During the Victorian era women’s medical care was often left in the hands of their family or spouse.  Women often did not have a say in the treatment they would receive. The spouse being in control became increasingly important when the spouse believed their wife was suffering from a mental condition. Anytime a woman dreamed of a life outside the image of a woman working in the house and taking care of the children it was thought she suffered from a nervous condition. Doctors in the Victorian era were extremely uninformed and often misdiagnosed symptoms which lead to ineffective and potentially harmful treatments. In cases of a woman suffering from a nervous condition women were often removed from their everyday lives and placed in isolation. This isolation treatment was known as the “rest cure”. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator is suffering from postpartum depression which is misdiagnosed as hysteria; the treatment she receives known as the “rest cure” only drives her into further insanity. The reader should understand the effects of both the rest cure and postpartum depression because this understanding shows the reader how the husband is ignoring his wife’s symptoms and giving her an ineffective treatment. 

In Victorian medical practices it is extremely common for the males to be in charge of a women’s medical care. It is most likely for this reason that the husband is unable to understand the woman’s medical condition. It is extremely difficult for the women in the story to heal under her family’s decisions regarding her medical care. Unfortunately, she even admits “he does not believe I am sick” (Gilman 299). Without her husband being willing to admit that she is truly sick and not simply suffering from a “nervous condition” she will not be able to receive the proper medical attention that she needs (Gilman 300). By simply thinking she is not sick and she is only going through a phase the husband tries to isolate his wife to help her stop having thoughts against society norms. If her husband were to truly believe that she was ill, he would have not tried to isolate her and could have potentially stopped her from going mentally insane. In Victorian medicine the rest cure was often seen as an effective way to heal both men and women suffering from nervous symptoms. When the rest cure was first developed the results showed that the treatment appeared to be effective. As more doctors began to try this treatment the results became murkier, “some women seem[ed] to improve while some became more ill” (Bassuk 252). Since there was potential for women to have an opportunity to heal doctors continued to use the treatment. In the story the narrator is “alone a good deal” during the day locked in an old nursery (Gilman 204). The isolation was a part of the rest cure and during the Victorian era this treatment was not uncommon. 

One part of the women’s condition is suffering from postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is extremely common and about 10-20% of women suffer from at least one level of postpartum depression after giving birth. It is so common amongst women after giving birth because the hormones in the body are trying to readjust after giving birth. Most women will not suffer from postpartum depression for more than a few days. In the most extreme cases women can experience symptoms up to a year. Symptoms of postpartum depression are fatigue, anger, anxiety, mood swings, and stress about the baby. In the story the wife is clearly suffering from many of these symptoms, “I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes” (Gilman 300). She is suffering from many of the symptoms and she has fears about being separated from her baby. She talks about how, “it makes me so nervous” that someone else taking care of her baby (Gilman 302). Since the symptoms are similar to regular depression it is often treated in a similar fashion. Treatments typically consist of taking antidepressants and tranquillizers. In most cases women just need to feel support from family and friends. It is against medical advice to leave them in a room away from family and the baby. The story shows how the narrator is clearly suffering from most of the symptoms related to postpartum depression and her husband’s neglect to believe she is truly sick leads to her treatment causing her to go mentally insane. 

The husband believes that his wife is suffering from a type of “nervous condition” so he thought he would treat her by locking her in an isolated room (Gilman 300). Since the narrator in the story is misdiagnosed with a nervous condition and not her suffering from postpartum depression the treatment of the rest cure was not effective for her. In cases where a woman was suffering from symptoms of this condition it was thought the best treatment was the “rest cure” (Bassuk 245). The rest cure only added to the narrators suffering. There are thought to be five causes for nervous conditions in women: “sudden shock, severe domestic strain, acute illness, chromic disturbances of nutrition, and normal reproductive physiology” (Bassuk 251).  The hope of the rest cure is that women would “regain and preserve domination over their emotions” (Bassuk 249). It was thought that the women had simply lost control over their emotions and the rest cure was a treatment that would help restore them. Unfortunately, in many cases the rest cure only drove women into further insanity. This was the case for the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. 

Understanding the rest cure and postpartum depression is extremely useful for readers to have a better understanding of what the narrator is experiencing. It is first important to understand the rest cure because it shows the quality and thought process behind the way medicine was practiced during the Victorian era. An assumption that was common during the Victorian era was that to be in good health, “persons must achieve a harmonious relationship with their environment and a balance among bodily organs” (Bassuk 250). Under this assumption it would be extremely easy for a doctor to assume a woman was ill especially after giving birth. After giving birth it takes time for the body to readjust to its previous state without the baby. It is contradictory that doctors found the rest cure to be effective when doctors at the time believed “proper diet and exercise” were an important part of staying healthy (Bassuk 250). The rest cure prevents one from exercising and they are placed on a strict diet. Understanding the effects of the rest cure and postpartum depression play a vital role in the way the reader would sympathize with the narrator. Without understanding of both the rest cure and postpartum depression the reader would have difficulty understanding why the narrator is suffering so much and why her husband believed the rest cure was the best course of treatment. 

The society in which this story takes place has an emphasis on patriarchal culture and this is what gives the men dominance over the women. It becomes increasingly difficult throughout the story to understand the husband’s rationale for keeping his wife locked in an isolated room, but because society has given the man power and dominance over his wife he does not necessarily have to be justified in his reasoning. The narrator’s health is clearly deteriorating as the story progresses, which is not uncommon. The rest cure was not always effective and some women “became more ill” after receiving the treatment of the rest cure (Bassuk 252). This was the case of the narrator, her symptoms of postpartum depression only worsened the longer she was trapped and isolated in the room. Isolation is the opposite of the treatment that is used on patients suffering from postpartum depression. 

The story of “The Yellow Wallpaper” demonstrates key social norms from the Victorian era that display the effects of patriarchal culture in society. Giving the husband the power to dictate the woman’s medical treatment for a condition that is only experienced by women is the main issue of the story. This issue of giving men complete control leads to life altering effects for both the husband and the narrator. The woman suffering from postpartum cannot get her husband to understand her symptoms and condition which ultimately leads to the misdiagnosis of the narrator’s symptoms. This misdiagnosis leads to the narrator’s treatment of the rest cure. The rest cure is not only ineffective in healing the narrator’s symptoms, but the rest cure ultimately pushes the woman into further insanity. 
