“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story of one woman who suffered from symptoms of depression during the course of her marriage following the birth of her baby. When the story was published in 1899 many people were shocked at the nature of this story, mainly because this topic was essentially meant to be kept on the down low especially for a woman of her class.
In marriage our significant other is supposed to reflect our better half, give us pleasure and make us feel powerful right? Well Charlotte’s husband during the 18th century treated her as more of a child, limiting and observing her everyday activities. Charlotte had someone checking in on her throughout the days, stayed in a barred room most of the time, and did whatever her husband had ordered. Day after day stuck in the same routine and scenery she over analyzed every aspect in her drug out days. The room Charlotte was staying in had all but a bed and hideous wallpaper, which ended up reflecting on her insanity. Another article I read about “Hysteria” and the “Wandering-Womb” discusses what a good deal of women experienced after giving birth. In the 18th century postpartum depression had not yet been discovered or how to correctly deal with the symptoms associated with this disease. Charlottes’s husband keeps her away from social support and by herself which today we know is the exact opposite way to recover from this. Not only did Charlotte have this nervous feeling and moodiness, but she also had to come to terms that she couldn’t nurse HER baby and that defeats the purpose of being a mother at all. Throughout the story you do not hear of her getting to see or help her baby which could have added to the feeling of worthlessness and laziness.
Men and Women have very different social expectations still but today women have more of a say so and control than ever before. Thank god for science and technological advances that has helped people to understand hormones and why we get in the moods we do instead of just saying the cause is hysteria or insanity . I feel as Charlotte identified herself with the wallpaper because in a sense it was all she had. When she mentioned creeping more so in the daytime I pictured Charlotte doing the creeping and identifying her shadow as another women to relate to. All in all the story was a little disturbing and could be perceived in more ways than one.
References:
Farr,Robin."PPD: Wandering-Wombs & Hysteria." 28 Oct. 2013. Web.< www.Farewellstranger.com>
In marriage our significant other is supposed to reflect our better half, give us pleasure and make us feel powerful right? Well Charlotte’s husband during the 18th century treated her as more of a child, limiting and observing her everyday activities. Charlotte had someone checking in on her throughout the days, stayed in a barred room most of the time, and did whatever her husband had ordered. Day after day stuck in the same routine and scenery she over analyzed every aspect in her drug out days. The room Charlotte was staying in had all but a bed and hideous wallpaper, which ended up reflecting on her insanity. Another article I read about “Hysteria” and the “Wandering-Womb” discusses what a good deal of women experienced after giving birth. In the 18th century postpartum depression had not yet been discovered or how to correctly deal with the symptoms associated with this disease. Charlottes’s husband keeps her away from social support and by herself which today we know is the exact opposite way to recover from this. Not only did Charlotte have this nervous feeling and moodiness, but she also had to come to terms that she couldn’t nurse HER baby and that defeats the purpose of being a mother at all. Throughout the story you do not hear of her getting to see or help her baby which could have added to the feeling of worthlessness and laziness.
Men and Women have very different social expectations still but today women have more of a say so and control than ever before. Thank god for science and technological advances that has helped people to understand hormones and why we get in the moods we do instead of just saying the cause is hysteria or insanity . I feel as Charlotte identified herself with the wallpaper because in a sense it was all she had. When she mentioned creeping more so in the daytime I pictured Charlotte doing the creeping and identifying her shadow as another women to relate to. All in all the story was a little disturbing and could be perceived in more ways than one.
References:
Farr,Robin."PPD: Wandering-Wombs & Hysteria." 28 Oct. 2013. Web.< www.Farewellstranger.com>