The Yellow Wallpaper - 1156 Words

The Yellow Wallpaper: In the 19th century, mental illness was an uncommon issue to be discussed. The public would treat the illness only by avoiding the matter and forcing the sick to feel helpless. At that time, the medical profession had not yet distinguished between diseases of the mind and diseases of the brain. Neurologists such as Dr. Silas Mitchell treated the problems that would now be treated by psychiatrists, such as depression. The most accepted cure was Mitchells â€Å"Rest Cure,† which required complete isolation from family and friends. It forbid any type of mental or physical energy, and required total bed rest. The harsh results of the â€Å"Rest Cure† are easily seen in the story titled â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† written by†¦show more content†¦C. Skey, a Victorian Age physician. (Showalter, p. 130) In fact, as shown in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, strong and creative women were forbidden from exercising their minds and bodies. They often struck out with fits of hysteria, or became extremely depressed because they could not find useful outlets for their energy. The narrator was unable to express her thoughts through writing, because her health depended upon her remaining relaxed and peaceful. In addition, postpartum depression was not diagnosed as a reasonable condition during Gilmans time. Motherhood brings significant hormonal and other changes that require psychological adjustment. After giving birth, some women become extremely depressed. Postpartum depression, coupled with the unfair social constraints of the Victorian Era, drove some women mad, causing serious mental illness and even suicide. (Showalter, p. 130) The main character in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† encounters many signs of entrapment. Her mind and body are unable to escape the toucher of the â€Å"Rest Cure† given to her by her husband. It is apparent from the beginning of the story that her husbandShow MoreRelatedThe Yellow Wallpaper829 Words   |  4 Pages The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper first appeared in 1892 and became a notary piece of literature for it s historical and influential context. Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper was a first hand account of the oppression faced toward females and the mentally ill,whom were both shunned in society in the late 1890s. It is the story of an unnamed woman confined by her doctor-husband to an attic nursery with barred windows and a bolted down bed. Forbidden to writeRead More The yellow wallpaper619 Words   |  3 Pages nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The plot of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† comes from a moderation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s personal experience. In 1887, just two years after the birth of her first child, Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell diagnosed Gilman with neurasthenia, an emotional disorder characterized by fatigue and depression. Mitchell decided that the best prescription would be a â€Å"rest cure†. Mitchell encouraged Gilman to â€Å"Live a domestic l ife as far as possible,† to â€Å"have two hours’ intellectual lifeRead MoreYellow Wallpaper1095 Words   |  5 Pagesand treatments played in reinforcing the prevailing, male-dominant gender roles through the subversion, manipulation and degrading of female experience through the use of medical treatments and power structures. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å" The Yellow Wallpaper† is a perfect example of these themes. In writing this story, Charlotte Perkins Gilman drew upon her own personal experiences with hysteria. The adoption of the sick-role was a product of-and a reaction against gender norms and all of the pressuresRead MoreYellow Wallpaper1673 Words   |  7 PagesSvetlana Kryzhanovskaya Prof. Grajeda ENC 3014-MidTerm Paper March 12, 2012 Structuralism amp; Feminist Theory ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ written by Charlotte Gilman can be affectively analyzed from two schools of thought structuralism and feminist theory. Though structuralists’ deny the work of literature any connection to its author (it must be what it is, no underlying meaning) feminist theory must first and foremost be understood in its historical framework. By the turn of the century,Read MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper3202 Words   |  13 PagesEnglish 1302 22 November 2011 Main Character’s Outsider Theme In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, the narrator, Jane, is struggling to deal with her depression that she is suffering in a confined room that her husband, John put her in. John believes that this will cure Jane and make her better from her depression. Instead, Jane is slowly losing herself within the yellow wallpaper in the room causing her to become insane. Jane is not able to express her feelings with her husbandRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper1362 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† Charlotte Perkins Gilman â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is gothic psychological short story written in journal-style with first-person narrative. Other elements used in the story are symbols, irony, foreshadowing, and imagery. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper is about a woman who suffers from postpartum depression. Her husband, a physician, puts her on â€Å"rest cure of quiet and solitude.† (Wilson 278). This cure consisted of the narrator being confinedRead More The Yellow Wallpaper1466 Words   |  6 Pagesfeminist socialist and a realist novelist capture moments that make their readers rethink life and the world surrounding. Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† was first published in 1892, about a white middle-class woman who was confined to an upstairs room by her husband and doctor, the room’s wallpaper imprisons her and as well as liberates herself when she tears the wallpaper off at the end of the story. On the other hand, Craneâ₠¬â„¢s 1893 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is the realist account of a New York girlRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper961 Words   |  4 Pages The Yellow Paper is a symbolic story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It is a disheartening tale of a woman struggling to free herself from postpartum depression. This story gives an account of an emotionally and intellectual deteriorated woman who is a wife and a mother who is struggling to break free from her metal prison and find peace. The post-partum depression forced her to look for a neurologist doctor who gives a rest cure. She was supposed to have a strict bed rest. The woman livedRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper1844 Words   |  8 PagesSarah Kreeger EngWr 301 Professor Bradford 21 July 2013 Short Story Analysis The Yellow Wallpaper: The Power of Society’s Views On the Care of Mental Patients â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman takes the form of journal entries of a woman undergoing treatment for postpartum depression. Her form of treatment is the â€Å"resting cure,† in which a person is isolated and put on bed rest. Her only social interaction is with her sister-in-law Jennie and her husband, John, who is alsoRead Moreyellow wallpaper1165 Words   |  5 PagesIn the short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, talks about a woman who is newly married and is a mother who is in depression. â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper† is written as the secret journal of a woman who, failing to relish the joys of marriage and motherhood, is sentenced to a country rest cure. Though she longs to write, her husband - doctor forbid it. The narrator feels trapped by both her husband and surroundings. The woman she sees behind the wallpaper is a symbol of herself and