Patronized Depression Could it be that the cause of sin and madness is due to the limitation of the human mind? In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman tells the story of a young women who tends to distract herself by trying to free the lady inside the wall. However, this figure might not only be the thing Jane or the narrator might want to free, as she is clinically depressed, and is constantly being patronized by John her husband, who seems to limit Jane’s interaction with other people and her personal diary. The Yellow wallpaper is seen as a way to escape her depression. In this story the role of Jane is limited due to her “Condition,” and her ability to express herself. From the beginning of the story Gilman, …show more content…
The worst part of was that in there was the 1882 Married Property Act that when a women gets married she has to pass on all her wealth, and virtually there life to their husband (Women and the Law in Early 19th Century.) In the case the sacrifice of Jane is to “relive the press of [writing],” the only thing that seem to keep her at rest. However, the real reason for the downfall of the narrator is that her condition becomes worse due to the fact that there is a mysterious room that keeps calling her, and she will not stop thinking this place as this room symbolizes her isolation that she from society. The cause of the down fall of Jane is really the fault of John because he for the most part wants the narrator to stop thinking about her episodes, but in reality that only makes her think of her depression even more she is “nervous weakness.” And the worst part is that she cannot escape John even if he goes out to help his patients. In this story John is a physician, and most importantly a man both combined makes a controlling “dictator” that could drive any person crazy or to something
Him being a physician, he thinks that he is the only one that can help her and it is his job to do so, but a long with that burden he carries another one. That being the inability to cure his wife, watching her be driven to the point of insanity and fainting carries a heavy burden on his soul that he will have to carry with him for the rest of his life. John also carries a burden that is overlooked, yet this plays the biggest part of his personality and is the root of his control complex, that is the burden of death. John is a physician, so he has had many patients in the past and his work consists of him trying to help those who are struggling with diseases. Also, this being in the late 1800’s the medical technology or understanding of diseases is nowhere near the standards of today.
John is Jane’s husband who is trying to control every aspect of Jane’s life. Jane states, “There comes John, and I must put this away-he hates to have me write a word.” (Gilman) This is just one of numerous situations and statements that the narrator shares with the audience. John’s influence also plays a big part in his dysfunctional marriage with Jane.
Jane being ignored is a reason why she has some mental issues. She feels ashamed of what she is feeling and society makes it hard for her to want to talk about this with anyone. Not being able to talk about it, causes Jane’s depression to get worse with
“The Yellow Wallpaper”: Psychological, Feminist and Reliability Aspects in the Story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman does not provide much information about character’s life, but creates a good basis for discussions on different topics. Psychology is one of the main issues in this list. The short story also raises strong feminist issues and makes the reader doubt in the narrator’s reliability. While they have different topics and styles, it can be compared with stories written by different authors, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ambrose Bierce or Edgar Alan Poe.
It is ironic that Jane is seen as the guilty party in the incident with John Reed because John started the fight when he slapped Jane. Then when John’s sisters, Eliza and Georgina, go to “tattle tale” on Jane, their mother blames Jane for the whole situation. Jane compares John to a “murderer,” “slave-driver,” and “Roman Emperors” (Bronte 9). During this comparison, she is implying that he is a very cruel and awful person. That he would beat her and boss her around.
The short story, The Yellow Wallpaper was written by a lady named Charlotte Perkins Gilman. “Charlotte was a young lady born in the 1860s right into poverty. Her upbringing was in poverty and didnt have it very easy at a young age. She was born in England and at the age of 22 she married a man by the name Charles Walter Stetson. They eventually had a child and almost immediately right after the birth of the child Charlotte fell into a deep depression.
Just as Joe isolated Janie from the other people in Eatonville, John isolates his wife from the outside world, believing it will help her get better. Her isolation causes her depression to develop into hallucinations and insomnia. She envisions a woman on her bedroom wallpaper that is trapped behind a set of bars, trying to get out. The trapped woman represents the speaker, whose husband locks her away from the rest of the world. Her husband also resorts to belittling her and treats her like a child in order to get her to obey him.
Jane also includes that she is left alone for extended amounts of time. Even in John’s claims of caring he is constantly gone and away from the person who he needs to watch after most. Jane writes, “John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious” (2). There should be no reason why John would leave her alone in the country in a house she is unnerved by when he I trying to cure her nervous depression. He seems to be contradicting
One can not research social work without coming across the name Jane Addams. Jane’s work within the world of social reform, had a great deal of lasting power. She was at the time of her death, best known for establishing the Hull house and advocating for fair treatment of immigrant communities. Her work may have started in Chicago, but reached worldwide with her reform. Jane Addams influences had a wide reach with lasting results, the greatest being the Hull house.
Many people everyday write down their feelings to deal with depression. One character who embodies this is Holden Caulfield from the novel, Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger journals Holden’s life after experiencing the loss of his brother, Allie. This coping mechanism of writing down one’s feelings in order to deal with loss mirrors that of the artist Iyaz. After losing his lover, he wrote a song, titled “Solo”, which helps him to express his emotions and longing toward her.
The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story full of imaginative symbolism and descriptive settings. However, without the narrator’s unique point of view and how it affects her perception of her environment, the story would fail to inform the reader of the narrator’s emotional plummet. The gothic function of the short story is to allow the reader to be with the narrator as she gradually loses her sanity and the point of view of the narrator is key in ensuring the reader has an understanding of the narrator’s emotional and mental state throughout the story. It’s clear from the beginning of the story that the narrator’s point of view greatly differs from that of her husband’s and other family in her life.
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator is suffering from postpartum depression. The narrator 's husband John, who also happens to be her physician, prescribes the rest cure to help lift his wife of her depressive state and ultimately heal her depression. However, the rest cure does not allow the narrator to experience any mental stimulation. Therefore, to manage her boredom the narrator begins obsessing over the pattern of the yellow wallpaper. After analyzing the pattern for awhile, the narrator witnesses a woman trapped behind bars.
From the beginning, it is clear that the narrator appears as a docile and complacent. In the novel, the narrator makes it obvious that John her husband, has all control over her. She writes “If a physician of a high standing, and one husband... assures there is temporary nervous depression… what is one to do?” This shows the narrator’s position, there is nothing she can do or say.
Psychoanalytic reading of The Yellow Wallpaper In Charlotte Gilman's short story The Yellow Wallpaper, the speaker seems to be suffering from postpartum depression or "temporary nervous depression." (648). Accordingly, her husband makes the decision for her and takes her to a country house because he believes that it would be good for her. The narrator is not allowed to take care of her own child as she was imprisoned in her room where she should do nothing but "rest."
Hysteria was first discovered in Egyptian texts dating back to 1900 BC. However, in the 19th century, the epidemic began to spread in Europe and the U.S. Exclusively to women, hysteria caused a variety of side effects such as sexual desire, emotional eruptions and nervousness. It was not until psychologist Sigmund Freud debunked the illness in the 1890’s, that hysteria was pronounced a misconception. Although the myth of the disease disappeared, the stigmas surrounding women’s behavior were still present. In Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys, and The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the female protagonists slowly slip into insanity due to the authority of their husbands.