
The past influences the present. Whether or not you may realize it, your past and everything that has happened to you both good and bad, have shaped you into the person you are today. Sometimes this is as simple as learning from your mistakes. And at other times this takes an emotionally scarring event. No matter the situation, this holds true for every person. This also rings true for literature. What has happened in the past, whether it be in the author’s life or a large historical event, shapes how the piece is written. Someone who has just experienced a large scale war, is most likely not going to write about joy and happiness. And someone who was just married is most likely not going to write about death and depression. This is the case with “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s life influenced how she wrote her short story. And the historical events that happened before the writing of “The Yellow Wallpaper” shaped how the story would go. In this paper, we will analyze the events of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s life and the historical events to see how “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a response to two main injustices of the time: feminism and mental illness.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” brings up some very important social and political aspects of its age. But before we can dive deep into “The Yellow Wallpaper” we must know the history and events leading up to Gilman’s story. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860, one year before the start of The Civil War. “The Yellow Wallpaper” was first published in 1892, and at that point in time, America was still in reconstruction after The Civil War. Socially, The United States was progressing. More rights had been given to women than ever before, but compared to the standards of today, they still did not have that many. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is mostly concerned with two main topics, and Gilman purposefully wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” to shine a light on these topics. These two topics were taken from her own life. She wrote about them because she experienced them. Feminism, because she was a strong advocate of feminism and toured the country lecturing about marriage and family. Gilman said that she didn’t like putting her marriage and family in the public eye, but she needed to speak out about the injustice that was taking place all over our country. Second, mental health treatment. Gilman herself was a victim of a mental illness and was put on rest cure. She felt the need to speak out about how it didn’t help her and how things need to change. Gilman made her points crystal clear, and spoke to these points, which lead to a discussion about feminism and about mental health that lead to change. 

In the time period, feminism is a word that not many people had heard of. Feminism was not even a movement yet, and wouldn’t be for quite some time. However, this didn’t stop the people of the day from discussing feminist issues, and making strides toward gender equality. Gilman’s piece “The Yellow Wallpaper” brought up important issues that women of the time period did not realize were issues. They did what they had been told to do and had not thought about breaking out of the mold. Gilman brought the sad reality of the situation to the forefront. Gilman said herself that “The Yellow Wallpaper” is partially about her failing marriage, and how the problem behind it was the fact that the woman was not the independent person Gilman thought she should be. “The Yellow Wallpaper” although not the first piece to bring up the topic of feminism, definitely paved the way for future discussion of the topic. This led to a feminist movement that we can still see today. The nineteenth amendment which granted women’s suffrage, was passed in 1919. Effects of this movement can even be seen in today’s society. Lillian Robinson, author of “A Casebook on “The Yellow Wallpaper saisd that the piece had “[an] impact-or, rather, [a] series of impacts”. Gilman’s piece “The Yellow Wallpaper” ultimately helped open up the discussion about feminism, and altered the course of history forever.

The second main point that Gilman makes is about mental illness. Being a patient of mental illness herself, Gilman know what it is like firsthand. Previously, the treatment of mental illness was not something of great concern. Mostly, patients would be outcast and seen as a nuisance. The innovation of rest cure was revolutionary for it’s time. However, having been prescribed rest cure herself, Gilman knows how ineffective the treatment is. She knows how many people legitimately suffer but gain nothing because they are prescribed rest cure. She shows through “The Yellow Wallpaper” that this is not the case. She shows that mental illness is serious and should be taken that way. One way she does this is by giving us the view of the narrator. She has the mental illness, and after being prescribed rest cure, falls deeper into madness. She begins to imagine things that did not happen, ultimately leading to her seeing a woman in the wallpaper of the former nursery that she is staying in. Gilman exposes the true nature of the illness, and hopefully shed a new light on the treatment of mental illness. In Jane Thrailkill’s work, “Doctoring “The Yellow Wallpaper” she says that some people were “extremely skeptical about the permanence of such word-instilled cures.” And they had every right to be. After the publishing of “The Yellow Wallpaper” the treatment of mental illness did not change overnight. But it did evolve. Just like with feminism, she opened the conversation up and allowed for the topic to be discussed. Today, we have a much better grasp on mental illness. We have a better grasp on what patients go through, and thus we can treat it better. This was mostly brought to life by Charlotte Perkins Gilman bringing the topic up in a better light.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” was a catalyst in bringing these topics to the public eye. Both have progressed immensely since the turn of the century due in part to “The Yellow Wallpaper” bringing them to the attention of the people. Feminism has made leaps and bounds since then, and the treatment of mental illness has progressed immensely. The past experiences of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s life shaped “The Yellow Wallpaper” to be what it is. Considering that Perkins experienced both gender inequality in her marriage, and was the victim of mental illness, she’s in a place where she can speak to both topics with knowledge. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is just another example of how the past shapes the present. Whether or not Gilman meant for her story to have such a big role in the changing of these social issues, the past experiences that she had molded a beautiful story for everyone.
