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
diagnosable condition causes her mental state to decline even further, eventually triggering a breakdown.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman could have easily written this strange short story from another point of view, however she intentionally places readers in a 1st person to give them a better understanding of the main character’s mental journey. Although this makes the ending rather confusing at first glance, it is necessary to help the audience grasp just how far the narrator is away from sanity. If the story had been from another point of view, or even written by John, readers would have formed very different views about the credibility of the woman’s story, skewed by John’s perceived credibility as a doctor. For the beginning of the story, at least, readers know that the narrator is self aware and fairly normal, aside from her unstable emotions. Even as her mental state becomes worse, she is conscious of the change, and hides it from John. By the conclusion of the story, there is no denying her mania, regardless of how it is communicated to the audience, but communicating it through 1st person gives the people the clearest understanding

In addition to 1st person narration, there is powerful symbolism placed throughout the story that helps readers understand John’s treatment of his wife and empathize with her feeling of being trapped. For example, the narrator says several times that she much prefers the rooms downstairs to the old nursery they are in. However, John insists that the nursery is the best place for her because it is a big, airy room with a large window, even though it is barred shut. This brings to light how he views his wife - a child that needs to be contained and taken care of. This is also an example of dramatic irony, because while the narrator is confined upstairs, the real child of the family, their newborn son, is downstairs with little supervision. He constantly tells her to sleep, has his sister check on her at all hours, and threatens to send her away if she doesn’t get better. Although, despite John’s view of her, readers know through her writing that she has a mind of her own, and is slowly going mad while being cooped up in the nursery.

Furthermore, domestic ideology is a common theme throughout Gilman’s writing.
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
wife.

Finally, Gilman’s choice of words aids readers in understanding the narrator’s struggle of hiding her truly unstable mental state from her “all knowing” husband. She says, “I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time. Of course I don’t when John is here, or anybody else, but when I am alone.” (Gilman 650)
For example, at the end of the story, after bursting into the room to find his wife in a state of psychosis, John faints in the doorway. In response to this, the narrator remarks, “Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time” (Gilman 656) The word “creep” is very important in this passage, and is used throughout the story when she is doing something she knows John won’t approve of. This final moment of creeping over her husband is symbolic of her finally escaping the confines of her marriage and the strong patriarchy of this era, thus taking back control of her child and her sanity.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman brings to life an issue of the 19th century that is still prevalent even today. Although the narrator of the story is told again and again that she has nothing more than a fit of nerves, she actually has a case of postpartum psychosis. Her husband’s ignorance and prescribed treatment for her clearly diagnosable condition causes her mental state to decline even further, eventually triggering a breakdown.