Gilman's Use Of Postpartum Psychosis In The Yellow Wallpaper
“The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story centered around a woman who is “sick with nerves,” and her husband, John, a doctor, who prescribes rest and and a clear mind, absent of imagination, in order to cure her condition. For the duration of the summer, she is confined in an old nursery with torn, yellow wallpaper. As the story progresses, her mental state deteriorates, and she begins to see different images in the pattern on the wallpaper, eventually believing that she, herself is a woman that has climbed out of the wall. However, the narrator of the story is not simply nervous, as her husband suspects, but actually has a case of postpartum psychosis. Her husband’s ignorance and prescribed treatment for her clearly
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In 1892, the year the story was published, women were considered property of their husbands, whose job it was to cook, clean, and care for the rest of the family. Anything that prevented them from doing these duties was an issue and women were often made to feel guilty if they were incapable or kept from their domestic work. In fact, when first explaining her condition to readers, the narrator says, “Of course it is only nervousness. It does not weigh on me so not to do my duty in any way!” (Gilman 649). This quote is significant because it demonstrates the order of priorities in the home. Only a few lines before this, she states, “John does not know how much I really suffer” (Gilman 649). The narrator knows how bad her condition really is, but is aware that her husband will not listen to or believe her, so she dismisses her feelings as unimportant. Additionally, postpartum depression/psychosis was not recognized by the medical community during this era, and its symptoms were often written off as simple things like a fit of nerves or sadness. John’s treatment plan for her nerves was known as the “rest cure,” and was very common during the time, especially for women. This likely stemmed from an idea that, if a woman wasn’t well enough to do their job in the home, they weren’t well enough to do anything but sleep until they were. Readers know, though, that the rest cure actually made the narrator’s condition worse, rather than better. Despite this, it is important not to immediately label John as a villain, but merely a product of the society he was raised in, who genuinely thought he could help his
In 1892, the year the story was published, women were considered property of their husbands, whose job it was to cook, clean, and care for the rest of the family. Anything that prevented them from doing these duties was an issue and women were often made to feel guilty if they were incapable or kept from their domestic work. In fact, when first explaining her condition to readers, the narrator says, “Of course it is only nervousness. It does not weigh on me so not to do my duty in any way!” (Gilman 649). This quote is significant because it demonstrates the order of priorities in the home. Only a few lines before this, she states, “John does not know how much I really suffer” (Gilman 649). The narrator knows how bad her condition really is, but is aware that her husband will not listen to or believe her, so she dismisses her feelings as unimportant. Additionally, postpartum depression/psychosis was not recognized by the medical community during this era, and its symptoms were often written off as simple things like a fit of nerves or sadness. John’s treatment plan for her nerves was known as the “rest cure,” and was very common during the time, especially for women. This likely stemmed from an idea that, if a woman wasn’t well enough to do their job in the home, they weren’t well enough to do anything but sleep until they were. Readers know, though, that the rest cure actually made the narrator’s condition worse, rather than better. Despite this, it is important not to immediately label John as a villain, but merely a product of the society he was raised in, who genuinely thought he could help his