In The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the dominant/submissive relationship between an oppressive husband and his submissive wife pushes her from depression into insanity. Flawed human nature seems to play a great role in her breakdown. Her husband, a noted physician, is unwilling to admit that there might really be something wrong with his wife. This same attitude is seen in her brother, who is also a physician. While this attitude, and the actions taken because of it, certainly contributed to her breakdown; it seems to me that there is a rebellious spirit in her. Perhaps unconsciously she seems determined to prove them wrong. As the story begins, the woman -- whose name we never learn -- tells of her depression and how it is dismissed by her husband and brother. "You see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? 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 193). These two men -- both doctors -- seem completely unable to admit that there might be more to her condition than than just stress and a slight nervous condition. Even when a summer in the country and weeks of bed-rest don't help, her husband refuses to accept that she may have a real problem. Throughout the story there are examples of the dominant - submissive relationship. She is virtually imprisoned in her bedroom, supposedly to allow her to rest and recover her health. She is forbidden to work, "So I . . . am absolutely forbidden to "work" until I am well again." (Gilman 193). She is not even supposed to write: "There comes John, and I must put this away -- he hates to have me write a word." (Gilman 194). She has no say in the location or decor of the room she is virtually imprisoned in: "I don't like our room a bit. I wanted...But John would not hear of it." (Gilman 193). She can't have visitors: "It is so discouraging not to have any advice and companionship about my work...but he says he would as soon put fireworks in my pillow-case as to let me have those stimulating people about now." (Gilman 196). Probably in large part because of her oppression, she continues to decline. "I don't feel as if it was worthwhile to turn my hand over for anything. . ." (Gilman 197). It seems that her husband is oblivious to her declining conditon, since he never admits she has a real problem until the end of the story -- at which time he fainted. John could have obtained council from someone less personally involved in her case, but the only help he seeks was for the house and baby. He obtains a nanny to watch over the children while he was away at work each day: "It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby." (Gilman 195). And he had his sister Jennie take care of the house. "She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper." (Gilman 196). He does talk of taking her to an expert: "John says if I don't pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall." But she took that as a threat since he was even more domineering than her husband and brother. Not only does he fail to get her help, but by keeping her virtually a prisoner in a room with nauseating wallpaper and very little to occupy her mind, let alone offer any kind of mental stimulation, he almost forces her to dwell on her problem. Prison is supposed to be depressing, and she is pretty close to being a prisoner. Perhaps if she had been allowed to come and go and do as she pleased her depression might have lifted: "I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me." (Gilman 195). It seems that just being able to tell someone how she really felt would have eased her depression, but John won't hear of it. The lack of an outlet caused the depression to worsen: "...I must say what I feel and think in some way -- it is such a relief! But the effort is getting to be greater than the relief." (Gilman 198). Meanwhile her reaction is to seek to prove him wrong. "John is a physician, and perhaps . . . perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster. You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?" (Gilman 193). It seems to me that while putting on an appearance of submission she was frequently rebelling against her husband's orders. She writes when there is nobody around to see her, she tries to move her bed, but always keeps an eye open for someone comming. This is obvious throughout the story. It also seems to me that, probably because of his oppressive behavior, she wants to drive her husband away. "John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious. I am glad my case is not serious!" (Gilman 195). As her breakdown approaches she actually locks him out of her room: "I have locked the door and thrown the key down into the front path. I don't want to go out, and I don't want to have anybody come in, till John comes. I want to astonish him." (Gilman 203). I see no reason for this other than to force him to see that he was wrong, and, since she knew he couldn't tolerate hysteria, to drive him away. Works Cited Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." 1892. The New England Magazine. Reprinted in "Lives & Moments - An Introduction to Short Fiction" by Hans Ostrom. Hold, Orlando, FL 1991. 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The narrator is trying to get better from her illness but her husband “He laughs at me so about this wallpaper” (515). He puts her down and her insecurities do not make it any better. She is treated like a child. John says to his wife “What is it little girl” (518)? Since he is taking care of her she must obey him “There comes John, and I must put this away, he hates to have me write a word”. The narrator thinks John is the reason why she cannot get better because he wants her to stay in a room instead of communicating with the world and working outside the house.
In her 1935 autobiography, The living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, She describes her “utter prostration” by “unbearable inner miser” and “ceaseless tears,” a condition only made worse by the presence of her husband and her baby. She was referred to Dr. S Weir Mitchell, then the country’s leading specialist in nervous disorders, whose treatment in such cases was a “rest cure” of forced inactivity. Especially in the case of his female patients, Mitchell believed that depression was brought on by too much mental activity and not enough attention to comestic affairs. For Gilman, This course of treatment was a disaster. Prevented from working she soon has a nervous breakdown. At her worst, she was reduced to crawling into closets and under beds, clutching a rag doll
The narrator's husband, John, is a cause of her increasing madness. While she claims that "he loves [her] very dearly" (371), John treats his wife as a child rather than an adult in need of medical attention.
The character of the husband, John, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is introduced as a respected physician and a caring husband who strives to improve the mental health of his wife, the narrator, who is diagnosed with temporary nervous condition. John tries throughout the story to apply professional treatment methods and medications in his approach to helping his wife gain strength. However, his patient, his wife, seems to disregard John’s professional opinions and act as if she is following his advices only during his awakening presence with her. The narrator seems to be in need of John’s positive opinion about the status of her mental condition in order to avoid the criticism even though she disagrees with his treatment methodology. John, without doubt, cares for his wife and her wellbeing, but he does not realize how his treatment method negatively impacts their relationship his wife’s progress towards gaining strength. Although John was portrayed as a caring and a loving physician and husband to the narrator through out most of the story, he was also suggested as being intrusive and directive to a provoking level in the mind of the narrator.
Having a positive mindset often leads to positivity. Likewise, having a negative mindset almost always leads to negativity. However, negativity tends to weigh a person down even more, with greater negative factors. Negativity leads to stress, depression, and in some cases mental issues. The woman in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, “The Yellow Wallpaper” supports this theory tremendously. Her diagnosis of her poor mental health wasn’t revealed, however, many details support that her insanity could have been prevented. All of which include her husband improving their communication and relationship techniques, alternate surroundings or an alternate setting, and possibly even a friend to further comfort the woman.
Finally, the yellow wallpaper presents perspectives of how men control females. As stated previously, In the story, John uses his power as a doctor to control his wife. He encaged his wife in a summer home, placing her in a room filled with barricades and many faults. As a human she is deprived of her rights and her ability to form house duties is taken away so she can rest as he calls it. Without a doubt, she fell into insanity because of the situation she was placed in. When she ripped the paper off the wall, it was a sign of freedom from her husband, and the bars that held her captive for weeks. Certainly she has a vivid imagination and being placed in bondage and unable to write which in turn lead her to mental health problems.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a self-told story about a woman who approaches insanity. The story examines the change in the protagonist's character over three months of her seclusion in a room with yellow wallpaper and examines how she deals with her "disease." Since the story is written from a feminist perspective, it becomes evident that the story focuses on the effect of the society's structure on women and how society's values destruct women's individuality. In "Yellow Wallpaper," heroine's attempt to free her own individuality leads to mental breakdown.
Wagner-Martin, Linda. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. 981- 982.
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.
The two seem to have a solid relationship, as any husband and wife should, with the narrator stating, “He is very careful and loving” (Gilman), with John urging his wife to rest and gain strength so she could recover quickly. Despite this, one may argue that John doesn’t listen to his wife and therefore treats her poorly, seeing as how he wouldn’t let her do what she wanted like change rooms, visit family, or write. But, this is done for a reason, because as a physician, John truly felt that he was doing what was right for his wife, believing she only needed a restful break without any strenuous activity after concluding that there was nothing medically wrong with his wife, insisting it is only “temporary nervous depression” (Gilman). However, it’s not that John is a bad husband per se, for he genuinely cared for his wife, it’s just that he wasn’t giving her the proper help she deserved and failed to realize it. John’s treatment wasn’t want our narrator needed, as seen when she states, “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good” (Gilman), and ultimately led to her increasing instability. But, we must also remember that during the time period this story is set in, mental illness was not widely understood nor accepted. In fact, it was common practice to have people with mental illnesses (and, in some cases, those who didn’t) locked away in an asylum indefinitely. Perhaps John knew that there was something mentally unstable about his wife ever since the birth of their child, which may be why he insisted that she wasn’t sick in the hopes that she would “snap out of it”. Chances are that John was trying to avoid the asylum outcome at all costs, knowing what truly happens to those who were mentally unstable and trying to prevent his wife
The first theme of this adventure is good versus evil, where once Miss Stoner left Sherlock’s place, Dr. Roylott gave Sherlock a visit, where he confronted and threatened Sherlock. Early that day Dr. Roylott noticed that Helen was visiting Sherlock and he decided to spy on her. Dr. Roylott introduced himself in a harsh manner that Sherlock asked him to leave which Dr. Roylott replied, “I will not go when I have said my say, Don’t you dare to meddle with my affairs”/” I am a dangerous man to fall foul of!” (Doley 2) ...
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James Bond films have been around for over fifty years and therefore have evolved with society, but a surprising concept of these films is that they actually affected these societal changes. James Bond began as a character in the spy novels of Ian Fleming, but later flourished on the big screen. In his early films Bond’s methods come off as a little villainous, but they are simply reflecting societal norms of the sixties and seventies. Dintia Smith of the New York Times even said “but just as the audience judges the Bond films, the films judge the audience, providing a kind of map of cultural change over the years.” James Bond movies can be used as examples of weaknesses in society and how society should look because of his treatment of women, his sexual escapades, and his successes against communism.
The "Rocking-Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence is a story, which emphasizes the battered relationship between a mother and her child. The author's work is known for its explorations of human nature and illustrates the nature of materialism. The author employs techniques of the fairy tale to moralize on the value of love and the dangers of the money. D.H. Lawrence presents an upper class family that is destroyed by greed because they always felt like no matter how much money they had, they always needed more. He tells the reader about the downfall of an upper middle class family struggling to maintain appearances through habitual overspending. The author displays the negative effect of money, luck, lack of love in the upper middle class English life and of modern society causing the dehumanization of the society as a whole.
At this point in the novel, Sebastian believes that his twin sister has drowned. His obliviousness to her disguise and actions ultimately leads to a more confusing climax when he finds his way into Viola's plan. Sebastian's belief that Viola is dead leads to dramatic irony and more drama for viewers.