Emotional Breakdown In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a thrilling story narrated by a woman who experiences an emotional breakdown without an obvious reason. The reader can only assume that it is because she is mentally sick, being diagnosed by her husband as having “temporary nervous depression — a slight hysterical tendency” (Gilman). Although the narrator never specifies what has caused this condition, it is possible that her husband’s diagnosis is true or she could be experiencing depression after having a child. The story begins as the narrator moves into a new house for the summer with her husband, John, who is a physician. He recommends for his wife to get rest, fresh air, sleep, and exercise in order to get well. He stresses the
importance of her not doing any work, explaining that she needs to get well. The narrator is skeptical of this treatment, confiding in her diary: “Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?” (Gilman) Although her husband advises against writing because it is “work”, it is a vessel into the narrators thoughts and her slow mental deterioration is shown, ending with a complete breakdown. So rather than curing her condition, the rest cure ends up destroying her sanity. It seems as though it is merely her husband’s attempt to ‘fix’ a woman whose behavior does not fall within the accepted social norms of what a woman should act like. In the story the narrator briefly uses the word “baby” in a context that suggests that she could have given birth recently. She explains how difficult it is for her to complete relatively easy tasks and then says, “It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby!
And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous.” (Gilman) This is the only time the baby is mentioned throughout the entire story, but it could be a possible explanation as to why she is depressed. It is now a common finding for mothers to suffer from postpartum depression soon after having their child, but this was not a known condition when the story was published during the late nineteenth century.
importance of her not doing any work, explaining that she needs to get well. The narrator is skeptical of this treatment, confiding in her diary: “Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?” (Gilman) Although her husband advises against writing because it is “work”, it is a vessel into the narrators thoughts and her slow mental deterioration is shown, ending with a complete breakdown. So rather than curing her condition, the rest cure ends up destroying her sanity. It seems as though it is merely her husband’s attempt to ‘fix’ a woman whose behavior does not fall within the accepted social norms of what a woman should act like. In the story the narrator briefly uses the word “baby” in a context that suggests that she could have given birth recently. She explains how difficult it is for her to complete relatively easy tasks and then says, “It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby!
And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous.” (Gilman) This is the only time the baby is mentioned throughout the entire story, but it could be a possible explanation as to why she is depressed. It is now a common finding for mothers to suffer from postpartum depression soon after having their child, but this was not a known condition when the story was published during the late nineteenth century.