In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman explains
a story of the narrator’s decline into madness. She has a husband named John
who is a physician. He diagnoses the narrator with postpartum depression, which
was normal for women in this time period. He then basically locks her up in a
room upstairs and controls where she can travel within the house. She slowly
begins to go mad from staying in this room for so long. She keeps a journal
where she writes her thoughts and explains how the wallpaper in the room
changes in her mind. She becomes fixated on the wallpaper. She says, “The whole
thing goes horizontally, too, at least it seems so, and I exhaust myself trying
to distinguish the order of its going in that direction” (pg. 281). This
reveals just how obsessed the narrator becomes with the wallpaper. She has no
contact with the outside world, so it’s obvious that she will go mad at some
point.
Her
relationship with John seems complicated when I read it. She loves him and
believes that he’s only looking out for her well-being. She stated, “Dear John! He loves me very
dearly, and hates to have me sick. I tried to have a real earnest reasonable
talk with him the other day” (pg. 281). She thinks that he wants to see her
better, and looks over the fact that she’s locked up in this rental home. Even
so, she hides things such as the journal from John because she feels that he
will think it’s absurd to have.
In the end, she truly loses her sanity when
she believes a woman in stuck behind the wallpaper. She locks the door and
begins peeling and ripping off the wallpaper to get the woman out. John walks
in and was so shocked, he faints. Do you think anyone would go mad from being
locked-up in a room for this long without contact with the outside world?
-April Cust
I agree with April's summary of this piece. I read the Yellow Wallpaper last year in my ENG 243 class and I was very interested in this text. If I were ever stuck in a room for basically my whole life, I would begin to go insane just like the girl in the story did. I agree with April when she says, "She thinks that he wants to see her better, and looks over the fact that she’s locked up in this rental home. Even so, she hides things such as the journal from John because she feels that he will think it’s absurd to have." The husband thinks he's doing the best thing for his wife but he clearly is not. Imagine not being able to see sunlight or smell the fresh air every day.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading this piece, I thought to myself I would most definitely go mad if it was confined in a house too. I felt extremely bad for the narrator in the story. I agree with April when she says "She thinks that he wants to see her better, and looks over the fact that she’s locked up in this rental home." When women are in a abusive relationship, many times they make excuses for then husbands and try to think of the abusive actions as good actions. I feel that they do this out of fear.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aprils summary of this piece. I read the Yellow Wallpaper in high school and found it very interesting also. It is almost odd to think that at the time doctors would send someone into complete isolation in order to treat anxiety issues. Clearly this isolation method of treatment was counterproductive because the women went even more insane and thought a women was behind the walls. Today isolation is used as the worst method of imprisonment for our worst criminals and is also used as a torture method. Obviously time has changed this practice and its no longer used. I feel bad for the women having to hide her true emotions from her husband because she fears for what he will do. That is not a good relationship that they have.
ReplyDeleteHey Group! Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading through your blog. You are doing an excellent job collaborating and analyzing the readings as they relate to relationships and love. Yay for you all!!! See you tomorrow where we'll talk about Mental Illness and the Yellow Wallpaper. :) Ms. H.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the rest of my classmate's views on "Yellow Wallpaper". It is a biological fact that every human has that desire to be loved and accepted by others. The struggle of actually accepting oneself is hard enough, let alone trying to accept yourself on your own. Subjecting oneself to being isolated completely will begin to affect deeply into the individual's mental and emotional state. As seen in "Yellow Wallpaper", the toll begins to take toll on Charlotte. Keeping Charlotte isolated without little to no human communication only makes her condition worse. As April stated earlier, Charlotte has a very seesaw relationship with John, which takes a toll on her sanity as well. Having both unstable relationships with others (John) and dealing with her own personal issues begin to break her down even further. Living in constant fear is one of the worst feelings to have in this world. I feel awful that she has to go through that.
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