In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, there are two historical-cultural events that bring deeper meaning to this text. First, in the Victorian era society held the idea that men are valued above women. This is evident in the treatment process of the “rest cure” and the little dialogue between the woman and John, her husband as well as her doctor. Secondly, understanding how the asylums were believed to hold a remedy to the sick and connecting it to the setting in “The Yellow Wallpaper” increases understanding of the women’s condition. Examining the way in which women were viewed and treated, the “rest cure”, and the architectural design of asylums during the Victorian era, will give readers a new interpretation of “The Yellow Wallpaper”. 

In the Victorian Era, women were valued less than men, which impacted the treatment of institutionalized women. They believed that women were very emotional and irrational, which lead to their hysterical condition. Instead of “viewing women as consumers with right to ownership of their bodies, he [Mitchell] felt that they [women] should abdicate control of treatment to their doctors, who were usually men” (Bassuk 249). Women had to submit to men in both the household and with the remedy that affected their body and mind. Because John is both her doctor and husband, he holds control over her mental health while also being the head of the household. As a result of John having control of her thoughts (being her doctor) and head of the household (her husband), it symbolizes that men were believed to be more rational than women in that they cannot think for themselves let alone lead a family. Paula Treichler introduces the idea that diagnoses represent institutional authority, but “it is the male voice that privileges the rational, the practical, and the observable. It is the voice of male logic and male judgment which dismisses superstition and refuses to see the house as haunted or the narrator’s condition as serious” (65). It is not the diagnosis that is the problem, it is the fact that John is telling her what to think, what she can and cannot do, and denying that there is a something wrong with her which makes her feel as if she is completely crazy. Repeatedly, John instructs the narrator not to think about her condition and “not to give way to fancy in the least […] my imaginative power and habit of story-making […] is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies, and I ought to use my will and good sense to check the tendency” (302). He uses his authority as a doctor to usurp power of her mind. In this story, John represents the doctors during this time that thought that there was nothing wrong with women besides their natural emotional behavior. At the start of the narrative, the woman says “personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good” (Gilman 300). Since she is a woman and has to submit to the masculine authority, she goes against what she thinks is best and helplessly says, “but what is one to do?” (300).  She repeats this forlorn statement because there is absolutely nothing she can do because she is a woman and has to fully submit to the authority of John. It is evident that the way women were viewed during the Victorian Era had a direct impact on the treatment of hysterical women. 

One of the main treatments for hysterical women during this time was called the “rest cure” introduced by a Philadelphian Neurologist, S. Meir Mitchell. Mitchell held the idea that rest, seclusion, and excessive feeding were the best way to help women who were nervous. The patient, usually a woman, was not allowed to do anything active such as sew, read, or write (Bassuk 247). Mitchell then introduced the excessive feeding phase, which consisted of a diet solely of milk, four ounces every two hours (248). The milk was given to the women so they would gain weight. Mitchell also stated that “gaining weight was associated with an improvement in the quantity and quality of blood and was always accompanied by a ruddier color” (248).  According to Mitchell, feeding women milk so they would gain weight was directly related to the health of the blood and the mental health of women. The next step in the “rest cure” was Moral Reeducation. Moral Reeducation taught women the “principles of philosophy, patience, resignation and consolidation” (248). The goal of this final step was to make women less emotional and more rational like men. The way the “rest cure” is administered is intended for women to fully submit their whole bodies to the authorities of their doctors who were usually men. Mitchell wanted women to become rational as men were and in order to accomplish this he wanted them to suppress their natural emotional personalities for a more sensible and sound mind. He used his treatment methods to control another aspect of a women’s life. Knowing what the “rest cure” is gives the text deeper meaning and allows the reader to understand what the narrator was going through. Because patients who were prescribed to rest could not move, write, read, or express their feelings, it is easily understand why the narrator’s condition worsened.  

The architecture of asylums was believed to influence the recovery process of insane patients during the nineteenth century which adds meaning to the room and the yellow wallpaper that the narrator is surrounded with. Dr. Thomas S. Kirkbride, a Quaker from Philadelphia, believed that architecture was very important in the treatment of the patients. The architecture designs included: seclusion, small, and “specialized families that undermined the ability to care for needy members” (Barber 404). The majority of the asylums during this era were located on the outskirts of towns providing a refuge from the stress and turmoil of urbanization. They were normally very small and had families that would take care of the patients. According to Barber, asylum’s appearances were meant to imitate Greek buildings such as Cathedrals and Arts and Crafts cottages in order to appear generous, civic, and kind (404). The asylum’s architecture during this time resembles the architecture of house the narrator and her family resided in in many ways. The first way it resembles a Victorian asylum is its seclusion from the town. The house the narrator is in is three miles from the closest village and is off set from the road. The narrator’s husband and physician, John, says that they came all this way for the open air. The second way the house resembles asylums during this time is the narrator is in a small space, one room, and she is required to stay there for a few months. The room has barred windows and the bed is nailed to the floor. This expresses the idea that she is trapped in this room. Finally, the narrator is taken care of by a specialized family, John, John’s sister, and her brother. The house she is staying in is similar to the design of the asylums during the Victorian era and this is important because it reiterates the emotions of the narrator feeling trapped and alone with her thoughts and insanity. 

In order to fully understand “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, it is important for readers to look at the historical context of the treatment of women, the “rest cure” for hysterical women, and the architectural design of the asylums during the Victorian era. Women were believed to be less than men because of their women’s identity is more emotional than men’s. Because women were viewed as less than men, the “rest cure” was introduced to help women become more like men, but never equal to men. The architecture of asylums during the nineteenth century resembles the description of the house, which allows the reader to picture and understand the haunted feeling that the house exhibited that in turn makes the narrator’s condition worse. Understanding the way women were viewed, the “rest cure”, and the architecture of insane asylums, allows a clearer and deeper perspective of “The Yellow Wallpaper.” 

Works cited

Barber, John F. “Leonardo.” Leonardo, vol. 41, no. 4, 2008, pp. 404–405. http://www.jstor.org.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/stable/20206638. 

Bassuk, Ellen L. “The Rest Cure: Repetition or Resolution of Victorian Women's Conflicts?” Poetics Today, vol. 6, no. 1/2, 1985, pp. 245–257. http://www.jstor.org.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/stable/1772132.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins.  “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The Carolina Reader for English 101. Fall 2016 ed. Edited by Ben Harley and Nicole Fisk. Plymouth, MI: Hayden-McNeil, 2016. Print. 