If readers want to fully understand “The Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Gilman, it is important for them to be informed about mental illnesses and how these conditions can come off as different to different people, depending on how it affects them.  People who do not suffer from a mental illness, as well as those who do not know someone who has a mental illness are most likely less informed on what mental illnesses are and how they affect the mentally ill.  When people are less informed about mental insanity and depression they tend to only know the depth of everyday talk, where “insane” means crazy and “depressed” is defined as sad.  If readers of “The Yellow Wallpaper” are not educated about mental illnesses, this short story will not be as interesting and also may be confusing.  I read this story in high school and just read right over the details about what Jane, the main character who suffers from a mental illness, saw and heard, thinking that it was not important to the story as a whole.  After researching and re-reading “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the short story and details are now much more interesting to me.  While reading this short story, readers that have knowledge about mental illnesses can more easily see Jane’s progression, as well as her symptoms, and in a way, they can diagnose her with what they believe she is suffering from.  An educated reader can act as a doctor by using their knowledge on the subject to come up with what they would do to heal Jane if they were in the position that John, Jane’s husband, was in at the time.  Of course it will be different because the reader’s knowledge in the 21st century exceeds what John knew back in the late 1800s.  Along with realizing the details Gilman includes in her work, reading an article or two about mental insanity and how people treat those who suffer from mental health illnesses, especially in the 19th century is important because it is important to understanding John’s actions and why Jane did not get any better.

One important thing to note about Jane’s journey is that she lived in the late 1800s, a time when mental illnesses were not well known and they did not have the nurses and knowledge that hospitals have today.  In the 21st century, there are now websites and common knowledge to help discover symptoms of mental health issues and most people know to take someone with these symptoms to seek professional help.  Jane writes that, “John is a physician, and perhaps … perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster. You see he does not believe I am sick!” (Gilman 299).  The fact that even a physician could not pick up on any of his wife’s symptoms, or even if he did see symptoms and did not think that the best option would be to take her to a hospital, shows the difference between the time they lived in, and today’s world.  In the conditions that Jane had, there was little chance of her getting better because mental insanity was not well known back then.  

Kate K wrote a book from a nursing perspective for mental health patients and their families.  One of her main points that she covered was the importance of good and relatable nurses for patients suffering from a mental health issue (O’Conner 1).  When Kate was suffering, there was nearly no information about her illness, just like when Jane was suffering with her mental insanity.  What made Kate’s situation better than Jane’s was that as a patient she had moments where she felt a real connection with her nurses and she believes that is very important and crucial for every patient to feel that connection in their recovering time (O’Conner 2).  In the conditions of the 19th century, Jane did not have the luxury of having a person to relate to and to make her feel safe and to feel as if she were not alone because nurses then did not know nearly as much about mental illness patients as they do today.  Unfortunately, Jane did not even have a nurse to tend to her; instead she had John, her husband who was gone most days for work, and John’s sister to watch over her.  Even with her husband and her husband’s sister, Jane spent most of her time alone locked away in the upstairs bedroom.  If Jane had a nurse that would try and relate to her situation instead of her husband John constantly telling her that she is getting better and stronger, it is possible that Jane would actually get better and healthier.  John, a physician and the patient’s husband, had all the power and their family did not question his thoughts and ideas about what to do with Jane.  He did not listen to his wife and did not take into consideration her thoughts and feelings.  It may just have been the male oppression that was driving Jane crazy.  Jane had to deal with a husband who did not listen to her and who thought that he knew what was best for her and that can be very hard to deal with. 

 Another important detail to keep in mind while reading “The Yellow Wallpaper” is just how it is difficult for someone to understand exactly what a mentally ill person is truly going through if he or she has not first handedly experienced that before.  Deborah Denno wrote an article about what Andrea Yates went through as she suffered from a mix of postpartum depression and insanity.  Andrea’s case for drowning her four healthy children after having a miscarriage took place in 2003, and even then people had trouble understanding her mental illness.  Andrea’s attorney got a hold of a couple of experts to prove that Andrea did indeed have a mental illness of some kind, and each expert had a different twist of what was wrong with her (Denno 1).  The fact that experts in 2003 were unable to pin point what exactly was wrong shows just how uneducated and unprepared “experts” in Jane’s time must have been.  Even once the experts agreed that Andrea suffered from forms of postpartum depression and a level of insanity, the juries were not understanding at all.  One of the juries decided that she was still competent enough to be put on trial for murdering her kids, while another refused her insanity plea but at least declined to impose death penalty (Denno 3).  Denno writes that the insanity defense is one of the most controversial criminal law doctrines because of the debate over the definition of insanity (Denno 3).  When Jane complains about wanting to leave the house, John says, “Of course if you were in any danger, I could and would, but you really are better, dear, whether you can see it or not” (Gilman 306).  This quotation shows what Jane went through, she had to deal with suffering from something that no one else could truly understand or grasp, even her physician of a husband.  When someone is suffering by seeing things and hearing things that no one else can see or hear, that must make them feel psycho, which cannot be good for their mental healing.  The confusion of having someone tell her that she is doing better when she feels as if her condition is getting worse can only make her go more insane.  John’s insistence that he knew Jane’s body and mental state better than she did also may have driven Jane insane.  

In conclusion, understanding the background of any text somebody reads is just as important as close reading the text.  Being familiar with mental illnesses and how they have changed over the years is ideal prior to reading “The Yellow Wallpaper”.  The more information the reader knows on such topics, the better off he or she is.  It is possible to read this short story without researching mental illness beforehand; although, hearing Kate K’s thoughts on how mental illnesses are treated after experiencing it herself was very interesting.  This is a much more interesting short story if the reader is able to pick up on Jane’s symptoms and John’s “helping” actions. 
