The late nineteenth century was the mid   point of the women's suffrage movement. In 1892, Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a way to shed light on the ineffectiveness of S. Weir Mitchell's rest cure. In more modern years it has become, not only a significant piece on mental health issues but a significant piece promoting feminism. Women of the nineteenth century were figures of social grace, however they lacked the authority to individually hold a role of importance and influence. Dependent on the patriarchal society, women were nonchalantly passed over when it came to mental health issues such as post   partum depression. The prescribed rest cure isolated the patients and prevented any promotion of sanity. In Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" The narrator is isolated from regular society and locked in an upstairs nursery by her husband containing an awful yellow wallpaper. The submission forced upon her by her husband and society as well as her constant facade of regularity led to the spiraling downfall into insanity.    

S. Weir Mitchell's rest cure, as prescribed to the narrator of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" was common practice among Victorian era females suffering from hysteria and depression. It consisted primarily of isolation mixed with just few short bursts of mental stimulation, the idea being too much stimulation would make the ailment worse. Often sent to asylums, those with mental illnesses, were observed and treated as best the era allowed. In the eighteenth century, Jeremy Bentham introduced the Panopticon, a circular structure with cells lining the outer edge and a central observation tower that allowed for subjects to be observed at all times without the subjects knowing. Michel Foucault expanded on the effects of the Panopticon with the idea that the threat of unverifiable observation as provided by Bethlam's Panopticon results in a paranoia as caused by constantly needing to act in a passive nature (Bak). Using the comparison of the wallpaper to the Panopticon, John S. Bak illustrates the Foucauldian panopticism present in Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper". The narrator having been prescribed the rest cure by her husband is locked away from general society in a nursery of an old house, so she is already being constantly watched by her husband and the housekeeper slash sister   in   law. As a result she is constantly staying in a passive state in front of them that gives the illusion she is getting better. As the narrator progresses she begins to unhinge from the very real observations of her family and eventually the yellow wallpaper of the nursery becomes another observer as she sees in it "two bulbous eyes". The narrator's paranoia increases from the observation as she becomes more and more obsessive of the wallpaper viewing women behind it and feeling targeted by her husband and sister   in   law and she eventually spirals into total madness. Her decent is developed from the restrictions put upon her by her husband and society, as he disregards any idea of a legitimate illness, and sums up her ailment as just being weak, as customary of the nineteenth century.  

Women of the Victorian era were thought of as weak and insignificant. It was a time in the middle of the women's suffrage movement when women were still characterized as mothers, wives, sister, and daughters instead of socially individual beings. Elizabeth Cady Stanton's point in her speech "The Solitude of Self" emphasizes the importance of higher education for women in order to develop self   dependence. Women are expected to display certain social standing however they are denied the background to aid in the development. Mental health in general in the Victorian era was considered a stain on society, and those suffering from it were treated under the radar, sent to asylums, or even over looked entirely. When pairing mental illness with women, the situation was hushed even more so. This concept is illustrated in Gilman's short story as the narrator is taken to a house outside of town, locked in the upstairs nursery, and anytime she brought up the possibility of depression her husband dismissed it as nonsense. No one want a crazy wife. Stanton explains how humans rely on themselves for comfort and emotional repair. The rest cure the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is prescribed is used as a tool to promote self   repair. The only issue is the lack of mental stimulation. Stanton uses a quote from Prince Krapotkin whom was jailed not allowed to used pen and paper similar to the narrator: 

Ah,' he said, 'I thought out many questions in which I had a deep interest. In the pursuit of an idea I took no note of time. When tires of solving knotty problems I recited all the beautiful passages in prose or verse I have ever learned. I became acquainted with myself and my own resources. I had a world of my own, a vast empire, that no Russian jailor or Czar could invade. 

Being a woman in the nineteenth century it is not socially acceptable to educate one's self privately let alone legally acceptable to do so publically. As a result the narrator is left with her oppressed and troubled mind to obsess over the yellow wallpaper which in turn makes her go crazy, and writing in secret only allows for that descent to slow. Without proper mental stimulation the rest cure is counter   productive.   

The lack of mental stimulation is a major difference between nineteenth century mental illness cures and modern day fixes. Modern cures rely on individual needs, journaling, exercising, other activities, while in the nineteenth century the rest cure was essentially a "sleep it off" fix. The negligence of women's health was a prominent occurrence in the nineteenth century.  Beverly A. Hume centralizes her analysis of Gilman's short story in her essay "Managing Madness in Gilman's 'The Yellow Wall-Paper'" around not only the developing psychosis of the narrator, but also on the underlying violence present. Due to the oppressive state of gender roles in the nineteenth century women were solely identified on their gender specific societal roles. For women, more specifically the narrator of the "Yellow Wallpaper" it was woman, wife, and mother. Hume is explaining how the role of mother was forced onto the narrator. She never sees her son, and prefers not to be around him, as he "makes her nervous" (Gilman). Hume identifies this nervousness as a violent tendency, as does occur with some instances of post   partum depression. The insignificant role of woman and wife are constantly repeated as John, the narrator's husband consistently refers to here as a little girl. The undertone of violence is well apparent as the narrator becomes more and more annoyed with John. Hume identifies the narrator's descent into madness as a path towards liberation from strict societal pressures of women. When the narrator rips the paper from the wall it is her way of releasing herself from her pressures of society. Though some would say she lost the battle since the story ends with her crazy and crawling on the ground as she gives into madness from the male dominate oppression of the rest cure.    

Illustrating the uselessness of the rest cure was Gilman's main objective when writing "The Yellow Wallpaper" and she further explains it in later works where her women characters seek out alternative cures for their depression that resemble modern day practices. The presence of Women in the nineteenth century was insignificant. Women were characterized as dependent on males and weak. With this mind set, when mental health was incorporated the results were passive and ineffective. Mental health itself was a social taboo and was either hushed or sent away. In Gilman's short story by effectively locking the narrator away, depriving her of and mental stimulation and having her constantly keep a facade of normalcy, she eventually goes mad.   

