The Role Of Mental Illness In The Yellow Wallpaper

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is considered a feminist piece of literature because it is written by a woman, and deals with the issue of male doctor’s treatment of women with possible mental illness; based on unscientific theories about what causes mental illness and the best treatments. The male medical hypothesis is that the lady in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is suffering from, “…-a slight hysterical tendency-…” (526) , according to Gilman. This was a common diagnosis at the time and was a way to keep women locked away in the house. The diagnosis is no longer recognized in modern times as valid. If she was diagnosed with anything by modern doctors, than it would be some form of depression which the treatment would be therapy, possible medication, exercise, and meditation. A good therapist might just tell her that she just needs to get a job, hobby, friends, or join a gym.
The other reason "The Yellow Wallpaper" is considered a feminist piece of literature is because of the ending. The narrator in the story is going nutty since she can’t do the normal things that she likes to do and is starting to imagine things in the wallpaper like a lady creeping behind it. She has already started imagining a lot of things in the wallpaper that probably were not there but that she just made up. She
I thought the lady creeping behind the wallpaper was real and some kind of supernatural entity. The writing style and the narrator’s descent into madness made me think of a H.P. Lovecraft story about the Cthulhu Mythos. I thought it was a good story that kept you guessing if the creeping lady was real or not all the way up until the end. I think this story is a good example of a possibly unreliable narrator since she has been diagnosed with some form of mental illness at the beginning of the story. I kept asking, “Is she crazy or not?” I could not be positive because the diagnosis is not recognized by modern