The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Throughout history women have represented differently in literature throughout time as the opinions and few of women changed. What started in the early ages as viewing women as objects, property and “do alls” for men, was exhibited in the literature of that time. In the short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, she shows the views of women in her time period by; her explanation of undiagnosed postpartum depression, views of isolation, and the showing the men in her main character's life.
Throughout most of the story the audience witnesses, the daily struggles the main character faces in the point of her life that she is in, what in the 21st century would be known as postpartum depression, in Gilman's time would have gone undiagnosed. We as the audience see very little quotes throughout the whole story pertaining to the baby, this alone can be enough to show us that the narrator, may …show more content…
not wholeheartedly care for her child. Although we do have one quote, on page 248 that reads, “It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby” (Gilman 248)! Through the narrator saying this we can assume that there is a slight possibility that maybe the narrator does not trust herself with the child, and finds comfort in knowing that the baby is in good hands. What this says about women at this point in time is that in some cases, women were able to abandon their children, because of an undiagnosed illness. What this says about women is that they were viewed as very fragile and weak, meaning that they could not be capable of being mothers while at the same time powering through a struggle in her personal life, and that she must be ripped away from her child to be “cured” of an illness that, at the time, was not even known.
Through our main characters struggle of undiagnosed postpartum depression we see her struggle also with isolation as a form of a "curative vacation". The narrator seems to struggle with isolation as the story progresses, this isolation is Dr.'s orders as a cure for her depression, this type of isolation is something that our narrator doesn't even seem to know is happening. “Of course I didn't do a thing. Jennie sees to everything now” (Gilman 250). The reader learns of the narrator's struggles, she is made to lay down of this bed, and simply rest, she may not read, write, or speak to anyone beside her nurse aide, Jennie. This is reason enough to believe that the narrator was driven mad by her own isolation. In this the reader can understand how little was known about women at the time, through this treatment of women, it shows the reader that at Gilmans time, women who seen as “hysterical” were locked away, and forced to cure themselves in an sense of, there was no medical cure besides rest.
In the story, that shows a women driven mad by her own husband, we can infer that a lot of her unnecessary stress through her illness, comes from the source of her husband.
In the story both her brother and husband are doctors we know at this time that there was no law about conflict of interest so we can assume as the reader that her husband is the one that diagnosed her with this illness that also wasn't even really an illness. We see that she follows her husband's orders as if he is a doctor even though he is a doctor legally he shouldn't be her doctor. “And dear John gathered me up in his arms, and just carried me upstairs and laid me on the bed, and sat by me and read to me till it tired my head” (Gilman 251). In this we see that John cares for his wife, but it is uncertain if that care is from a marital point of view or a doctor point of view. This is unsettling to the listener of the narrator's story, because it shows us that at this point in history, women have no right to choose their own doctor, or have the ability to have a say so in their
treatment.
Throughout history women have been viewed as objects, property and slaves to their husbands. These views reflect in literature throughout the ages and give current women an insight as to how life was in the past. We as 21st century women are very grateful to the women of the past who have suffered through objections like those our narrator in, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, suffered through.
Throughout most of the story the audience witnesses, the daily struggles the main character faces in the point of her life that she is in, what in the 21st century would be known as postpartum depression, in Gilman's time would have gone undiagnosed. We as the audience see very little quotes throughout the whole story pertaining to the baby, this alone can be enough to show us that the narrator, may …show more content…
not wholeheartedly care for her child. Although we do have one quote, on page 248 that reads, “It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby” (Gilman 248)! Through the narrator saying this we can assume that there is a slight possibility that maybe the narrator does not trust herself with the child, and finds comfort in knowing that the baby is in good hands. What this says about women at this point in time is that in some cases, women were able to abandon their children, because of an undiagnosed illness. What this says about women is that they were viewed as very fragile and weak, meaning that they could not be capable of being mothers while at the same time powering through a struggle in her personal life, and that she must be ripped away from her child to be “cured” of an illness that, at the time, was not even known.
Through our main characters struggle of undiagnosed postpartum depression we see her struggle also with isolation as a form of a "curative vacation". The narrator seems to struggle with isolation as the story progresses, this isolation is Dr.'s orders as a cure for her depression, this type of isolation is something that our narrator doesn't even seem to know is happening. “Of course I didn't do a thing. Jennie sees to everything now” (Gilman 250). The reader learns of the narrator's struggles, she is made to lay down of this bed, and simply rest, she may not read, write, or speak to anyone beside her nurse aide, Jennie. This is reason enough to believe that the narrator was driven mad by her own isolation. In this the reader can understand how little was known about women at the time, through this treatment of women, it shows the reader that at Gilmans time, women who seen as “hysterical” were locked away, and forced to cure themselves in an sense of, there was no medical cure besides rest.
In the story, that shows a women driven mad by her own husband, we can infer that a lot of her unnecessary stress through her illness, comes from the source of her husband.
In the story both her brother and husband are doctors we know at this time that there was no law about conflict of interest so we can assume as the reader that her husband is the one that diagnosed her with this illness that also wasn't even really an illness. We see that she follows her husband's orders as if he is a doctor even though he is a doctor legally he shouldn't be her doctor. “And dear John gathered me up in his arms, and just carried me upstairs and laid me on the bed, and sat by me and read to me till it tired my head” (Gilman 251). In this we see that John cares for his wife, but it is uncertain if that care is from a marital point of view or a doctor point of view. This is unsettling to the listener of the narrator's story, because it shows us that at this point in history, women have no right to choose their own doctor, or have the ability to have a say so in their
treatment.
Throughout history women have been viewed as objects, property and slaves to their husbands. These views reflect in literature throughout the ages and give current women an insight as to how life was in the past. We as 21st century women are very grateful to the women of the past who have suffered through objections like those our narrator in, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, suffered through.