Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Nellie Bly’s “Ten Days in a Mad-House”, discussed woman’s treatment in mental institutes in the 19th century. Both Gilman and Bly are interested in women’s experiences, particularly how women were abused mentally and physically while in institutes trying to get cured. At this time, basically all psychologists were men because of this both Bly and Gilman’s account cannot avoid the complex gender dynamic presented by these doctor patient relationships in the text (Pouba and Tienen 95).  As Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Bly’s “Ten Days in a Mad-House” show, men treated women poorly in mental institutes which illustrated how in the culture at this time, men were granted more control over a woman’s mind than a woman was granted over her own. 

“The Yellow Wallpaper” introduces a narrator whose husband forces her in this nursery, showing how much control he has over her because he is her physician and prescribes the “rest cure”. “But John says if I feel so, I shall neglect proper self-control; so I take pains to control myself—before him, at least, and that makes me very tired.” (Gilman 300) The narrator seems to believe that she has to take these pain meds to help her because her husband told her it would help her self-control. Virtually it seems she gets tired from doing this but will not say anything to her husband because she thinks he is right about everything she needs to do. He treats her like an animal forcing her to listen to everything he has to say by making her think he is perfect, loving and caring for her which she does not see. “He said there was only one window and not room for two beds, and no near room for him if he took another. He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction.” (Gilman 300) She believes she has to keep thanking him more. “I have a schedule prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more.” (Gilman 301) The narrator really emphasizes how her husband has taken away all of her agency to be her own person. He does not give her any say in what she can and cannot do. “What is it, little girl? He said. Don’t go walking about like that—you’ll get cold.” (Gilman 306) He is treating her here like a child rather than his wife. He seems to be so in love with the fact, he has this control over her and she does just what he says. 

Therefore, him treating her this way shows he is not really aware of the fact that his wife is crazy and struggling with the lady in the wallpaper. He seems to actually care for her safety and how she feels. He is very controlling and possessive of her that he does not see that he has drown his wife to become madly insane. He prescribed her with the “rest cure” but it is actually her sitting in this room all alone by herself that led to her madness which makes him partially responsible for her illness. Gilman experienced this same treatment as the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” because when seen by her physician, Gilman was placed on “rest cure” as well. As Gilman stated, “I went home and obeyed those directions from some three months, and came so near the borderline of utter mental ruin that I could see over.” (Why I Wrote) Both were prescribed the “rest cure” which did more harm than good. The narrator’s treatment from her husband was misguided which causes her to have her break down point which shows you the gender dynamic presented by her husband correlates with the fact back in the 19Th century men had most overall control over women giving them no say. The total control over these women shows how the men were not exactly right about how they went with treating these women. 

In “Ten Days in a Mad-House”, Nellie Bly talks about similar gender power relationships as in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Bly pretends to be a mentally ill woman so she can be put in Blackwell’s Island Lunatic Asylum (Bly 281) Bly wanted to investigate how doctors treated these ill women. She started to see what the women had to go through when they were getting treated by male doctors. The women were beaten, they had cold baths in the same water as all the other prisoners, and were given terrible food and very cold conditions. “I think I experienced some of the sensations of a drowning person as hey dragged me, gasping, shivering and quaking, from the tub.” (Bly 287) They were literally tortured, tested beyond measure by the miserable conditions they lived in. The doctors did not necessarily care about the women nor how they were being treated, they overlook them. As the doctor says, “Keep her here until I go to the office and see the notice again.” (Bly 283) Right there, the doctor is on his own time and not giving the patient really any of his time, he does not show any care to this patient as a doctor should. It comes across as though these patients are insane and not in the right state of mind, the doctors could honestly careless. Yes, this is a different story when it comes to doctors but in the slightest sense, you would think their doctor would have more sympathy for them and the hard time they are going through. The gender powder for the males in this text override a woman’s control over her own self. When the man came looking for Nellie Bly, he tells the nurse, “No; this is not the young lady I came in search of,” then replies Miss Gandy, “If you do not know her you cannot stay here.” (Bly 296) This quote shows how this nurse treats this “normal” man with more respect than she does Nellie Bly which she thinks is insane. “I came in and saw Miss Gandy with note-book and long lead pencil, bought just for the occasion.” ‘I want my book and pencil,’ I said, quite truthfully. ‘It helps me remember things.’” In comment to Nellie Bly, Miss Gandy replies, “You can’t have it, so shut up” (Bly 291). As you see from these two quotes, Miss Gandy is showing more respect to a man that is labeled sane than a woman that is labeled insane.    

The similarities between the gender dynamics found in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Ten Days in a Mad-House” illustrate the ways in which male-dominated environments can damage a woman.  The way males treated women back in that time period effected women tremendously. Not only do you see that in these two texts but also grasping from the way authors tell about each male. As Nellie Bly stated, “There were “oblivious doctors” and “coarse, massive” orderlies who “choked, beat and harassed” patients, and “expectorated tobacco juice about on the floor in a manner more skillful than charming (Bly) In “Ten Days in a Mad-House”, you can see that even Nellie Bly’s experience was terrible and so she was treated very badly. Also, in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman said “Being naturally moved to rejoicing by this narrow escape, I wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper,” with its embellishments and additions, to carry out the ideal (I never had hallucinations or objections to my mural decorations) and sent a copy to the physician who so nearly drove me mad. He never acknowledged it.” (Gilman) These women in these institutions did not have a say for themselves, they were over controlled by male figures. The female nurses were also controlled by these male doctors. It ultimately comes to the male doctors labeling a woman “insane” or “sane” which cause the nurses to treat the woman labeled “insane” differently than a woman labeled “sane”.   Charlotte Gilman felt as she was being overlooked and that her physician drove her madly insane more than she was before. Back in the late 1900s, women with mental illness were over looked and not heard. In both of these texts, it gives you great imagery as you read to sense and maybe feel what they go through especially by the male figure. 
