Self Expression In Charlotte Perkins Stetson's The Yellow Wall

Has there ever been a time that you felt you needed to express yourself? Have you ever been denied the right to do so? Did you feel like you were going insane? In the short story “The Yellow Wall-paper,” Charlotte Perkins Stetson presents a young woman who was denied the right to self expression. The woman is diagnosed by her husband, John, and his brother, who are both physicians. They prescribe her a treatment called “rest cure.” In this treatment the woman does very minimal actions. Plus, she is prohibited to perform any activity that would exhibit work, excitement, or change. Throughout the story the woman battles with determining what is tangible and what is simply in her head as the treatment progresses. Eventually, she loses her sanity and sight of who she really is because she isn 't permitted to express herself or have any interaction with other individuals. This mistreatment of the womannfortunately, this is still somewhat of a problem in today 's society. Some experts think that self expression hinders and even damages people, especially when those people are mentally ill. Until people see …show more content…
Whether it was neglect from John to the narrator in regard to the narrator’s mental illness, or neglect from the narrator to herself in regard to turning into someone else. Many parts of this story could have been completely changed had it not been for the mistreatment of the mental illness shown in the narrator. The treatment of mental illness has come a long way since these times, but there is definitely more that can be done when it comes to specific mental illnesses. Earlier detection is one of these things. Society also needs to realize that mental illness is a real thing that happens to more people than anyone would think. If society could be more welcoming and accepting when it came to mental illnesses we would be able to treat people sooner and there would be many less severe outcomes of these mental