The Yellow Wallpaper Theme Essay
MacKenzie Land
Ms. Herndon
LNG 332
1 February 2016
Themes of “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Throughout the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman demonstrates how little society knew about mental illness in the Victorian era, the madness boredom can cause, and the subordination of women. The narrator’s husband, John, has the desire to help his wife’s “nervous condition” and "slight hysterical tendencies" in any way he knows how. In a research paper done by Michigan State University "Many medical analyses point to postpartum depression, or even postpartum psychosis, as the illness from which both women suffered" (Her Phycology of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow). Him, as well as her brother are both physicians. Although they …show more content…
John inserted his power over the narrator and made it known it to her. He "takes all care from me (the narrator), and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more" (769). The narrator is only allowed to rest in her room and occasionally take walks through the summer home's courtyard and garden. John forbids her from taking care of her own child and instead "Mary is so good with the baby... and yet I cannot be with him" (770). Because of the limitations she faces due to her treatment she "must put this (her journal) away, he hates to have me write a word" (769). The role of John is to be the rational, experienced thinker while the narrators is to do as she's told and obey her husband, so she can kick the disorder. She believes if a "physician of high standing, and ones own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression, a slight hysterical tendency, what is one to do?" (768). This is due to the fact that John has led her to feel that his knowledge as a doctor overrides her feelings as another human being. Therefore he is right, so she must not question his authority. John does want to see his wife cured, but he treats his disorder more as a joke which in turn makes her question herself and her decision. This eventually drives her even more mad than she was to begin with and was what John was trying to prevent the whole
Ms. Herndon
LNG 332
1 February 2016
Themes of “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Throughout the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman demonstrates how little society knew about mental illness in the Victorian era, the madness boredom can cause, and the subordination of women. The narrator’s husband, John, has the desire to help his wife’s “nervous condition” and "slight hysterical tendencies" in any way he knows how. In a research paper done by Michigan State University "Many medical analyses point to postpartum depression, or even postpartum psychosis, as the illness from which both women suffered" (Her Phycology of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow). Him, as well as her brother are both physicians. Although they …show more content…
John inserted his power over the narrator and made it known it to her. He "takes all care from me (the narrator), and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more" (769). The narrator is only allowed to rest in her room and occasionally take walks through the summer home's courtyard and garden. John forbids her from taking care of her own child and instead "Mary is so good with the baby... and yet I cannot be with him" (770). Because of the limitations she faces due to her treatment she "must put this (her journal) away, he hates to have me write a word" (769). The role of John is to be the rational, experienced thinker while the narrators is to do as she's told and obey her husband, so she can kick the disorder. She believes if a "physician of high standing, and ones own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression, a slight hysterical tendency, what is one to do?" (768). This is due to the fact that John has led her to feel that his knowledge as a doctor overrides her feelings as another human being. Therefore he is right, so she must not question his authority. John does want to see his wife cured, but he treats his disorder more as a joke which in turn makes her question herself and her decision. This eventually drives her even more mad than she was to begin with and was what John was trying to prevent the whole