The realistic period is during that of the Civil War and Reconstruction, from 1855 to 1914. Realism shies away from the Romantic period; there is no specific way of interpreting a story. Instead, readers are given creative accountability and allowed the opportunity to construct an ending from the information that is given to them. Opposing Romantic elements, Realism describes reality bluntly and objectively. It strives to depict everyday characters to draw in readers through their ability to see themselves through the text. During the time of 1892, the realistic period existed for approximately thirty-seven years. At this time, Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-paper” was written. The story seems to twist Realism’s depiction of everyday characters by having readers connect with the mental instability of the narrator. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-paper” depicts the oppression faced by women of the nineteenth century through the expression of a psychiatric breakdown that resulted from the protagonist’s social, physical, and mental entrapment. In the nineteenth century, those who suffered with depression, anxiety, excitability, and/or inexplicable somatic complaints were diagnosed with hysteria. Hysteria occurred when there was a medical problem with no physical causation. Because hysteria occurred primarily in women, it was assumed to be restricted as a feminine predicament. In earlier centuries, the uterus was supposed as the cause of a woman’s mental or emotional stress. The word hysteria derives from the Greek word, hysteron, meaning uterus. When a woman experienced hysteria, it was due to her “wandering uterus.” In order for the female patient to be rehabilitated, she must be treated sympathetically in a restful and hygi... ... middle of paper ... ...nt from the patriarchal society. Women are confined within predisposed roles that they are expected to abide by. Such expectations can lead to depression or anxiety when the expectancies are not met. This then increases the number of female patients within a psychiatric institution. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-paper” discloses that it is not the women at fault. Instead, it is the false labeling, patriarchy, and confinement that cause women to lose their sanity. Works Cited Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. NY: Harcourt Brace, 1999. Print. Barlow, David H., and V. M. Durand. "Chapter 1: Abnormal Behavior in Historical Context." Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach. 7th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print. Gilman, Charlotte P. "The Yellow Wall-paper." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008. 1682-695. Print.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” 1892. Ed. Dale M. Bauer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1998.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. 1684-1695.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." 1892. The New England Magazine. Reprinted in "Lives & Moments - An Introduction to Short Fiction" by Hans Ostrom. Hold,
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wall-Paper”, is a first-person narrative written in the style of a journal. It takes place during the nineteenth century and depicts the narrator’s time in a temporary home her husband has taken her to in hopes of providing a place to rest and recover from her “nervous depression”. Throughout the story, the narrator’s “nervous condition” worsens. She begins to obsess over the yellow wallpaper in her room to the point of insanity. She imagines a woman trapped within the patterns of the paper and spends her time watching and trying to free her. Gilman uses various literary elements throughout this piece, such as irony and symbolism, to portray it’s central themes of restrictive social norms
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Norton Introduction To Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 7th Ed. New York, Norton, 1998. 2: 630-642.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper'" Ed. Catherine Lavender; The College of Staten Island of the City University of New York, Fall Semester, Oct. 1997. (25 Jan 1999) http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/whyyw.html
Wohlpart, Jim. American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper.”” 1997. Florida Gulf Coast University
Stone, D. (2011, May 8). Psychological Musings: Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology. Retrieved April 23, 2014, from http://psychological-musings.blogspot.com/2011/05/historical-perspectives-of-abnormal.html
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Booth, Alison and Kelly J. Mays, eds. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2010. 354-65. Print.
Academic essayists such as Susan M. Gilbert, Susan Gubar, and Elaine Showalter have a feminist reading of the story, however, this is not the most important reading. The author experienced the turmoil of the rest of the cure personally, which means that the story is most likely a comment on the great mistreatment of depression, hysteria and mental disorders in general. Despite the claims of Gilbert, Gubar, and Showalter that “The Yellow Wallpaper” is solely feminist propaganda, their analysis is often unnecessarily deep and their claims are often unwarranted, resulting in an inaccurate description of a story that is most importantly about the general mistreatment of psychosis and the descent into insanity regardless of gender. When things are stretched too thin, they become less sturdy and less reliable; the same is true for arguments in writing.... ... middle of paper ...
Mental illnesses had not been recognized as a medical problem until the late 18th century. They are usually considered “familial disorders” because many people have gone through the experience before with a parent, sibling, or child. In this book, Mark was the only person in his fa...
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper" The Harbrace Anthology of Literature. Ed. Jon C. Scott, Raymond E. Jones, and Rick Bowers. Canada: Nelson Thomas Learning, 2002. 902-913.
In literature, women are often depicted as weak, compliant, and inferior to men. The nineteenth century was a time period where women were repressed and controlled by their husband and other male figures. Charlotte Gilman, wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper," showing her disagreement with the limitations that society placed on women during the nineteenth century. According to Edsitement, the story is based on an event in Gilman’s life. Gilman suffered from depression, and she went to see a physician name, Silas Weir Mitchell. He prescribed the rest cure, which then drove her into insanity. She then rebelled against his advice, and moved to California to continue writing. She then wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which is inflated version of her experience. In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the main character is going through depression and she is being oppressed by her husband and she represents the oppression that many women in society face. Gilman illustrates this effect through the use of symbols such as the yellow wallpaper, the nursery room, and the barred windows.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories. Mineola: Dover, 1997. Print.
Mental illness, today we are surround by a broad array of types of mental illnesses and new discoveries in this field every day. Up till the mid 1800’s there was no speak of personality disorder, in fact there was only two type of mental illness recognized. Those two illnesses as defined by Dr. Sam Vaknin (2010), “”delirium” or “manial”- were depression (melancholy), psychoses, and delusions.” It was later in 1835 when J. C. Pritchard the British Physician working at Bristol Infirmary Hospital published his work titled “Treatise on Insanity and Other Disorder of the Mind” this opened the door to the world of personality disorder. There were many story and changes to his theories and mental illness and it was then when Henry Maudsley in 1885 put theses theories to work and applied to a patient. This form of mental illness has since grown into the many different types of personality disorder that we know today. Like the evolution of the illness itself there has been a significant change in the way this illness is diagnosed and treated.