Throughout history men and women have had different expectations inside and outside of the household because of gender roles established in society. Gender roles can be described as norms set by society that dictate behaviors generally considered acceptable for people based on their actual or perceived sex. Due to this, there have been many times where women have had different responsibilities and expectations than men. Also, because of gender expectations, women have received different medical treatment than men. This difference in medical care is represented in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman because the narrator suffers from a nervous condition and she undergoes the rest cure. The rest cure was created for women being treated for hysteria, which was considered an illness only seen in females. By looking at gender roles and the medical treatment of women during this time period, we can see how the narrator’s sex affected the cure she was given; this is important because it gives the reader more insight into her hysteria and its possible causes. 

The female narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” is married to a physician named John and he believes that she merely suffers from a temporary nervous condition and only slight hysteria. He does not think that her nervous condition is that serious because there isn’t any visible representation of her illness. John decides that isolating her from others would be a good first step towards her recovery, considering he only finds her nervousness to be minor. Since, the narrator looks up to her husband and respects his wishes, she obeys his orders to take pills he prescribed to her even though she is not exactly sure what they are. She also agrees not to work until she is better, although she disagrees with her husband’s ideas on her condition and what would cure her. The narrator had her own theories on what would be good for her and what would help her improve her mental state. The narrator felt writing and gardening would relieve her of her nervousness. She did not share any of these theories with her husband because she knew that he would not approve. Also, John, as a physician seemed more qualified to make the final calls and because of this the narrator felt even more inclined to listen to him. She often found herself hiding the work she found stimulating and entertaining from him. She wanted to do what she had to in order to avoid conflict. The narrator goes on to say, “I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal – having to be sly about it…”, and this reveals that she got tired of hiding things and looking over her shoulder all the time (Gilman 2). The narrator grew tired of going against the choices made for her and she may have even felt guilty about it. This further explains to the reader her place in their relationship. Often her thoughts and feelings were pushed to the side as a result.

A question the narrator often asked was, “But what is one to do?” (Gilman 2). This question shows the reader that she does not have a lot of say on how things should be done in her own life. She asks this because she does not have much of a choice in the matter and she lacks power in her relationship. The narrator finds it hard to speak her mind on what she believes in and what she feels is best for her. As a result, she keeps a lot of her thoughts to herself.  It was very common to see relationships like theirs during the late 1800s. It was the societal norm to have of family with a working husband and stay at home mom. In households, such as this one, the men were the head of the household and marriage. The husbands made the majority of the decisions for their wives and families. Like how John makes medical decisions for the narrator. The men went out and made the money and they had the final say on everything. In this case, John’s thoughts and feelings had a lot of influence over the narrator’s even though the decisions were made on her mental health improvement strategies. In order to treat the narrator’s nervous condition, she was told by her husband and brother to go through with the rest cure to treat her mental illness. 

The rest cure was a method used to treat hysteria in women. According to “Rethinking the Intimacy of Voice and Ear: Psychoanalysis and Genital Massage as Treatments for Hysteria” by Clara Hunter Latham, psychoanalysis was developed as a treatment for hysteria and the illness was believed to have derived from uterus-related issues. Scientists would then justify their operation on female sex organs because of the common belief. Some of the uterus- related issues that were thought of as being the main cause of hysteria consisted of either a sick or wrongly positioned womb. Many felt the uterus had a big impact on a woman’s mental health and behavior. Since the hysterical tendencies were believed to have come from the female’s problematic uterus, the rest cure was given specifically to women during this period. Scientists felt rest would be best because the lack of interaction would prevent toxic social situations. The rest cure consisted of a very strict resting schedule. The female patients were instructed to lie in bed on their backs for about six to eight weeks. The patients were told to eat in bed and they often didn’t sit up to do anything, including urinate. 

 Weir Mitchell’s rest cure was aimed towards women because it was believed to be a good way to improve or rehabilitate a healthy mental state. The rest cure was six to eight weeks of absolute rest and isolation from friends and family. This meant limited communication with others or any brain stimulating activities, including an methods of independent entertainment. Also, the cure consisted of a strictly monitored diet that contained mostly milk. This diet was encouraged because it appeared to increase the female patients’ body weight (Blackie 61). Along with the diet and rest schedule many patients were massaged by their care givers. Also, some women endured treatments such as hydrotherapy and electrotherapeutics because doctors at the time felt that it would better stimulate muscles in the body while resting.  Weir Mitchell would consider a patient to be better if there were physical signs of improvement in the female’s body. Michael Blackie in his article, “Reading the Rest Cure”, talks about Mitchell’s research and ideas and gives a good explanation on his thought process while conducting this cure on his patients. Blackie goes on to write, “Mitchell assigned great diagnostic and prognostic value to the visible and tangible signs exuded by rest cured bodies” (Blackie 61). To further explain, Mitchell thought that improving the signs of nervousness such as weight loss and loss of energy would cause their mental health to improve as a result. For example, the narrator talked about this in her writing. Her husband John mentions to her, “You are gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better, I feel really much easier about you” (Gilman 9). When the women would only rest and eat throughout the six to eight week period, it caused weight gain thus making them appear healthier. At the time, looking well equaled feeling well. 

Similar to the rest cure done in the past, the narrator was put in her own room and was told to remain in bed for an extended period of time. She had a very precise prescription medication schedule, a pill an hour throughout the day. The narrator is also forced to rest and live in a room with hideous yellow wallpaper. The narrator describes her room as a big and airy space with ugly yellow walls and just by looking at them she could tell why the child did not enjoy staying in the room. While isolated from all of her friends and family, she secretly wrote about her experiences in the room. Being isolated from others leaves one completely alone with their thoughts. Isolation can also cause one’s mind to wander and in the narrator’s case she finds herself focusing on the movement and details in the wallpaper. While resting, she talks about her lack of strength and how depressed her nervous feelings make her. Although she is trying hard to listen to her husband by resting in her bed, her condition does not improve. The longer she stays in the room with the wallpaper, the more the wallpaper consumes her thoughts. Being in the same room for so long causes the wallpaper to take over her in a way. The wallpaper becomes her main focus and all she thinks and dreams about. Since this is happening more and more throughout her time there her hysteria worsens. 

Like many women during this time period, the narrator had a role in her household as a wife and mother. Along with these roles came great responsibilities and expectations set by society and those around her. The narrator was responsible for taking care of her child and the home in which their family lived. Unfortunately, due to her illness she was unable to completely fulfill her duties thus causing more internal conflict for the narrator. When talking about her nervous condition the narrator says, “It does weigh down on me so not to do my duty in any way!”, and this means that she does feel pressure to be the ideal wife and mother but is frustrated because she is unable to do so (Gilman 3). The narrator feels as though she has a responsibility to take care for her child but her depression and anxiety causes them to be separated. She also feels it is her job to make her husband’s home life more pleasant but her nervousness is causing more problems for him. She wants to be as good a care giver as the other women around her but her hysteria is holding her back from doing her best. Not only is her husband expecting this of her but also the other women in her life may be expecting this of her as well. The pressure she may have been feeling during this time was definitely bad for her mental health and self-esteem. 

Pressures from societal expectations could definitely cause anxiety and nervousness in anyone. Based on what the narrator had going on in her life, like many other women during this time, could be the true cause of a nervous condition as opposed to anything uterus- related. The narrator is a wife and mother who suffers from hysteria. She is trying to make herself better but she does not believe the rest cure is the way to do it. She has no control and she cannot voice her opinion to her husband as she would like. This can lead to frustration with herself and others around her. Beverly A. Hume wrote an article called, “Managing Madness in Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’”, and she talks about the pressure the narrator is under and the frustration she may be feeling. Hume goes on to say, “Gilman’s narrator evokes sympathy- not only because her entrapment (as a wife, mother, and woman) seems the direct result of an oppressive patriarchal culture and medical establishment, but also because she feels unable to do anything more than ‘creep’”. The narrator lacks control in her own life which then puts her in an oppressive situation. 

Since many women were experiencing this hysteria, it could very well be the result of the social structure and the oppression of women by men during this time. Women had limited power in their homes and marriages. Many were forced to walk on eggshells around their husbands or rely on them to give them guidance or permission. Oppression can be described as prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control but it can also be described as mental pressure or distress. An example of mental distress in the narrator’s case is her inability to oppose the encouraged rest cure. She finds herself constantly referring back to what her husband wanted her to do even though she had different feelings on what would help her recover quicker. Beverly A. Hume also supports this claim in her article by saying, “She does not believe his ‘cure’ is making her better, but feels compelled, because of John’s fluctuating and patronizing attitude…”. Another expectation of a married women during this time was to do whatever she could to please her husband. Since this is what was expected of her, she continued to stay in the room with the yellow wallpaper. 

The rest cure was thought of as a helpful form of medical treatment for women with hysteria but based on the possible causes of nervous conditions, the rest cure appears to have been doing the opposite. The longer the narrator stayed and rested in her room with the ugly yellow walls, the worse her mental state became. She constantly tried to find a reason for her ill state of mind. The narrator even wishes the house were haunted at one point because it would then give an explanation for how she feels internally. A haunted house would also have explained why her husband did not believe she was really sick. The longer she was isolated from others and the longer she was forced to rest, the more the wallpaper appeared to be doing. The narrator says that the paper looks to her, the pattern in the paper moves, and that there is a woman in the paper shaking it.  As the wallpaper continues to haunt her in her room she talks about how she was glad to be the one enduring the power of the wallpaper and not her child. The narrator thinks that she is better equip to handle the wallpaper than her child is. The wallpaper consumes her thoughts and she becomes unaware of her actions. The narrator is revealed to be the woman in the wallpaper tearing apart pieces of the room she has been confined to. 

The oppression of women in the late 1800s is very evident and “The Yellow Wallpaper” shows an example of one aspect of this oppression . Women were being restricted when it came to making their own decisions and being more independent. Most women had to go along with the expectations of their husbands and society. Many did not have much control over their own lives because many women listened to their fathers and after getting married their husbands would make major household decisions. Due to this, a lot of women were depressed because they felt like something was missing from their lives or that they wanted to be more vocal about their feelings without there being repercussions in their marriages and family dynamics. The author of the article, “Doctoring ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’”, Jane F. Thrailkill, agrees that the more masculine domination limited women and their power causing madness. Thrailkill goes on to write, “’The Yellow Wallpaper’ has since become a case study of the psychical consequences of the masculine refusal to listen to a woman’s words…”. Women were not seen as equals to men and their opinions were not really taken into account. 

In conclusion, many women like the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” experienced oppression that may have affected their mental health and self-esteem. The narrator’s uterus was definitely not the cause of her nervous condition despite what her husband thought. Also, the fact that she was born a female did not make her prone to depression and madness. Truthfully, the restrictions, pressure and expectations of her, and women like her, in the household is what caused the anxiety and the rest cure only made it worse. In a male dominated world it was easier for the scientists to believe that the mental illness was caused by a female sex organ as opposed to what women were required to be in that time in society. Women were seen as inferior and still are in some cases today when it comes to equal job pay between men and women. Society still has different expectations for men and women, some still remaining from this time in the late 1800s. What drove the narrator mad had nothing to do with her being a woman but everything to do with her trying to abide my society’s rules and becoming frustrated with herself when she could not be perfect at fulfilling her role. 
