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, used as the default method to cure women of their mental ailments. In more modern years this short story has become, not only a significant piece on mental health issues of the time, but iconic in promoting feminism and opening the eyes of society of women's value in the nineteenth century. Women of the nineteenth century were figures of social grace, however they lacked the authority to individually hold a role of importance and influence. Due to the patriarchal society of the time, women were nonchalantly passed over when it came to mental health issues, such as the ever common postpartum depression, as their distresses were just common factors of being a woman. Mitchells' prescribed rest cure isolated the patients and restricted stimulation, with the thinking the stress free environment would make the patients "normal" again. However the results prevented any promotion of mental 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 told not to  to anything too tasking or journal. Using John S. Bak's explanation of foucauldian opticism, and the feminist approaches of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Beverly A. Hume the submission forced upon her by her husband and society as well as her constant facade of regularity induced by the watchful eyes of her family led to the spiraling downfall into insanity.    

S. Weir Mitchell's rest cure, as prescribed to the narrator of 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 caused by a constant need 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, constantly being observed by her husband and sister in law. As a result, the narrator is constantly staying in a passive state in front of her family that gives the illusion of getting better. As the narrator progresses, she begins to unhinge due to the confinement and very real observations of her family. Eventually the yellow wallpaper of the nursery becomes another observer as she begins to see "two bulbous eyes" within its pattern. 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, causing her to eventually spirals into total madness. The narrator's husband associated her postpartum depression as weakness of women and disregarded any idea of  legitimate illness, customary of the nineteenth century. As a result the abstract panopticon the narrator was placed in developed her insanity  .  

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 solely 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 were expected to display certain social standing however they were 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. 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, because no one wants a crazy wife. Stanton explains how humans rely on themselves for comfort and emotional repair. The rest cure the narrator 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: 

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.

Krapotkin was jailed, not allowed to interact with others or even write. The narrator of Gilman's short story is in a similar situation. Being a woman in the nineteenth century it was not socially acceptable to educate one's self privately let alone legally acceptable to do so publicly. 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 as provided by education and writing 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, and other activities, while the nineteenth century rest cure was essentially a "sleep it off" fix. The negligence of women's health was a prominent occurrence in the nineteenth century. In her essay, "Managing Madness in Gilman's 'The Yellow Wall-Paper'," Beverly A. Hume centralizes her analysis of Gilman's short story around not only the developing psychosis of the narrator, but also on the underlying violence present because of the oppressive nature of the nineteenth century patriarchal society. Women, more specifically the narrator of Gilman's story was identified as a woman, wife, and mother. Hume explains 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 postpartum 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, and undertones of violence develop from the narrator's growing annoyance with him. 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.    

Mental health was a social taboo in the nineteenth century and those suffering from the effects were either dealt with quietly or sent away. Gilman's main objective when writing "The Yellow Wallpaper" was to shed light on the ineffectiveness of the rest cure which was a miss guided effort  by men on the women of the time suffering from mental illnesses and stress. When Gilman's narrator begins to suffer from mental distress after having her baby, her husband and male family members secure her in isolation, far from interactions with society and creativity. Without proper outlets like being allowed to openly write or grow intellectually she begins to suffer from the effects of panoptisim. The narrator become so overtaken with paranoia of having to act normal in front of her family that she uses the ugly yellow wallpaper of her room as an outlet and obsesses over the pattern. The effects of oppression from the male figures of her life and the paranoia produced from the non-stimulating influence of the rest cure causes Gilman's narrator to fall into madness.      

