the yellow wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" was published in 1899. The story was based on Gilman's own personal experience with misdiagnosis and mistreatment by the medical community. Written at a time when women were frequently diagnosed with depression, many underwent a "rest cure." Just as with the woman in the story, Gilman's "illness" only worsened with continued treatment. Although there are significant social and cultural differences between the American society of today and that of the late 19th century, the underlying social conflict addressed in the story is still in existence. That being said, it is important to address specific storyline elements and associated problems in "The Yellow Wallpaper" before offering my solution.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a story about a woman who has been diagnosed by her husband as having a "temporary nervous depression" (Gilman, 589). Her husband John rents a house for the Summer, believing that the change in environment will secure her recovery. Yet he persists in treating her illness with isolation-- socially, intellectually and physically. She is not permitted to write or venture outside the house and has very limited social contact. John believes that too much "stimulation" will only worsen her condition. However, his treatment quickly turns sour: detached from everything she holds dear, she finds herself spending the majority of her time in the upstairs bedroom where she becomes obsessed with her surrounding environment-- most specifically, the wallpaper. She writes about it frequently, describing it with terms such as "repellent, almost revolting" and "horrid" and giving painfully detailed descriptions of its intricate patterns (Gilman, 591, 593). Realizing that she is slowly losing her mind, she makes a plea to her husband to release her from treatment. In the end she loses her sanity: she convinces herself that she has become the woman "trapped" inside the wallpaper.
Her downfall was painfully sad yet
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a story about a woman who has been diagnosed by her husband as having a "temporary nervous depression" (Gilman, 589). Her husband John rents a house for the Summer, believing that the change in environment will secure her recovery. Yet he persists in treating her illness with isolation-- socially, intellectually and physically. She is not permitted to write or venture outside the house and has very limited social contact. John believes that too much "stimulation" will only worsen her condition. However, his treatment quickly turns sour: detached from everything she holds dear, she finds herself spending the majority of her time in the upstairs bedroom where she becomes obsessed with her surrounding environment-- most specifically, the wallpaper. She writes about it frequently, describing it with terms such as "repellent, almost revolting" and "horrid" and giving painfully detailed descriptions of its intricate patterns (Gilman, 591, 593). Realizing that she is slowly losing her mind, she makes a plea to her husband to release her from treatment. In the end she loses her sanity: she convinces herself that she has become the woman "trapped" inside the wallpaper.
Her downfall was painfully sad yet