanity. She is not taken seriously. John insures that her imagination and nervousness could potentially lead to insanity and cautions her to stay away from it. However, the Rest Cure prevents her from experiencing distractions whether they are good or bad. This leads her to becoming trapped in her mind, allowing her imagination and pent up frustration to overcome her rationality. Jane’s mental state becomes progressively worse when she begins to perceive patterns in the wallpaper. Overtime, the sub-pattern she depicts turns into a ghostly figure only visible during the daytime (Gilman 664). Eventually, the pattern is seen as a hunched over woman, desperately creeping and crawling searching for an exit out of the hideous wallpaper that somewhat resembles the iron bars in a jail cell. She eventually snaps, and frees herself from the wallpaper in which she was mentally and