Insanity In Jane Stetson's The Yellow Wallpaper
By staring at, ‘[the] recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down,”(pg. 649, Stetson) the protagonist, the narrator, from ‘The Yellow Wallpaper becomes insane. However in this case, the narrator’s insanity develops a form of emotional and mental liberation for herself.
In order to cure her mental illness, the narrator is prescribed to the rest cure but her husband John. The prescription of the rest cure caused the narrator to change her entire identity from when she first entered her treatment. During her treatment Jane begins to feel that, “life is way more exciting now than it used to be. You see I have something more to expect, to look forward to, to watch.”(pg. 653, Stetson) This is able to develop a sense of mental liberation for the narrator as she becomes fascinated in the distinct yellow wallpaper, freeing her from her physical entrapment of where her treatment took place. …show more content…
As the narrator begins to find herself becoming mentally liberated from her physical entrapment, a form of symbolism arises as she begins to rip down the yellow wallpaper.
The narrator portrays liberation as she claims, “ Jennie looked at the wall in amazement, but I told her merrily that I did it out of spite at the vicious thing.” (655. Stetson) In this case the yellow wallpaper symbolizes the narrator being restricted or ‘walled’ in. By ripping down the wallpaper, this further symbolizes the narrator destroying any form of confinement she may have endured before or during her treatment, giving a form of both mental and emotional
empowerment.
As forms of symbolism are developed, the narrator’s development of insanity can be reflected back onto society’s view of insanity in that time period. The reason for the narrator being put on the rest cure is due to “[a] temporary nervous depression [and] a slight hysterical tendency.” (pg. 648) The societal view on insanity back in the 1890’s was not very accepting or knowledgeable as people felt that physical treatments such as the rest cure was necessary. Due to the very simple minded view on insanity back in this time period, this further lead to the evolution of liberation for the narrator as she became more mentally independent. As insanity began to progress on her, she began to lose the importance of her woman gender role that took place back in the 1890’s and simply became her own person without a male superior.
In order to cure her mental illness, the narrator is prescribed to the rest cure but her husband John. The prescription of the rest cure caused the narrator to change her entire identity from when she first entered her treatment. During her treatment Jane begins to feel that, “life is way more exciting now than it used to be. You see I have something more to expect, to look forward to, to watch.”(pg. 653, Stetson) This is able to develop a sense of mental liberation for the narrator as she becomes fascinated in the distinct yellow wallpaper, freeing her from her physical entrapment of where her treatment took place. …show more content…
As the narrator begins to find herself becoming mentally liberated from her physical entrapment, a form of symbolism arises as she begins to rip down the yellow wallpaper.
The narrator portrays liberation as she claims, “ Jennie looked at the wall in amazement, but I told her merrily that I did it out of spite at the vicious thing.” (655. Stetson) In this case the yellow wallpaper symbolizes the narrator being restricted or ‘walled’ in. By ripping down the wallpaper, this further symbolizes the narrator destroying any form of confinement she may have endured before or during her treatment, giving a form of both mental and emotional
empowerment.
As forms of symbolism are developed, the narrator’s development of insanity can be reflected back onto society’s view of insanity in that time period. The reason for the narrator being put on the rest cure is due to “[a] temporary nervous depression [and] a slight hysterical tendency.” (pg. 648) The societal view on insanity back in the 1890’s was not very accepting or knowledgeable as people felt that physical treatments such as the rest cure was necessary. Due to the very simple minded view on insanity back in this time period, this further lead to the evolution of liberation for the narrator as she became more mentally independent. As insanity began to progress on her, she began to lose the importance of her woman gender role that took place back in the 1890’s and simply became her own person without a male superior.