The Yellow Wallpaper and Women’s Mental Health
Society’s view of women as fragile, subservient, easily excited creatures propelled many of them into madness during the 1800s and early 1900s when the “Rest Cure” was pushed by a patriarchal medical community. Dr. Weir Mitchell developed the “Rest Cure” in the late 1800s for the treatment of hysteria, neurasthenia and other nervous illnesses (Science Museum). This widely prescribed, though now notorious treatment, was a way of life for many women and is a prominent feature of Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” where we explore the effects of this patriarchal imposition on women’s mental health. By stifling his wife’s creativity and freedom, John forces her into a corner where she’s trapped by her …show more content…
Per the Mayo Clinic, Postpartum depression typically manifests with the following signs “Mood swings, anxiety, sadness, irritability, feeling overwhelmed, crying, reduced concentration, appetite problems, trouble sleeping.” (“Postpartum depression”) Our narrator displays quite a few of these signs, especially when John meddles with her freedom and ability to be a mother. “-- Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous!” (Gardener 78). This nervousness, that originally sparked the Rest Cure fix, is exasperated by the vicious looming presence of the wallpaper in her room. The narrator is panicked by “—a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down (Gardener 79)”. After bringing up her nervousness about this wallpaper, John laughs her off and says that “nothing was worse for a nervous patent than to give way to such fancies.” (Gardener 78) Basically cutting all confidence in her, and causing her to obsess more and more over the paper – which would have been an easy fix. The narrator tells us that as a young child she used to “lie awake as a child and get more entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture than most children could find in a toy-store.” (Gardener 79) This entertainment and terror could be an example of the narrator’s mental state her whole life, as one of the risk factors of postpartum depression is a history of depression (“Postpartum depression”). On the other hand, postpartum psychosis is much more severe and a person who has this needs to seek immediate help. The Mayo Clinic lists symptoms postpartum psychosis as “Confusion and disorientation, obsessive thoughts about your baby, hallucinations and delusions, sleep disturbances, paranoia and attempts to harm yourself or your baby.” (“Postpartum depression”). Gilman brilliantly shows
Society’s view of women as fragile, subservient, easily excited creatures propelled many of them into madness during the 1800s and early 1900s when the “Rest Cure” was pushed by a patriarchal medical community. Dr. Weir Mitchell developed the “Rest Cure” in the late 1800s for the treatment of hysteria, neurasthenia and other nervous illnesses (Science Museum). This widely prescribed, though now notorious treatment, was a way of life for many women and is a prominent feature of Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” where we explore the effects of this patriarchal imposition on women’s mental health. By stifling his wife’s creativity and freedom, John forces her into a corner where she’s trapped by her …show more content…
Per the Mayo Clinic, Postpartum depression typically manifests with the following signs “Mood swings, anxiety, sadness, irritability, feeling overwhelmed, crying, reduced concentration, appetite problems, trouble sleeping.” (“Postpartum depression”) Our narrator displays quite a few of these signs, especially when John meddles with her freedom and ability to be a mother. “-- Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous!” (Gardener 78). This nervousness, that originally sparked the Rest Cure fix, is exasperated by the vicious looming presence of the wallpaper in her room. The narrator is panicked by “—a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down (Gardener 79)”. After bringing up her nervousness about this wallpaper, John laughs her off and says that “nothing was worse for a nervous patent than to give way to such fancies.” (Gardener 78) Basically cutting all confidence in her, and causing her to obsess more and more over the paper – which would have been an easy fix. The narrator tells us that as a young child she used to “lie awake as a child and get more entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture than most children could find in a toy-store.” (Gardener 79) This entertainment and terror could be an example of the narrator’s mental state her whole life, as one of the risk factors of postpartum depression is a history of depression (“Postpartum depression”). On the other hand, postpartum psychosis is much more severe and a person who has this needs to seek immediate help. The Mayo Clinic lists symptoms postpartum psychosis as “Confusion and disorientation, obsessive thoughts about your baby, hallucinations and delusions, sleep disturbances, paranoia and attempts to harm yourself or your baby.” (“Postpartum depression”). Gilman brilliantly shows