Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is one of the earliest works of literature that is still remembered today for its feminism power. The Text is fairly overt in its dealing with the way that women were treated in society at the time, and this was something that had not been done at the time in the late 19th century. The piece tells of the story of a woman who is taken to a house in the country by her husband who is also a doctor, and her "rehabilitation" over the course of a few weeks. It is unclear what exactly she is suffering from, and there is no sign in the story that any progress is being made on her condition. It is commonly believed that she is suffering from postnatal depression, and this is something that there is evidence in the text to support. The postnatal depression that she suffers is apt for the theme of feminism that Gilman is trying to portray. Feminism at the time was struggling with pushing for advances and keeping the identity of women through the time, so a woman losing her child is akin to losing her womanhood. Gilman uses postnatal depression as a symbol in the story to draw comparisons to what was happening with the feminism movement of the time in the late 19th century.

It is commonly thought that the narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is suffering from postnatal or postpartum depression, which is where a mother of a newborn will go into depression after the birth of her child. The narrator is taken to a house to be put on the "rest cure", where it is hoped that a period of inactivity will help her to recover. It is commonly known today that this is not an effective method to cure someone, but at the time it was widely used. There are many treatments today that help with postnatal depression, but none of these were used at the time because of the belief that women were not able to effectively diagnose and treat themselves. Even today, there is not an exact way to go about treating this illness, and there are many reasons for difficulty even diagnosing this. Much like the narrator in the story, there may be unwillingness by women to admit to their feelings after giving birth, because of the expectation that they now have to be perfect mothers. According to JP Richards, there are many different things that can go into causing someone to suffer from postnatal depression, such as biological, psychological, and social factors. The cure that is used in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is commonly called the "resting cure", and involved the narrator being on complete lockdown and not allowed to do anything. This is one of the main causes of the breakdown that eventually happens in the story. 

The lack of understanding of postnatal depression at the time caused a large part of the narrator's problem. Doctors at the time did not know how to treat this illness, and disregarded female input into their "cures". The standing of females in society at the time led to the belief by male doctors that they had all of the answers and knowledge to treat what was regarded as a small problem, and something that was to be expected with the temperament of women. The second class status also led to husbands and doctors to try and control what the females who suffered from this were doing, in order to more effectively monitor what was going on. This is seen in the story when John takes his wife's journal, and believes that she should not be "taxing" herself this heavily when in fact this was probably the only thing helping her at the time in this course of treatment at the house. 

The control that husbands had over their wives also is part of not just medical and mental treatments of the time, but also for the way that they were expected to act in marriage. At this time, there was not much emphasis placed on what women had to say if their husband or someone else thought they knew better. The expectation at the time was that women should be mothers, so having her child taken from her most certainly placed stress on the narrator. Much of the story is about stressors placed on her, such as John taking her journal and constantly telling her that she seems to be getting better, even as she knows she isn't. The biggest thing of all, though, is John keeping her in the room with the yellow wallpaper even after the narrator asks to leave. He believes he knows better and that she should listen to his advice, simply because he is a man. 

The Feminism movement of the time had to deal with this thought that women should listen to men simply because they were men. Much of the problem that this movement, commonly called "first wave feminism" had to deal with was simply getting people to listen. Many of these groups of first wave feminists that all started appearing at the same time in the late 19th century were very similar, according to Ann Schofield. She says that many of these women were generally middle-class and educated, who began to form groups to advocate for equal rights. Because of the time, they were more reformers than radicals, because of how much work had to be done. The early parts of the reformers identity came mostly from things that we typically associate with feminine ideas, such as motherhood and maternity. A major challenge for these early feminists was trying to fulfill their duties as being women and mothers, and also fight for equality and change.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a piece that shows the struggles of first wave feminists through metaphors with postnatal depression. The treatment that the narrator receives shows her lesser status as when compared to men, and the way that feminists of the time had to fight for the smallest advances in their movement. The way that the narrator loses her child is akin to the way that some of these first wave feminists lost contact with their womanhood. Overall, the way that Gilman portrays the narrator is similar to the way that many females of the time were treated. 
