“The Yellow Wallpaper”, a story written by Charlotte Perkin Gilman in the late 1800’s, centers its attention around a troubled woman who has no place to go. The woman, who may be named Jane, tells the story from her perspective to allow the reader to get a more in depth look at what she is going through, and the way she deals with life around her. At an attempt to cure her illness, she first turns to her husband, John. John is a physician. Since John is her husband and claims that he knows her best, he believes that her illness is nothing more than just a “temporary nervous depression” (Gillman 300). His way of treating her illness is to separate her completely from all contact with anyone, except for himself and his sister. The author states her views about this form of treatment by writing powerfully about the roles of men and women during this time, the arguments between mental illness and physical disorder, and the idea of self-determination in insanity. Due to John’s control and isolation over his wife, and the historical background used in the story, the woman must somehow find her own peace. 

To fully comprehend the roles of men and women in story, we must first recognize the time period in which Gillman is writing. The late 1800’s was during the time in which men proved to have superiority in society. Sadly, a women’s role in society was far less important than men. This was also a time where women were hesitant to protect or speak up for their own ideas or views. Woman knew that going against their male peer’s, despite how close or comfortable they may have been to one another, would usually not end up in their favor. In the story this is made clear by the simple fact that regardless of what the woman said or the way in which she acted, she was never acknowledged.  The woman narrating the story notices this sad truth right as the story begins. She states, “He laughs at me so about this wallpaper” (302). John laughs when his wife says she is nervous of the wallpaper. He does not respect her feelings, and this proves that men viewed women as purposeless, foolish, and unimportant people. This helps her realize that she must become used to this inferiority, and in some way allow herself to gain peace. 

Since Gillman is displaying John as the typical model of a man during this time period, we as readers are able to understand how the woman must begin to think to become free of the disturbance that she is having. John explains to his wife that she makes up “silly fancies” (305) in her head and that she is only putting herself at risk. He informs her that she is in no jeopardy, and makes it seem as if he is trying to help her. When she disagrees with him he looks at her like she is crazy, and that she should not speak another word. This allows us to believe that John does not consider her feelings at all because he is convinced that he knows how to cure her illness. This relates back to the gender roles at the time because she is constantly treated unfairly, and she is never once listened to. She knows herself best, so her opinions and thoughts on her own illness should be the most important ones. In order to escape this unfair treatment, the woman must start to ignore her husband. She knows what is best for her, so that should not be affected just because she is a woman.  He also constantly shows signs of his dominance over her by calling her names like “little girl” (306). The woman is never taken seriously. She should not have to ask for what she wants because she is her own individual, but again this means nothing because of the gender roles during this time.  John treats her like she is his kid, not his companion. This causes her to perceive herself as clueless, and that she cannot do anything herself. To overcome John’s dominance, she must eventually act in her own manner. Only she can find the peace she is looking for.

Gillman poses the question of whether there is a difference between mental illness and physical disorder. Relating back to the time period of the late 1800’s, mental illnesses were not yet fully diagnosable and treatable. They were for sure known about, but with little development it was difficult to conclude whether one was suffering. Similarly, in the story John does not believe that his wife is sick, and he tells her that she is in no danger. He takes into no consideration his wife’s feelings about her problem, and does not care what she thinks. He is the “doctor”, the expert. He demonstrates this by doing only what he thinks is best. Never once does she act for herself. She never made any decisions about treating her illness, but that is because she was not allowed. From the moment John secluded his wife and put her in isolation to think on her thoughts, she was completely aware that this therapy was not going to treat her illness correctly. She was left following John’s knowledge and his ways of treatment, but also attempting to figure out how she could create her own peace from this. 

Due to complete isolation from the world, the woman concludes that she must now begin to find her own freedom through her madness. By doing this she will be able to escape the isolation, and she will finally be back to living in peace. The narrator begins to hide her illness from John, so that he will stop worrying about her. This leads to tricking John in to believe that she is starting to heal. The woman must do whatever it takes to gain her freedom because the way she is being healed right now will never work. Anything she attempts to do that is different from what John wants, is not going to happen. As time starts to pass and the days start to become long, the woman feels very alone. This loneliness begins to lead to complete insanity. She starts discovering the yellow wallpaper in her room to have many different patterns, and she is trying to put all these patterns together. According to the woman, someone behind the wallpaper is trying to escape. Seeing this allows for her to gain a sense of confidence, and to realize that she must become self-determined to escape. She can picture this person behind the wallpaper as herself, and attempt to use that to facilitate her escape. John is compared to the “top pattern” (308) of the wallpaper, as he is keeping the women behind it trapped. She is surrounded and trapped in a room covered in wall paper, and this relates to John’s complete control over her. Gillman writes, “In every bright spots she keeps still, and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard” (309). This connects directly to the actions of the women earlier in the story when she consciously hides her illness from John; hence the bright spots where he can see her. In the bright area’s she is able to be seen, so she remains calm, and acts as if John is treating her right. When John cannot see her, quoted “the shady spots”, she just goes insane. This is where she begins to find her own freedom. She does whatever it takes to set herself free. Eventually, the narrator truly believes the thought that she is the woman behind the wallpaper, and that she has finally set herself free. Due to her insanity, she locks herself in a room, and throws the key to that room away. The fact that she tossed the key allows readers to interpret that she has finally escaped this mental illness, and that no one will ever be able to change that. The key is now gone, so there is no way inside her mind. 

In conclusion, due to her inferior rank in society, and John’s medical experience, she had no other decision than to become self-determined and find her own independence. By going insane she “got out at last” from John’s restraint on her, and from anyone who doubted the idea that she had a disorder. The narrator was at last free and was now able to live her own life, and make her own decisions. She has finally found her peaceful place, and no one will ever be able to take that away from her. 