American Literature

In most cultures, women are always regarded as the less-dominant sex, and looked at as individuals, whose only purpose in life is to get married, and perform the role of a docile housewife and a caregiver to the children. Numerous literary works have depicted these attitudes of the society regarding the social roles of the women. Owing to the biased attitude of the society, the various problems of women remain unnoticed, or are interpreted in an erroneous manner. One such short story which focuses on the limited thinking of the society in regards to womens mental problems is The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Set in the nineteenth century, this story offers a feminist critique of the society during these times. It brings forth the secondary status of women in the society and the detrimental effect of the cultural attitudes of the society towards women through the depiction of the suffering undergone by a mentally ill woman.

The Society
    In her short story The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman portrays the pain and anguish of a young woman who is suffering from mental illness. The narrator in the story is a married woman who is going through post-natal depression after the birth of her child.  As she is living in a period where depression is regarded as hysteria, the young woman is confined to a room. She is imprisoned by her husband in the bedroom. She is advised to take complete rest and is prohibited from doing any work. The society, in which the narrator and husband are leading their lives, fails
to understand that women suffering from depression are sick and in need of the support of the

society and family members. Even though the narrators husband is a physician, he refuses to
believe that his wife is sick, and can be cured if she is allowed to work and interact with the society. If a physician of high standing, and ones 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). The young woman also thinks that some kind of work would aid her in recovering from her mental illness. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. (Gilman). But as the husbands views and attitudes are influenced by the thinking of the society regarding mental illness, he compels the young woman to take rest and lead an isolated life in her room. Instead of helping her, the treatment results in suffering and severe depression for the young woman. But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him. (Gilman). Being alone in her room day and night, the mental health of the young woman deteriorates leading to a situation where she loses her sanity. As the society of the nineteenth century fails to understand the problems faced by the women, it never realizes that women who showed symptoms of hysteria are in fact suffering from mental illness and require a proper kind of medical treatment to be cured. 

Social Status of Women
    The suffering of the protagonist in the story points towards the secondary status of women in the society. During the nineteenth century, women faced challenges like restrictions in their freedom. That is, at that time, as education and science and technology not being a well-
developed field, all the income-earning activities are mainly done through manual work. This

being the case, men are only able to do all these manual works thus earning not only income but also dominance over the women in their lives. So, women are forced to live a dependent life. This dependency really affects their independent thinking. Women are forced to do all the duties of the house wives without any outlet in the form of social activities, sports or any other leisure. The woman in the story is also leading her life as a housewife whose only duty is to look after the needs of her husband and children. But when she fails to fulfill her duties owing to her mental illness, her husband never tries to find out the cause for her mental illness. He is unaware of the fact that the subservient life that his wife is being forced to lead is having a detrimental effect on her mental health. In those times, men never consider the views of women, for they think that women are inferior to them as far as thinking and reasoning abilities are concerned. This is evident from the womans comment in the story, John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage. (Gilman)
   
Impact on Women Characters
     The cultural attitudes of the society towards women have a negative effect on the life of the protagonist. Mentally ill women are barred from working and interacting with the society, as the society considers these women to be suffering from hysteria. The worsening condition of the woman in the story brings forth the horrible impact the treatment has on women, who are isolated from their families and the society. With nothing else to do, to keep herself engaged, the woman takes a liking to the yellow wallpaper in her room and visualizes imaginary beings in its
patterns.  At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candle light, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as

can be. (Gilman). The woman, who is suffering from depression before the treatment, turns insane after the treatment. She is now afraid to leave the room, as she is so obsessed with the
yellow color of the wallpaper that she loses her desire to come out of the room. For outside you have to creep on the ground, and everything is green instead of yellow.But here I can creep smoothly on the floor, and my shoulder just fits in that long smooch around the wall, so I cannot lose my way. (Gilman). The suffering and the insanity of the woman owing to the wrong treatment, points towards the damaging effect the erroneous cultural attitudes of the society has on the lives of women.