The Yellow Wallpaper Insanity Analysis

In The Yellow Wallpaper, I believe the narrator is suffering from insanity. Her insanity is not due to any prior mental health issue. I believe it is directly because of her detrimental relationship with her husband. Her husband, John, means well, but he is a symbol of male dominancy and the negative consequences it has on women. He assumed throughout the novel what was best for the protagonist, never once asking her herself. Whenever she verbally voiced her feelings to him, he would ignore her, insisting that he knew what was best for her. He used his career of physician as proof that he knew what was best for her well-being. However, I would argue that even if his career was different, he would still be just as controlling as he is as a …show more content…
She hated it at first, detesting the look of it, but once she began to see things moving behind it, she becomes obsessed with figuring out what was behind the wall that was trying to escape. The wallpaper itself is a symbol of the protagonist situation. The protagonist described the form behind the wallpaper as a woman “stooping down” and “creeping about”. She later goes on to say that she noticed that moonlight reflected on the wallpaper pattern and created bars (518). At the end of the novel, you see the narrator creeping about, much like the form behind the wall was. This was after she tore down the wall, freeing herself. She was caged in by male society and her husband. She wished to be free from it all, and the yellow wallpaper was the manifestation of her desire to be …show more content…
Even simple behavioral issues, which was the case for Rosemary Kennedy who was lobotomized by order from her father, was solved with lobotomy, when it could have been resolved with therapy. I think the lack of mental health awareness is the main issue is in this novel. Because John didn’t know any better, despite being educated, he truly thought this was the best thing for her…but mostly for him, as he wanted her to be cure as quickly as possible for his sake. The protagonist started off with nervous fits, which could have been easily cure. The answer wasn’t to strip her of the things that made her human. Her creativity wasn’t the issue. For Rosemary Kennedy’s case as well, there was nothing wrong with their brains that needed to be fixed or cure. These women were crying out for help, as they wanted to be acknowledge and listened too. These women needed therapy. Not to be locked away with nothing to do but sleep and eat or have their brain tinkered with. The men are at fault here. John’s lack of knowledge caused his wife to condition to deteriorate from nervous feats, to pareidolia, to complete