In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, a woman is hidden away in a room to work out her depression in the late Victorian age. The tale occurs in the late nineteenth century, when females lacked the identical equality to men. Another faction that suffered in this age were the mentally ill, who also lacked the same privileges. The main character has the double burden of being a woman and suffering depression, which provokes her family to bolt in her in a room until she heals, with no treatment or human contact. Gilman utilizes the time frame to depict to the reader the message of increased aid to those ill. Charlotte’s story over the ages has gotten the ball rolling on not only feministic change, but the health care field. Her story evoked change through a fictional tale. By focusing on Gilman’s use of a mentally ill female narrator, we can see how the main character perceives her condition and how the outside world views her, which most observers do not notice; this is essential because Gilman wants the reader to comprehend how the late nineteenth century affects the narrator’s mental health and her recovery.

The narrator talks about her physician’s course of action for treatment including “phosphates or phosphites- whichever it is, and tonics” ( Gilman 300). In the late nineteenth century phosphates were common in Hosford’s Acid Phosphate, a company that no long exists, which was intentioned for mental and physical exhaustion plus a nervous stomach ( Treichler 20). Based on her husband’s diagnosis of nervous depression, this treatment fits the context of the time frame. The narrator personally disagrees with her husband course of action for her illness, she feels that the lack of stimuli and human interaction, is in fact increasing her symptoms. Another road block on her way to recovery is the fact that her husband is also her physician, due to the idea that the “language of the physician is coupled with the paternalistic language of the husband to create a formidable array of controls over her behavior. “ (65). She sees her doctor as her husband and favors his loving methods without question, due to their marital status. At this time in history, men were seen as the dominant gender, women had little to no rights (63). Whenever the narrator makes a suggestion to John about altering his recovery plan he “laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage” ( Gilman 299). He does not take her seriously or respect her as an intelligent person, but she accepts it as the norm. This is a large historical context clue to the story, when John implies his dominance over her.  Gilman uses this part of history to highlight how the narrator feels about being suppressed to get her main message across, that society’s stigmas are inhibiting her recovery. 

Another group of individuals at the time that also were labeled as incapable were the mentally ill and handicapped. Society at the time shunned, ignored, and mistreated them. John has this mentality in his approach of her treatment and it rubs off on her when she says “ no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self control and not let any silly fancies run away with me” ( 305). The ignorance showed by a medical professional shows how humanity treated mental illness at the time, as something you just roll over and tell yourself to knock off. In modern times, those with a mental illness are given therapy and medication to aid them in their recovery. The narrator observes John’s poorly planned treatment and she claims that: 

“ in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus- but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad” (300).

John’s recovery plan for her is inadequate, and when she notices it, he lashes out, making her feel worse about herself. He is simply mortified by the fact that is own wife is having this sickness, by blaming her for it, saying that “ we came here solely on my account, that I was to have perfect rest and all the air I could get”( 301). He wants her as far away from their family, friends, and town as possible, because she is merely too embarrassing in her condition to be the doctor’s wife.  This is a mirror image of society’s view of the mentally ill. Gilman uses this time frame to accentuate the views of the mentally ill to get her message of suppression 

The narrator suffers from a double stigma, of gender and disease, in her husband’s and society’s eyes. These two combined put her at the bottom of the social totem pole, and place a barrier between her and her husband. He begins to treat her as a child with condescending behavior with comments like “What is it little girl?”( 306)  and“ Bless her little heart” ( 306). He places physical barriers that one would place for a child like “ the windows are barred for little children…  and then that gate at the top of the stairs” (301-302). The narrator blindly accepts this behavior because of course, it is her husband. At this historical time period, the male voice was observed as one that is practical and rational. When the narrator makes claims of superstition to rationalize what is happening, it is John’s voice that is the male logic to dismiss her ideas and refuses to see her reasoning as actually serious. 

In Gilman’s short story, the Yellow Wallpaper, the reader can see how the main character grasps her situation and how society and her family regards her. This thought is relevant because Charlotte wants the observers to understand how the late eighteen hundreds affects the narrator’s mentality and improvements. Gilman uses this historical period to indicate how the narrator perceives being suppressed to get her main theme across to the readers, that society’s prejudices are preventing her recovery. This culture’s view of the mentally ill and females, gets the readers to relate to the narrator’s observations and ultimately change their view of the groups, but putting them in the shoes of the discriminated. When one reads the short story, they immediately feel bad for the main character, seeing how she reacts to her treatments and ultimately how John treats her. Their sympathies do not fall on John, because they feel bad that he has to be associated with her. Charlotte places male dominance over the narrator through John’s condescension to reiterate the stigma on women in the era. Overall, the time frame adds another dimension of background information to get the point across. 
