The Yellow Wall-Paper
What is insanity? Insanity is a deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder. "The Yellow Wallpaper", depicts one form of treatment for a woman's insanity in the late 1800's. This story shows how the men in that era were over protective and controlling. The story begins with a woman who is being taken care of by her husband John, who is also a physician. He recommends that she be taken to a summer home to help her over come her nervous condition. She is told to rest and sleep; she can't even write. " I must put this away, --he hates to have me write a word" (154). This is just one example showing how controlling her husband is. Another is when he tells her that there is "no reason" for how she feels and that she must dismi
By telling her to keep well, John is just expressing more doubt about her having a real illness. It has bars on the windows and a bed that is nailed down. He know!s there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him. " (159) John treats her like a little kid and gives her reason to doubt herself. This makes her feel unsure of her own sanity. "Of course it is only nervousness," she decides. He says " really dear you are better" (140,pg 159), "can you not trust me as a physician when I tell you so?"(143,pg159) When he talks to her like that it's like it's a parent speaking with their child. He has made her a prisoner in the their marriage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**. There is a point where she tries to express her feelings, but again her husband reassures her that it is not that bad. In the Yellow Wallpaper the husband-physician was very over protective and controlling, like most males during that time period. It showed how his obsessive controlling behavior pushed his wife from a just nervous condition to a deranged state of mind. She feels that she should appreciate the protective love John offers to her, this is seen in line 45 on page 154, when she says, "John does not know how much I really suffer. Her insanity is a turning point towards her own independence; the fight with t!he woman in the wallpaper symbolizes that.
Common topics in this essay:
Yellow Wallpaper,
Yellow Wall-Paper,
deranged mind,
yellow wallpaper,
protective controlling,
nervous condition,
|