Portraying Hysteria and the Subjugation of Women in The Yellow Wallpaper
Have you wondered how the female psyche was outlined in 19th-century fiction? Do you know why the diagnosis of hysteria was only limited to women? How does internalised patriarchy take a toll on a woman’s well-being? The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman is one such story that underlines these concerns. It is a must-read because this not only inspects how literature was written during that period but explores the oppression faced by women.
The Yellow Wallpaper begins with a description of an adorned, gigantic house the narrator (whose name happens to be Jane) and her husband John rent during the summer because he decides that she requires a break from her surroundings due to her deteriorating mental health. However, the narrator feels defenceless in this house. She appears to notice strange figures in the yellow wallpaper. Here is where the yellow wallpaper becomes a predominant part of the story. John disregards her concerns and prompts her to avoid everything else but her household chores. He holds his sister accountable for taking care of her. Hence, the narrator records her entries only when John and his sister are away. She speculates on the wallpaper and discovers an additional detail every day. Towards the end, the narrator projects herself on the wallpaper and believes that she is the enigmatic figure present in it.
The fundamental themes of this tale include gender roles, the stigma around mental health and its misinterpretation. Gilman has expressed her take on feminism and displays how men had an upper hand in marriage. She conveys it through John’s character and his power over the narrator. The following lines from the story depict his persona:
“John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures.”
The narrator perceives John as a practical person who relies on credible information. He prefers logic and only believes what is visible to him. The narrator declares he had refused to acknowledge her mental illness. She mentions how reluctant he was to listen to her opinion on her health and dismissed her by stating that she need not focus on anything apart from her domestic chores. The narrator felt the need to hide her entries from her husband. This indicates how John is authoritative and decides what is best for her. Here, the story not only presents how he comprehends matters but also explicates his dominance.
Another salient feature of the text is the gradual deterioration in the narrator’s mental health. Gilman had a history of suffering from mental illnesses and she takes her experiences to represent her frustration in this story. This also reveals how women had rigorous norms to follow and the emotional toll it had on them. The tale presents how mental illnesses were perceived back then. Readers can sense fright from the tone of her entry. The following statement reflects John’s apathy to her affliction:
“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?”
Her condition kept worsening over time. This was partly due to his indifference. There is a possibility that the narrator might have suffered from neurasthenia and psychosis. John was a physician and his principles were based on logic, practicality, and self-control. He was not a mental health professional, yet he passed on a misdiagnosis stating that she is a person with “a slight hysterical tendency” and this exemplifies how unqualified he was to make that assumption/diagnosis. John was not well-versed in mental health care and making this assumption also ascertains how the patriarchal society views women with cerebral disorders.
This is not the first text where a female character is subjected to this prejudice. Another two characters that come in my mind are Catherine Bourne from The Garden of Eden (1986) and Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre (1847).
What engrossed me to formulate a review on The Yellow Wallpaper was Gilman’s style of writing and her way of addressing these issues. Gilman employs a first-person narrative in her work. This allows the readers to put themselves in her shoes. She also adopts the stream-of-consciousness technique (used for indicating the continuity in a writer’s feelings, thoughts, and emotions). Gilman’s work is remarkable because she has put herself out in her writing.
Gilman communicates how patriarchy suffocated her and affected her mental well-being. Several critics correlate her with Sylvia Plath due to their history, experiences, and how they have projected their suffocation in their works. Various tales designate women as unsound when they take a stand and do not adhere to the norms prescribed to them.
