Yellow Wallpaper Breakdown

All of us have been sick at some point in our lives, some more than others and worse than others. We all get some type of medication to help us get back onto our feet whether it being getting some fresh air, taking antibiotics, or staying in bed. We hope(and often expect) that these suggestions will help us get back to normal and not actually make the situation worse. Unfortunately, this is not the case in “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a bad suggestion coupled with some unfortunate decisions actually leads to the mental breakdown of a young woman. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman tells the story of a young woman who is “sick” and moves with her husband out to the countryside in order to get some rest and get “better”. Throughout the story,

When Jane is isolated from the world, she spends most of her time in the barred room, staring at the wallpaper for hours and trying to figure out how it is organized. She spends countless hours and days doing this and this slowly brings down her mental health as she becomes convinced that her fellow housemates are against her and that there is a woman trapped behind the wallpaper. The yellow wallpaper becomes a symbol for Jane’s mental health. The woman trapped behind the wallpaper is a symbol for Jane’s craziness(the mental breakdown waiting to come out) and the actual wallpaper can be a symbol for Jane’s mind, body, and/or her family, trying to help Jane get better. Eventually the isolation takes it toll as Jane is left to the wallpaper for too long and ultimately loses it as she has nothing else to do but think about the wallpaper. Anthony Liccione, an American author and poet, said, “Thoughts are like an open ocean, they can either move you forward within its waves, or sink you under deep into its abyss.” In Jane’s case, her isolation led her to over think the wallpaper and it sank her deep into the abyss of