Solitary confinement and improper healthcare can deteriorate the most weak-willed minds to madness. Charlotte Perkin Gilman created “The Yellow Wallpaper” to bring to light the oppression of women by males during the nineteenth century. To many it seems as if the female speaker exhibits inappropriate, erratic behavior and fanatic thoughts because she is naturally insane, but the real cause is the entrapment her husband forces her into. She is also one of the many women who had, but weren’t diagnosed, with post-partum depression during the period. The underlying point-of-view is that the narrator is a victim of the neglect and powerful sexism present during the Victorian era.

During the Victorian era, women of upper class families were depicted only as mothers, wives, or keepers of the house.  They relied entirely on the males around them and their actions revolved primarily around caring for children and catering to their husbands. The narrator disputes, “If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency - what is one to do?” (300). Females could never oppose anything or go against the decisions of males for fear of the possible consequences, successfully oppressing themselves with phrases like “what is one to do?” This resignation is what led to the iron-fisted burden gender roles provided for women of the Victorian era. If they did oppose men, they were threatened by the strong presence of mental asylums, which were institutions where socially unacceptable behavior was accepted and unethical medical treatments were tested. Because they had no control over their lives, this often drove women into depression and erratic behavior, as illustrated by the narrator’s hauntingly resigned voice throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper.” 

How can one break free of society’s corrupted standards? It seems the female character never once attempted to break free of her bonds, despite how easy it would be for her to escape on her own. But what would await her if she did escape her bonds? She would have no place of shelter, no inclination of food to eat, and not an ounce of emotional support from those around her. Such a cruel resolution to face in light of her current environment. Although her visage seems to please those surrounding, the reader can sense a deeper, melancholy meaning behind her easygoing tone: “Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?” (300).  Gilman begins the speaker’s tale in such a nonchalant and unconcerned tone to demonstrate how “normal” she seemed before being subjected to involuntary and unjustified solitary confinement, signaling the reader to focus on her drastically horrifying transition. The female narrator becomes a ghastly creature of habitual repetition of the phrase, “what is one to do?” Her mind travels to realms of disturbing fantasy due to her poor health and no aid from those close to her.

What is distressing about being diagnosed with a “slight hysterical tendency”? According to St. Joseph’s Regional Mental Health Care, the “hysterical” female was a common term during the early nineteenth century. Females were diagnosed with hysteria if they experienced symptoms of nervousness, irritability, and if the physician couldn’t identify any specific illness. “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him,” asserts the perspective that the female speaker was a victim of the sexism that the Victorian era was known for (301).  However, her case is tragically unique in that her family justifies her useless and overall unhealthy treatment as a common formula of societal protocol.

As the speaker’s “hysteria” continues to prevail over her body, she is driven mad by seclusion from the outside world. She begins assigning shapes and otherworldly aspects to the yellow wallpaper over several pages of her writing, a safety net which allows her to keep her focus away from feelings of hopelessness. It seems as if she also experiences memory loss, not remembering having gnawed on the armature of her bed and rubbing her body against the wall so hard it leaves a disruption in the wallpaper’s pattern: “I didn't realize for a long time what the thing was that showed behind, that dim sub-pattern, but now I am quite sure it is a woman.” (307) She imagines a womanly creature behind the wallpaper, which Gilman uses to symbolize how the unfair treatment of her husband is what led to her becoming an unhealthy visage of what she once was. The woman in the wallpaper is constantly trying to escape, just like the female speaker when she peels at the wallpaper to free herself of her internal misery, of which is also caused by an additional ailment: post-partum depression.

By adding post-partum depression into this tale of woeful injustice, Gilman establishes a relationship of understanding and pity between the reader and the female speaker. Post-partum depression was also one of the many unnamed ailments that led to females being attributed with hysteria during the early nineteenth century. Per the American Psychological Association, one in every seven women is diagnosed with symptoms of post-partum depression, which includes disinterest and fear of being left alone with the baby. “Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able, - to dress and entertain, and order things…Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous.” (301) Her nervousness of caring for her child is characteristic of post-partum depression, as are her continuous bouts of crying and fatigue. With no support from her family and being continuously left alone, the speaker’s chance of improvement was significantly diminished in concurrence with her post-partum depression.

As the time prevails, the female narrator becomes increasingly unhinged and eventually the walls of her fragile mind crack under the pressure of constant inactivity. She spends so much time in solitary confinement, that she unexpectedly becomes attached to the melancholy presence of the yellow wallpaper: “...I am here, and no person touches this paper but me, - not alive! She tried to get me out of the room-it was too patent! But I said it was so quiet and empty and clean now that I believed I would lie down again and sleep all I could…” (310) The words of the female speaker become increasingly obsessed and mentally instable and unpredictable Her solemn demeanor becomes unstable and disturbing as she becomes a creature so unrecognizable, her husband collapses from fright. 

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a memoir of a woman who breaks free from the oppressive behaviors of her husband. To be alone and trapped in a suffocating room for hour of time with no way of escaping without breaking down her mental boundaries, the female speaker must come to terms with her overwhelming feeling and prevailing physical deterioration. Gilman uses the tantalizing and raw emotions of her female speaker to foreshadow her horrific transition from a kept woman into a twisted and melancholy figure of freedom. With varying moments of tranquil hopelessness and volatile bursts that touch on the brink of insanity, the diary entries of the erratic narrator are able to take hostage the mind of the reader with anticipation of her ultimately horrendous metamorphosis. By allowing her readers to delve into the world of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gilman succeeds in enriching them with the historical traditions and civil obstacles that reigned during the Victorian Era. 
