For a great part of history, women have been secondary to men. Men were universally known as the leaders of the family that took on more respected roles. Women, on the other hand, were undervalued for their less appreciated contributions to the family. The view of women in the nineteenth century caused many women to feel the weight of their mistreatment. In Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s “The Yellow wallpaper”, a woman suffering from ‘nervous depression’ is sent to a house by her husband in order to receive treatment. This treatment includes her avoiding any physical activity, which includes a hobby of her’s: writing. During this treatment, the narrator writes in her journal the restrain she feels from her husband and how she must relieve her mind through journaling. Recently becoming a mother, the narrator suffers from what would likely be know today as postpartum depression. The effects of postpartum depression mentioned in Smith and Segal’s work and the flaws in gender roles stated in “Historical Background: Gender in the Proceedings” support Gillman’s view on the mistreatment of women in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. 

In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gillman exposes the reader to the consequences women face after giving birth and how they drive the narrator insane. Though men were the primary breadwinners for most families, women served a critical role in giving birth. Women were appointed to take care of the house by cleaning, preparing meals, washing clothes, and many more activities. Though these chores were necessary, they were not nearly as essential to the common family as birthing a child. In Gillman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator has been sent to live in a house for the summer in order to heal from her post birth troubles. She feels as though her husband is undermining her illness, saying “perhaps that is one reason I do not get better faster. You see, He does not believe I am sick!” (Gillman299). The narrator’s husband, John, believes his wife is not sick, but only suffering from temporary side effects of child birth. The narrator feels as though her husband prevents her from healing by keeping her actions limited. In the article “Postpartum Depression and the Baby Blues”, Melinda Smith and Jeanne Segal discuss the dangers of the baby blues and postpartum depression and how to cure them. After childbirth, women often experience issues with sleeping and mood swings. These symptoms are known as the baby blues. According to Smith and Segal, the baby blues include “feeling precipitated by the sudden change in hormones after delivery, stress, isolation, sleep deprivation, and fatigue” (Smith & Segal). These issues occur with mothers usually within two weeks postpartum. Gillman depicts the narrator as having a great deal of mood swings in her time after child birth. Talking about her emotional changes, the narrator says she “never used to be so sensitive” (300). The data submitted by Smith and Segal proves that the narrator was likely dealing with “the baby blues” at the beginning of the story. The article follows the baby blues with an analysis of postpartum depression. These symptoms for new mothers are far more threatening to those of the baby blues. According to the article,”you might find your anxiety out of control, preventing you from sleeping” (Smith & Seagl). As the story progresses, the narrator is driven into madness as her baby blues evolve into postpartum depression. As a result, she begins to dwell on the yellow wallpaper in her bed room and imagines a woman trapped inside the print. After her husband puts her to sleep one night, she tricks him, saying “He thought I was asleep, but I wasn’t- I lay there for hours trying to decide whether the front pattern and the back pattern really did move together or separately”(306). The fact the narrator is struggling to sleep and is beginning to have these hallucinations proves she is showing signs of postpartum depression. One major issue with the narrator’s illness is her false treatments. According to the article, steps toward recovery include exercise, consistent sleep and spending time outdoors (Smith & Segal). John, a physician, believed his wife’s only hope of recovery was to stay in the room with the yellow wallpaper and have minimal physical activity. The narrator, however, is correct when she says that “congenial work, with excitement and change, will do me good” (300). If the narrator were treated with sunshine, good sleep, and eating well, she could have reined over the illness just as other mothers have. Instead though, her postpartum depression drives her into a state of agitation.

Gillman also argues in her short story that women are mistreated through unsound gender roles. In the nineteenth century, a traditional family had the men and women serving greatly contrasting roles. In “Historical Background: Gender in the Proceedings”, the authors outline the distinctions between these gender roles. Men were expected to “rule over their wife’s”(Emsley, Hitchcock, & Shoemaker). This control factor was the normal at this time primarily because while men were the breadwinners of the family, the women were “expected to be primarily responsible for housework and childcare”(Emsely, ect. all). Women also took on less responsibilities than men because their options for employment were “typically low status, low paid, and involved fewer skills and responsibilities than men’s”(Emsley, ect. all). These gender roles caused men to treat their wife’s as a low valued property that served few purposes in the family. Gillman demonstrates this control factor as John speaks to his wife as if she is a child. As the narrator awakes one night to examine the wallpaper, her husband rises and says “what is it little girl?… don’t go walking about like that, you’ll get cold” (306). Referring to his grown wife as a minor, John gives his wife little respect in the way he speaks to her. He later attempts to convince her of her improving health, proclaiming “you really are better, dear, whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, I know” (306). The reader knows in this section that the narrator’s condition is worsening due to her recent hallucinations, yet John attempts to persuade his wife to trust his experience over hers. After responding that her appetite and appearance are declining, John dismisses her counterargument, saying “Bless her little heart!… she shall be sick as she pleases”(306). Though the narrator’s health is weakening, John refuses to take his wife’s voice to heart because he will not accept the opposing ideas of a woman. Gillman’s outlook on gender roles correlates immensely with that from the article. “Gender Roles in the Proceedings” giving detailed evidence and reason to why John treats his wife with considerable disrespect. Just as Gillman illustrated, the article writes that men of the nineteenth century restrained their wives as if they were their child instead of their spouse. Through this distorted treatment of his wife, John contributes to his wife’s decline which ends in pure madness. 

Gillman’s ultimate goal in “The Yellow Wallpaper” was to display the the injustices women faced in the nineteenth century and how their exploration can lead to their downfall.   “Postpartum Depression and the Baby Blues” analyzes postpartum symptoms and how treatment was flawed in the nineteenth century due to limited knowledge of the disease. This treatment relates directly to “The Yellow Wallpaper”, as the narrator’s condition worsens not only due to her false treatment, but also because John does not see the extent of her illness. “Historical Background: Gender in the Proceedings” discussed how gender roles affected the treatment of women and how men view their wives as equity. Gillman demonstrates these roles by displaying the dishonor John gives the narrator as she struggles with her worsening condition. “The Yellow Wallpaper” and the historical outlook of women’s treatment in the nineteenth century embodies how women were vigorously dishonored.
