Postpartum Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s protagonist deals with postpartum depression, amongst other factors, that puts a strain on her psyche. The house in which they are situated at, and where this whole story takes place, contains a yellow wallpaper that is the bedroom of both characters. However, for the narrator, this wallpaper irritates her and continues to diminish the minute sanity she has reserved. On top of that, her husband John has a questionable and rather ineffective way or dealing with his wife’s ailment. More so, his overall treatment of his wife comes into question since John appears to be controlling and restricting her life to meet his quota; he is denoted as a “highly renowned physician” and because of that
John recommends to his wife that she stay put – secluded in her room with limited to no social interactions – restricting her cognitive abilities in the process. Continuous “advice” leads to more and more restrictions upon what the narrator can and can’t do; not being able to write in her journal, unable to visit relatives, and not being able to indulge in the pleasure of the outdoors. “There comes John, and I must put this away, - he hates to have me write a word” (66). This behavior exhibited by John appears to be controlling; treating his own wife like a prisoner. “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (66). It appears that John seems to disregard the “suffering” his wife endures, according to his wife
Given improper treatment and attention by means of her “highly regarded” physician husband, she slowly becomes more and more insane, attributing her insanity to a yellow wallpaper and personifying it as well. Being confined to the spaces of her room and restricted from her normal life, to only live with limited function by means of her husband, she consults and attaches herself to this yellow wallpaper. Using that paper as a human being, she becomes the woman that she sees in the night, the woman trapped and crawling around- so desperately trying to escape. Instead of John’s suggested treatment of limited social interactions and being confined to the house helping his wife; it exacerbated her depression and sunk her mental state to the depths of