What Makes Jane Better?

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is one of the most grueling and eye-opening short stories of her time. Published in 1892, Gilman didn’t convey much sympathy for herself. As if the inequality towards certain races wasn’t bad enough, there wasn’t even equality for genders at the time, yet despite this, Gilman surged forward and created a fiction short story that described her brutal and unequal treatment that eventually led to dire consequences. The story provided much debate about equality at the time and left many puzzled. A writer for Encyclopedia Britannica states, “The Yellow Wallpaper, initially interpreted as a Gothic horror tale, was considered the best as well as the least-characteristic work of fiction by Gilman.”
This is exactly what happens with Jane. Instead of being helped, she was shut up in a room to hopefully get better. John most likely means well, but ends up becoming a jailer. John as a jailer might seem quite harsh, after all, he is doing what he thinks will make Jane better. Although John may believe this will make Jane better, he has failed to evaluate or view as a husband what she is really going through. Since he has not done this he is only acting on what he thinks will make Jane better, and as we’ve seen in previously, John doesn’t seem to be very good at much of anything. Jane is sent into imprisonment, yet John seems to be having a fun time with it, picking out where she stays, when and how she will continue to stay, etc. His constant dictatorship is transparent throughout the work I and even more so as a jailor. In statements like these by Jane, Gilman makes this apparent, “He said we came here solely on my account, that I was to have perfect rest and all the air I could get” (Gilman 7). Even when it sounds like John may be looking to the interest of his wife by taking her on vacation, he is really just trying to enforce his own beliefs, continuing his role of a jailer. This factors in something that has been exasperated by Gilman throughout the work, John’s over controlling of Jane. John before has been dismissive and treats Jane like a child, but he also is distinctively controlling. Mary Dunn states just this saying, “The reader is immediately aware of the condescending attitude of the physician husband toward his wife. She is relegated against her will” (Dunn). John uses his power as a physician and position as a husband to become a jailer to Jane. If that doesn’t clearly depict arrogance and selfishness, nothing does. John uses his roles to make decisions for himself, and not for