Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Sylvia Plath’s novel, ‘The Bell Jar’, scrutinises how both women, the unnamed narrator and Esther, become mentally unstable. Both protagonists exploit their real life situations in their story and novel to emphasise how being a woman living in a patriarchal society has caused mental breakdowns. Moreover, they make attempts to explore and understand their suffering of depression and the possible ways to overcome it.
The short story is a reflection of personal experience in which Gilman identifies herself with the unnamed character. In 1886, in her first marriage and not long after the birth of her daughter, Gilman was stricken with a severe case of depression. This is evident …show more content…
The use of epistolary makes the reader feel close and in touch with her innermost thoughts. In addition, the sane state of mind that she is in, creates a disturbed feeling for the reader. The use of first person gives it a confidential tone as if the readers are colluding with her. Her husband’s dominance and her reaction to it, is reflected throughout the story. She is continually submissive, almost as if she is praying for her husband’s wishes to be fulfilled despite being depressed. The narrator mentions how her husband, John is ‘a high standing physician’, but ‘what is one to do?’ (1) The use of question expresses self-doubt and helplessness. Moreover, the repetition of ‘what is one to do’ characterizes the narrator as confused and helpless; by continuously repeating this phrase she is unable to express her feelings. This causes even greater mental anxiety as she not does have the mental competency to deal with her own depression, moreover her husband’s suppression. A similar theme is shown throughout ‘The Bell Jar’ where Esther, an autobiographical portrait of Plath, is presented as a young woman who slowly descends into madness due to personal matters and is unable to escape from it. Furthermore, the title is an extended metaphor of her suffocation from relationships and work which prevents her from connecting with the people around her. A bell jar is an inverted glass jar used to protect and display delicate objects or to maintain a vacuum. But for Esther, the bell jar symbolizes madness. “...wherever I sat - on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok - I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air” (178) - She feels as if she is inside an airless jar that changes her perspective on the world because no matter where she goes, she is trapped. This descends to isolation and
The short story is a reflection of personal experience in which Gilman identifies herself with the unnamed character. In 1886, in her first marriage and not long after the birth of her daughter, Gilman was stricken with a severe case of depression. This is evident …show more content…
The use of epistolary makes the reader feel close and in touch with her innermost thoughts. In addition, the sane state of mind that she is in, creates a disturbed feeling for the reader. The use of first person gives it a confidential tone as if the readers are colluding with her. Her husband’s dominance and her reaction to it, is reflected throughout the story. She is continually submissive, almost as if she is praying for her husband’s wishes to be fulfilled despite being depressed. The narrator mentions how her husband, John is ‘a high standing physician’, but ‘what is one to do?’ (1) The use of question expresses self-doubt and helplessness. Moreover, the repetition of ‘what is one to do’ characterizes the narrator as confused and helpless; by continuously repeating this phrase she is unable to express her feelings. This causes even greater mental anxiety as she not does have the mental competency to deal with her own depression, moreover her husband’s suppression. A similar theme is shown throughout ‘The Bell Jar’ where Esther, an autobiographical portrait of Plath, is presented as a young woman who slowly descends into madness due to personal matters and is unable to escape from it. Furthermore, the title is an extended metaphor of her suffocation from relationships and work which prevents her from connecting with the people around her. A bell jar is an inverted glass jar used to protect and display delicate objects or to maintain a vacuum. But for Esther, the bell jar symbolizes madness. “...wherever I sat - on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok - I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air” (178) - She feels as if she is inside an airless jar that changes her perspective on the world because no matter where she goes, she is trapped. This descends to isolation and