Yellow Wallpaper Mental Illness
Having a serious mental illness can limit one’s freedom. The person may want to be free, but the illness will not let them. Consuming everything about the persons, sometimes making them unrecognizable to others. In The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman the main character goes through the process of losing herself to her illness. While her husband tries to treat her, he invalidates her feelings allowing her illness to progress. While at first the main character wants to be from the illness she ultimately succumbs to it. Deciding that the illness is her and she no longer wants to be free. Digger deeper into the The Yellow Wallpaper text one can argue main character is afraid of becoming her old self again. By John doctor he is now controls her treatment and illness. The main character has no choice, but to listen to John since he
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is her husband and doctor. He doesn’t realize the full extent of her illness. Instead of listening to her pleas he forces to stay in bed all day isolated from the world. I shall go mad with boredom you don’t have to stay here all the time alone (Dir. John Clive). Being forced into isolation is making forcing her to become more ill. By being trapped in room she is forced to deal with her own thoughts. The worse part of John treatment is he is taking away her freedom. He controls her actions, schedule and what she eats. Breakfast in bed at ten o’clock; eleven thirty in garden if weather is mild: twelve strong beef tea (Dir. John Clive). This just some of the schedule she has to follow every day. She is only allowed to do what he allow her to do. John not listening to her needs makes the illness worse. Her illness becomes so bad that she starts to lose herself. It is easy to see how the main character loses herself to her illness.
Besides John treatment she is stuck in a room surrounded by yellow wallpaper. The yellow wallpaper becomes her obsession the only thing to occupy her time. Willing to follow the pointless pattern to some type of conclusion (Gillman Pg.534). Even though the pattern has no meaning she will make it have meaning. The paper eventually causes her to go mad becomes it not only consumes her, but represents her. John knew the vicious influence it had on her (Gilman Pg.535). While he was ignoring her, the illness was speaking to her through the wallpaper. “The front pattern does move the woman behind shakes it” (Gilman Pg.537). The wallpaper is speaking to her through the woman sees She soon realizes that she is the woman in the wallpaper and that illness has become her. I wonder if they all come out of the wallpaper as I do? (Gillman 538). Now the question becomes have any other woman gone through this experience. The main character will never know because she wants to be alone. When she first started her treatment she wanted out now she doesn’t want to
leave. Now that she realizes that she is the woman in the yellow wallpaper she refuses to leave the room. At first she hated the room and everything about it now be trapped in there for so long she come to embrace it. “I don’t want to go outside even if Jennie ask me to” (Gilman Pg. 538). Even if they try to get her to outside she will refuse to do so no longing seeing the need. What if it’s not her speaking, but the illness. I’ve got a rope up here if that women does try to leave I can tie her up (Gilman Pg. 538). If the women in the wallpaper is her then is this the illness saying that if she tries to get the better; the illness will get worse forcing her to stay in the room forever. What other reason would a woman who so desperately wanted to leave in the beginning now want to stay? Simple she has gone further and further to being in a world of her own (Dir. John Clive). In her own world she is free to be whoever she wants and does not have to listen to anyone. No one else can understand her world because no one understands her illness. To some extent she doesn’t even understand her illness. By looking at the Yellow Paper Charlotte Gilman it clearly shows the transformation of a woman who just wants to get better. She starts off sane until the illness starts to take over due in part to husband John’s neglect. By not taking her concerns seriously he allows the illness to manifest. While at first she tries to fight her illness by the end the illness has become her. Losing her sense of reality, she loses the desire to get better. Upon becoming her illness, she decides that she longer wants to be free. Even though she was truly never free to begin with. If she chooses to go outside she will be forced to become her old self again. The illness won’t allow that to happen since she can’t separate herself.
is her husband and doctor. He doesn’t realize the full extent of her illness. Instead of listening to her pleas he forces to stay in bed all day isolated from the world. I shall go mad with boredom you don’t have to stay here all the time alone (Dir. John Clive). Being forced into isolation is making forcing her to become more ill. By being trapped in room she is forced to deal with her own thoughts. The worse part of John treatment is he is taking away her freedom. He controls her actions, schedule and what she eats. Breakfast in bed at ten o’clock; eleven thirty in garden if weather is mild: twelve strong beef tea (Dir. John Clive). This just some of the schedule she has to follow every day. She is only allowed to do what he allow her to do. John not listening to her needs makes the illness worse. Her illness becomes so bad that she starts to lose herself. It is easy to see how the main character loses herself to her illness.
Besides John treatment she is stuck in a room surrounded by yellow wallpaper. The yellow wallpaper becomes her obsession the only thing to occupy her time. Willing to follow the pointless pattern to some type of conclusion (Gillman Pg.534). Even though the pattern has no meaning she will make it have meaning. The paper eventually causes her to go mad becomes it not only consumes her, but represents her. John knew the vicious influence it had on her (Gilman Pg.535). While he was ignoring her, the illness was speaking to her through the wallpaper. “The front pattern does move the woman behind shakes it” (Gilman Pg.537). The wallpaper is speaking to her through the woman sees She soon realizes that she is the woman in the wallpaper and that illness has become her. I wonder if they all come out of the wallpaper as I do? (Gillman 538). Now the question becomes have any other woman gone through this experience. The main character will never know because she wants to be alone. When she first started her treatment she wanted out now she doesn’t want to
leave. Now that she realizes that she is the woman in the yellow wallpaper she refuses to leave the room. At first she hated the room and everything about it now be trapped in there for so long she come to embrace it. “I don’t want to go outside even if Jennie ask me to” (Gilman Pg. 538). Even if they try to get her to outside she will refuse to do so no longing seeing the need. What if it’s not her speaking, but the illness. I’ve got a rope up here if that women does try to leave I can tie her up (Gilman Pg. 538). If the women in the wallpaper is her then is this the illness saying that if she tries to get the better; the illness will get worse forcing her to stay in the room forever. What other reason would a woman who so desperately wanted to leave in the beginning now want to stay? Simple she has gone further and further to being in a world of her own (Dir. John Clive). In her own world she is free to be whoever she wants and does not have to listen to anyone. No one else can understand her world because no one understands her illness. To some extent she doesn’t even understand her illness. By looking at the Yellow Paper Charlotte Gilman it clearly shows the transformation of a woman who just wants to get better. She starts off sane until the illness starts to take over due in part to husband John’s neglect. By not taking her concerns seriously he allows the illness to manifest. While at first she tries to fight her illness by the end the illness has become her. Losing her sense of reality, she loses the desire to get better. Upon becoming her illness, she decides that she longer wants to be free. Even though she was truly never free to begin with. If she chooses to go outside she will be forced to become her old self again. The illness won’t allow that to happen since she can’t separate herself.