In 1890 Charlotte Perkins Gildman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a haunting tale of a woman who loses her mind after being prescribed the rest cure to treat a slight hysteria. This semi-autobiographical story defied all literary expectations of the Victoria era by disagreeing with the social standards women were forced to follow. Ellen Bassuk writes about the idea of female inferiority in the Victorian Era in her article “The Rest Cure: Repetition or Resolution of Victorian Women’s Conflicts?”. Gildman’s complaints sparked great turmoil among the male readers. In her essay "Monumental Feminism And Literature's Ancestral House: Another Look At 'The Yellow Wallpaper'", Janice Haney-Peritz explains Gildman’s intention was to make men uncomfortable by confronting the sexual stereotypes in the relationship between men and women to create awareness of the disparity in gender equality. Other writers such as Suzanne Poirier add evidence to the argument by explaining that Mitchell’s treatment simply mirrored the medical, social, and religious beliefs of the nineteenth century. He believed the only way to cure neurasthenia in women was to force them to revert to their domestic ways. Paula A. Treichler’s argument also supports the idea than Victorian men wished to control every aspect of their wives’ lives. By describing the difficult relationship between the narrator and her husband, Treichler shows how social and economically dependent the narrator was of her husband.  

The rest cure was a popular treatment in the nineteenth century prescribed to both men and women suffering from a nervous disorder. Doctor S. Weir Mitchell first developed the treatment in 1872 during the Victorian Era. Even though the treatment seems intense and brutal for today’s medicine, it is important to understand that Victorian doctors based their diagnoses and cures on the social, cultural, and medical understandings they had of women at the time. Even though the rest cure was created to treat both men and women, it was primarily prescribed to women with similar symptoms such as “unrelenting” nervous symptoms and pelvic pain. A woman undergoing the rest cure was forced to surrender all control over her life. She was alienated from her family and friends, and bound to bed rest for two months. The patient was fed a diet rich in calories and fat. Mitchell believed that every person should have excess adipose tissue specially when trying to fight off a nervous disorder. During the Victorian Era, weight gain was considered a sign of health and improvement. Mitchell also used several psychotherapeutic techniques with the objective of reeducating the female patient on how to control her emotions and suppress her feelings. He took this opportunity to remind his patients of their only role in society as caretaker of the family. 

During the Victorian Era, men were the superior sex. Because of this belief, men believed it was imperative that they controlled every aspect of a woman’s life, including her feelings. Mitchell argued that women were weaker than men which is why they often suffered from terrible illnesses and rely on men for guidance and support. At the time, the female reproductive system was thought to be the cause for the neurological disorders that affected women in the Victorian era.  The unacceptable habit that women had of sharing their emotions with everyone around her was also considered to be the root of hysteria in women. New medical and psychological findings argue that Victorian women could have used nervous symptoms as an excuse to escape the difficult roles women assumed in the household such as childbearing. Women could have expressed these symptoms so they could avoid their sexual obligations to their demanding husbands. Bassuk also points out that it is not a coincidence that the rest cure appeared at a time when women began to challenge the domestic role and question social standards. It is not absurd to think that the rest cure was originally created to help repress women with feministic tendencies back into the submissive servant every husband wanted. After studying the rest cure and male superiority, it is easy to understand why feminist in the Victorian Era, like Charlotte Perkins Gildman, openly refused to conform to the traditional gender roles that restrained a woman’s individuality and freedom. 

Paula A. Treichler discusses the complex relationship between the female narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and her husband. The narrator’s husband, a physician, diagnosed her with a temporary case of nervous depression and a slight case of hysteria. However, the narrator confessed in her writing that she did not feel sick. She questioned the effectiveness of the treatment since it “confines her to a room in an isolated country estate” (Treichler 61). Along with exclusion, the rest cure involved language in different ways. The narrator was forbidden from engaging in normal conversation and encouraged to practice self-control. She was forced to refrain herself from expressing her feelings and her emotions. She had no one to talk to and nothing to do so she was left with no choice but to secretly write in journal despite the doctor’s orders to not read or write.  When she expressed her concern about the deserted estate they stayed in, her husband discouraged her from having such a foolish imagination. When she voices her desire to be allowed to leave, her husband confronts her by reminded her she “really was better, whether [she] can see it or not” (Gildman 306). When the narrator told her husband she was worried she was not getting better, he responded, “She shall be as sick as she pleases” (Gildman 306). The narrator’s husband continuously dismissed her concern as meaningless worries since he was the only one capable of making the correct decision regarding her health. 

As the story unfolds, the narrator expresses her uncertainty regarding the efficacy of the rest cure. Her journal describes her resistance towards the treatment which she believed may be the reason it is not working. Her husband’s ultimate goal was to place his wife in a situation where he could control every aspect of her life. By isolating her from her life and forcing her to exercise self- control, the narrator developed a false feminine self that satisfied her husband’s needs for a submissive and quite wife. By prohibiting her from writing or reading, the narrator’s husband removed any possibility for his wife to engage in intellectual activities that might encourage her feminist tendencies. Locked in the room and forced to stare at the yellow wallpaper, the pattern on the wallpaper “becomes increasingly compelling” (Treichler 63). The rest cure’s strict regimens drove her to insanity. 

“The Yellow Wallpaper” portrays the social and economic conditions in the Victorian Era. A feministic reading of the story could lead to the conclusion that the social demands the narrator felt from society and her husband led her to insanity. In the story, the yellow wallpaper symbolizes the narrator’s state of mind and her subconscious. The narrator feels trapped inside by the pressure she feels to conform to society’s expectations just like the woman is trapped behind the pattern in the yellow wallpaper. The wallpaper could also represent domestic slavery. Just like the woman is enslaved by the wallpaper, the narrator feels enslaved by her authoritarian husband and society. Throughout the story, the narrator saw herself in the woman trapped behind the wallpaper. Her hallucination led her to strip the paper off the walls to set the trapped woman free. When her husband realizes what she has done the narrator explains, “I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back” (Gildman 312).

Charlotte Perkins Gildman did not hesitate to criticize Mitchell’s rest cure. Gildman questioned the curative powers of the rest cure after the treatment was failing to heal her hysteria. Doctor Silas Weir Michell was gaining popularity at the time. However, after the rest cure failed to cure several female patients, including Gildman, many began to protest. In her article “The Weir Mitchell rest cure: doctor and patients” , Suzanne Poirier questions why the rest cure was continued to be used if it was producing such terrible outcomes. Poirier finds the answer to this question when she reflected on the medical ignorance during the Victorian Era. The Victorian era was marked by discoveries in all fields of study, including the medical field. However, medicine regarding women’s health was almost unexplored. Due to this lack of knowledge and the prominent social standards at the time, women had limited control over their needs and an insignificant voice when it came to the health care they received. Mitchell’s treatment simply mirrored the medical, social, and religious beliefs of the nineteenth century. He believed the only way to cure neurasthenia in women was to force them to revert to their domestic ways.

Charlotte Perkins Gildman had no reservations when writing “The Yellow Wallpaper”. In the nineteenth century, Weir Mitchell was regarded as the authority in medicine. He has studied different disciplines, including psychology. His work was used around the world. Despite Mitchell’s popularity, Gildman did not fear to reject his knowledge and express her concern. Poirier brings up an interesting point when she explains that Weir Mitchell’s treatment seemed bizarre compared to medicine today because it simply followed the medical, religious and even social beliefs at the time. Women were considered to be inferior than men. Because of this beliefs  a men was in charge of every aspect of a woman’s life because they thought they knew best. Women were left without the power to make independent decisions about their health or any aspect of their lives. 

It wasn’t until 1973 when the Feminist Press printed a single volume of Charlotte Perkins Gildman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” that the true extend of Gildman’s feministic views was examined. The printing of Gildman’s story was received with great disapproval as male critics, including Gildman’s first husband, viewed the work as a morbid, exaggerated tale.  From beginning to end, Gildman’s intention was to elicit such a response by confronting the sexual stereotypes in the relationship between men and women. For contemporary readers, “The Yellow Wallpaper” serves as a reminder of the ongoing feminist struggle against male domination. Such ideas are present in the story through elements such as the wallpaper, thought to represent the strict social standards that the narrator finds herself in, that decorated the room. 

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a detailed recount of a woman who underwent the rest cure. Writing from experience, Gildman accurately describes the conditions a woman was forced to live in while experimenting with the rest cure. Deprived from independence and isolated from their families, women often lost their minds and their nervous conditions worsened. After the rest cure failed to heal several female patients, it began to lose popularity. Susan Poirier’s article “The Weir Mitchell Rest Cure: Doctor And Patients” explores the idea that Mitchell’s rest cure mirrored the social and religious beliefs of the era. Because of these strong influences, she points out that, instead of treating nervous disorders, the main objective of the rest cure was to force women with feministic tendencies to conform to traditional gender roles. She provides evidence that helps establish a logical argument that shows how fixated men were on controlling every aspect of a woman’s life. Janice Hayne-Peritz poses a similar argument explaining the male views on feminism in her article “Monumental Feminism And Literature's Ancestral House: Another Look At 'The Yellow Wallpaper'”. Hayne-Peritz explains Gildman confronted sexual stereotypes between men and women in hopes of making men feel uncomfortable so they could understand the severity of the problem. These pieces of evidence also support the argument that tries to reveal the disparity between gender roles and expectations. However, unlike Poirier’s argument, Hayne-Peritz bases her argument on more recent evidence supporting the idea that men did not and still do not consider female inferiority a problem in our society. After taking a closer look at feminism and male domination, it is easier to understand why for centuries women have rebelled against the social expectations that limit their independence.

Charlotte Perkins Gildman wrote an interesting tale about a woman who is driven to insanity after experimenting with the rest cure. The rest cure was a popular treatment in the Victorian era for women with nervous disorders or hysteria tendencies. The rest cure consisted of complete isolation and a diet rich in fat and calories. The women undergoing the rest cure were locked in a room and prohibited from reading, writing, or engaging in  any sort of intellectual activity. The female patients were also subject to psychotherapy in hopes of reminding them of their social role as the caretaker of the family. Being locked in a room  unable to communicate, the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” became obsessed with the yellow wallpaper and ultimately went insane. This could have been prevented if her husband would have listened to her concerns and modified the treatment. His inability to listen to his wife drove her to insanity. Due to the lack of medical knowledge, the rest cure mirrored the medical, social, and religious beliefs of the nineteenth century. Because of this, the rest cure did not aimed to cure neurasthenia, but instead it hoped to force women to revert to their domestic ways. The printing of “The Yellow Wallpaper” was received with great disapproval from male critics. They viewed the story as a haunting, dark tale that was obviously not true. When Charlotte Perkins Gildman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” her intention was to elicit such a response by confronting the sexual stereotypes in the relationship between men and women.
