In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, it also displays a deep need for important relationships, and someone who can care for you. Similarly to Of Mice and Men, the characters both only have one important relationship they cling to, but both seem unhealthy and borderline abusive. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie is dependent on George, but in that case, both George and Lennie are oppressed because they are migrant workers and have little money, moving from town to town. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the narrator is dependent on her husband, but she is the only one oppressed, because she is a woman, her state of wealth, or where she lives aren’t important. In the story, the narrator feels very isolated, which leads to further damage to her mental state. When she says “John does not know how much I really suffer. …show more content…
During this time, it was often legitimate cases of depression and anxiety were dismissed as “nervousness” by doctors, so it is not truly his fault for his lack of care. He is a physician, and his primary job is to diagnose and care for his wife, and during this time, it was a legitimate diagnoses, but that none the less leads her to feeling isolated. She says “John does not know how much I really suffer,” which implies he isn’t listening to how she feels and or she is too afraid to tell him, possibly a mixture of both. If she can’t be truthful with him, then her feelings will continue to be suppressed, devolving the situation further. Because of her worsening mental state there is a strain on their relationship, causing an even further disconnect, that wasn’t prominent when she was first diagnosed. Because of the oppression of women during this time, she won’t be able to receive the help she needs, because the greater the strain is on her mental state, the less likely she’ll be able to communicate what she needs, and she won’t be able to get
The Yellow Wallpaper is a very unique and odd story. In the first read through of the story, the reader is aware that the narrator is sick and losing her mind. Over the course of the story it becomes apparent that the treatment used to heal the narrator isn’t effective. As she begins to completely lose her mind the reader gets a glimpse into her mind. She believes that she is trapped inside of the wallpaper, and by ripping it off the wall she can escape. There are several topics that seem to occur in this story. These topics include Feminism, the role of women in the 1880’s period, and knowledge and understanding of mentally ill. Although these are some of the main points in the story, The Yellow Wallpaper has several topics that are direct
...men have more authority and are better than woman and he dismissed all his wife’s fears, which led to her madness. The narrator eventually breaks from the chains that her husband had put on her, which shows how anyone can escape from entrapment. By tearing down the yellow wallpaper the narrator finds a kind of liberty and freedom from her submissive relationship with her husband. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a great story that demonstrates how a person needs stand up for him or herself to be free of what is holding them back from life.
The story "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story about control. In the time frame in which the story was written, the 1800’s, women were looked upon as having no effect on society other than bearing children, maintaining a clean house, and food on the table etc. etc. There was really no means for self expression as a woman, when men not only dominated society but the world. The story was written at a time when men held the jobs, knowledge, and society above their shoulders. The narrator on, "The Yellow Wallpaper" in being oppressed by her husband, John, even though many readers believe this story is about a woman who loses her mind, it is actually about a woman’s struggle to regain, something which she never had before, control of her life.
"The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicts a woman in isolation, struggling to cope with mental illness, which has been diagnosed by her husband, a physician. Going beyond this surface level, the reader sees the narrator as a developing feminist, struggling with the societal values of the time. As a woman writer in the late nineteenth century, Gilman herself felt the adverse effects of the male-centric society, and consequently, placed many allusions to her own personal struggles as a feminist in her writing. Throughout the story, the narrator undergoes a psychological journey that correlates with the advancement of her mental condition. The restrictions which society places on her as a woman have a worsening effect on her until illness progresses into hysteria. The narrator makes comments and observations that demonstrate her will to overcome the oppression of the male dominant society. The conflict between her views and those of the society can be seen in the way she interacts physically, mentally, and emotionally with the three most prominent aspects of her life: her husband, John, the yellow wallpaper in her room, and her illness, "temporary nervous depression." In the end, her illness becomes a method of coping with the injustices forced upon her as a woman. As the reader delves into the narrative, a progression can be seen from the normality the narrator displays early in the passage, to the insanity she demonstrates near the conclusion.
The narrator introduces the character John as an authoritative figure, in that he is both her husband and her physician, which makes for a bad combination. His treatment of her so called a “ temporary nervous depression” is an underlining subdues to control her. John believes his methods of treatment are so sure work that he has on her on a set schedule. Gillman writes “So I take phosphates or phosphites ---whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am well again. His treat of her condition is that of a child as if say the she is not capable of taking care of one’s...
...oney to sustain themselves. Many of them felt trapped, as if behind the hideous yellow wallpaper. They were expected to have a domestic life, oppression was present in and out of the house. The color yellow is prominent in the story, it is a lively color that is often used to symbolize life and energy. The use of the lively yellow color contrasts the feelings of the narrator. The narrator realizes that herself as the woman becoming a freed woman from the oppression of the yellow wallpaper, which represents the Victorian society. At the end of the short story, when the wife refuses to leave and the husband faints she symbolically steps over his body to freedom. Imagery present in “The Yellow Wallpaper” shows the narrators slow spiral into madness. The imagery along with the oppression and isolation felt by the narrator lead to lunacy which eventually set her free.
There are multiple possible causes for the internal conflict the narrator faces. The first being nervous depression and the other is the fact that her life is being controlled by her husband. Her husband is in full control because in the beginning of the story, John, her husband, influences how she should act. He decides the actions that should be taken in regards to her health and sanctity. Although she finds herself disagreeing with his synopsis, she is confined and does not admit how she feels to him. This also brings about another a major conflict that occurred in the 19th century, men being dominant and woman being categorized as inferior. Evidence can be found when the narrator states, “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband assures friends and relatives that there is nothing the matter with o...
Even though her husband treats her with what seem at first as love, it becomes clear she is nothing more to him than a piece of property. Every time he talks to her, he asks her to get better for his sake and the children's, and only after mentions hers interests. He doesn't think that she has any normal human feelings or worries and attributes her behavior to minor nervous depression. He doesn't see her true suffering since he believes "there is no reason to suffer" (574). He could never understand that a woman can be unsatisfied with the role imposed on her by society. Even though the heroine recognizes that her condition is caused by something other than John's theory, she is too scared to voice her opinion.
The Yellow Wallpaper was written as a realism story. It showed how woman felt they had the same opportunities as men in their personal choices. In this story, the woman expressed her worries to her husband who through good intentions, required that his wife stay in bed 24/7, and not do any of the things she would normally do. In effect his wife became worse until she reached the limit. The behavior of the husband at this time was completely normal. Men were the higher power over women and women, like the one in this story, felt that they couldn?t stand count for themselves.
In the story the narrator expresses numerous times the way she feels during her condition and the only response that we get from John is, “There is nothing so dangerous, so fascinating, to a temperament like yours. It is a false and foolish fancy. Can you not trust me as a physician when I tell you so?”(652). John simply refuses to put himself in her wife’s shoes and share at least a small portion of what she is feeling. Also, we see in the story how the narrator feels to this lack of empathy coming from her own husband. In page 649 she says, “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.” John’s lack of empathy does not let him analyze and access what is going on in the mind of her wife. Instead, the narrator is suffering while John is walking around with the idea that there is no reason for her to suffer. Lastly, the narrator shares how she feels to the idea of wanting to tell John about the haunting wallpaper when she says, “I had no intention of telling him it was because of the wall-paper- he would make fun of me. He might even want to take me away”(653). When the narrator gets to the point of not wanting to share something with her husband because he will make fun of her, that just shows no empathy whatsoever. Empathy is the understanding and the exchange of feelings with someone else. At
The narrator is being completely controlled by her husband. The narrator's husband has told the her over and over again that she is sick. She sees this as control because she cannot tell him differently. He is a physician so he knows these things. She also has a brother who is a physician, and he says the same thing. In the beginning of the story, she is like a child taking orders from a parent. Whatever these male doctors say must be true. The narrator says, "personally, I disagree with their ideas" (480), and it is clear she does not want to accept their theories but has no other choice. She is controlled by her husband.
Throughout the text, the reader clearly sees that John has approached the near imprisonment of his wife with very tender and caring words and actions. He always refers to his “little gooses (Charters 228), his darling, and his dear, and he reads her bed time stories. However, the protagonist, as well as the reader, soon begin to see through this act. John may act as if he simply just cares about his wife, and that is why he is putting her through this. But why then does he not listen when she says that she feels worse rather than better? (Charters 232). Because he is not doing it for her at all. He is far more concerned for his career. He is a physician after all, and to have a mentally and physically unstable wife would be tumultuous for his future in that vocation. So he must lock her away in this vacation, away from civilization, so that no one will know. It seems that the protagonist realizes her husbands motives early on, but she is unwilling to believe what she fears is true. She willingly suspends her disbelief of her husband. She says things such as, “Dear John! He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick” (Charters 231). In these statements she is not trying to communicate an idea to a reader, but rather attempting desperately to convince herself of the idea. Ultimately she succeeds, and this leads to her final mental collapse. Her willing suspension of disbelief causes her to
She says, “If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression--a slight hysterical tendency-- what is one to do?” (Gilman, entry 1) In this journal entry, the narrator is pointing out how her own husband doesn’t think there is really anything wrong with her. She reiterates this more than once throughout the story. She mentions it again in entry two, “John does not know how much I really suffer.
The narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” is one of the most interesting and disturbing characters of any story that I have ever read. She is never given a name and she changes throughout the story, giving us no consistent character. This story is a representation of how being locked up and controlled can affect the way someone thinks and feels. The narrator is presented as a normal person at the beginning, but we quickly find out that she has many problems that only worsen and affect everyone around her. The author indirectly tells her personal feelings and story through the narrator who stands for her and the women of that time.
She then goes on to reveal that she is ill, but neither John nor her brother, who are both esteemed physicians, believe her to have a serious sickness. The narrator's husband, John, acts as her doctor and diagnoses her with “temporary nervous depression- a slight hysterical tendency” and forbids her to work, which includes writing and thinking too much, until she gets better (Gilman 2). Immediately it is recognizable that the narrator seems more concerned with her illness than the men in her life. Also, she does not agree with her husband’s course of treatment, yet she keeps quiet and is forced to trust her husband/doctor. John ignores his wife’s experiences and dismisses her symptoms by attributing her issues essentially to being a woman and having a “fanciful mind.”