
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a semi-autobiographical tale about a woman named Jane whose been diagnosed by her husband for nervous depression. She is forced to stay in a nursery room for three months in their new secluded house in hopes that she recovers. Since it was the 1890’s, Jane’s role in society significantly affected the way she was treated by her husband. Both Katherine Pouba and Ashley Tianen’s article, “Lunacy in the 19th Century: Women’s Admission to Asylums in United States of America” and Nancy Theriot’s article, “Diagnosing Unnatural Motherhood: Nineteenth-century Physicians and ‘Puerperal Insanity’” shows a connection between the social construct of the time with the cause of Jane’s illness and admittance into the nursery. The historical and cultural background that the authors of the articles provide regarding women’s roles in the 19th century explains why Jane was misdiagnosed and treated unfairly. 

It is explained in Pouba and Tianen’s article “Lunacy in the 19th Century: Women’s Admission to Asylums in United States of America” how the gender inequality coincides with how men reacted towards women’s illnesses and behaviors. The male dominated society constructed an idea that a woman should be punished if her behavior didn’t satisfy the man’s expectations. Some women were admitted into asylums for controversial symptoms such as religious excitement and the use of abusive language. Because men in the 1890’s created these standards, we can assume that Jane’s husband in “The Yellow Wallpaper” didn’t put her in the nursery not just to recover, but because he was ashamed of Jane’s behavior and didn’t want anyone to witness his wife’s current state of being. Gilman says that Jane’s husband “assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter” (300). Since it was very important to act in accordance to the man’s perception of womanly behavior, this could be the reason why John must’ve felt ashamed about Jane’s anxious depression. Jane also says that her illness makes her feel like a burden to John because she isn’t able to do anything other than rest. This reflects on Jane’s subservient role in their marriage as a traditional wife and mother. The historical background of the 19th century explained in Pouba and Tianen’s article regarding inequality accounts for the reasons behind John actions.

Jane was evidently forced to stay in the nursey and the reason may be because “the role of a woman once she was married went from the role of an individual to her husband’s possession” (Pouba and Tianen 97). Jane is being treated as her husband John’s possession by the way he forbids her from doing any writing or working. Although John’s intentions were to help her recover, we can reasonably conclude that he was also taking advantage of his power to control Jane. Jane had stated her slight opposition to moving into the house because of the concerns she had including why it was so cheap and stood so long unattended (Gilman 299). Although Jane expresses her concerns, Jane says, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage” (Gilman 299). This relates back to the article in how because of the gender roles in marriage, most of women’s ideas and thoughts were never considered and taken much seriously. It is also clear that her position in the marriage is inferior because of the way John treats her like a baby. For example, John picks her up in his arms and carries her upstairs to lay her on the bed. He also calls Jane “little girl” which implies that he thinks of himself as a superior figure. (Gilman 306). Additionally, the bed in the room represents John’s strong and reluctant demeanor because according to Jane, the bed is nailed to the ground—immovable. No matter how much Jane tries to move the bed, it won’t budge, just like how John’s stance on the whole situation doesn’t change no matter how much Jane tries to convince him that she doesn’t want to stay in the nursery. 

Pouba and Tianen’s article mainly discusses how these gender roles led to women being misdiagnosed. Since men created a standard of how women should act, any behavior that was out of line such as a disagreement about religion or inclinations to do mischief was deemed unacceptable and often led to women being committed into asylums for such behavior. “Research concluded that many women were admitted for reasons that could be questionable” and that women were usually admitted by their husbands or male friends (Pouba and Tianen 95). In Gilman’s case, John was the one who diagnosed and admitted Jane into the nursery. Jane was never diagnosed clearly, but John decides it is just a temporary nervous depression and the best way for her to recover from it is to stay in the nursery for three months. Symptoms such as depression would not be a condition that would allow someone to be eligible for admittance into an asylum today, but in the 19th century, if the depression lasted longer than the family deemed an acceptable period of time, it became eligible for admittance into an asylum (Pouba and Tianen 99). Also, women in asylums weren’t treated with much respect back then. Many women were abused and deprived of their basic human needs. Although Jane is not abused physically, John does deprive her from doing things like going out and writing. Perhaps John’s reason to admit Jane into the nursery is because he doesn’t think Jane’s anxious depression is presentable to his family and friends.

In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Jane talks about her baby that she recently gave birth to and how she is upset that she cannot see her baby until she recovers. Nancy Theriot’s article “Diagnosing Unnatural Motherhood: Nineteenth-century Physicians and ‘Puerperal Insanity’” gives a historical background of the socially constructed disease of puerperal insanity. Since postpartum depression was not recognized at the time, the term “puerperal insanity” was adopted to describe the depressive behavior that some women had after childbirth. It became an eligible reason for admittance into an asylum. Jane’s recent pregnancy can be the reason of her anxious depression and since postpartum depression was not a recognized illness in the 19th century, her behavior was incomprehensible to John. Also, since physicians in the 19th century were men, the diagnoses were mostly likely influenced by their view of women in society at that time. Jane mentions in the story Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, the same doctor that treated Gilman. Jane shows hesitation in seeing him because her friend told her that he is just like John and her brother. This can mean that Dr. Mitchell is not very understanding and willing to listen to Jane’s concerns even though he is a doctor. Theriot says that “most physicians treated patients with this illness with rest, food, a little purging, and sedation”. (74) They also recommended patients to be restrained and kept away from family and friends. Jane was only allowed to get rest and was also refrained from seeing her baby and her two cousins—Henry and Julia. The lack of knowledge in the 19th century on postpartum depression and the gender stereotype of women explained in Theriot’s article are plausible explanations of Jane’s misdiagnosis. 

The historical and cultural background of how the women’s role in the 19th century affected their diagnosis and admittance into asylums in “Lunacy in the 19th Century: Women’s Admission to Asylums in United States of America” and “Diagnosing Unnatural Motherhood: Nineteenth-century Physicians and ‘Puerperal Insanity’” gives readers a better understanding of “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The analysis shows a connection between the gender stereotypes of the 1890’s and how John treated Jane. Since men were more powerful than women in the 19th century, John is seen to have control over everything in their marriage. Because of the overall inferiority of women in society at that time, Jane didn’t have control over anything that happened to her. The unfair treatment and misdiagnosis that she faced from John, such as the restrictions that were put on her while she was “recovering”, were all influenced by the way of life during the 19th century. 
