The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman follows the life of a woman hidden away from society by her husband due to postpartum depression, hysteria, and anxiety.  This story reflects the mindset throughout 19th century America on the mental health of women.  The lack of care and concern given to women in this era allowed for the complete domination over health, policy, and family, by men such as their husbands, doctors, or political leaders.  The lack of knowledge regarding hysteria and postpartum depression and the mistreatment of these illnesses resulted in far more damage than betterment.  In Sexuality, Class and Role in 19th Century America, Charles E. Rosenberg of the University of Pennsylvania examines how sexual impulse oppression and alienation created dysfunction in the lives of women.  Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper, by Ann Oakley, examines the medial care of women in the 19th century in order to illuminate the mindset that frequently hindered the progress in women’s health. Escaping the sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Paula Treichler, gives the reader a reflection on how the misdiagnosis of women’s mental health and the sexual limitations imposed on women, combined as contributing factors to the mismanagement of mental health in the 19th century. This last article, Escaping the sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” ties together Sexuality, Class and Role in 19th Century America, by Charles E. Rosenberg and Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper by Ann Oakley, giving further insight into the treatment or mistreatment of women with mental illnesses throughout this time period, as seen in The Yellow Wallpaper, as well as the mindsets which prompted these atrocities.  The Yellow Wallpaper (1892) created dialogue with regard to the effects on women’s mental health as a result of systematic oppression, objectification, and dehumanization of women, by husbands, doctors, and leaders. 

The Yellow Wallpaper is a series of journal entries from a woman diagnosed with hysteria, mismanaged after the birth of her first child by her physician husband, an issue that stretches far beyond this fictional story as examined by Ann Oakley in Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper, in which she highlights the medicalization of women’s health.  The Yellow Wallpaper, was written and set in the late 19th century, a time where mental illnesses were extremely stigmatized, scrutinized and hidden as an individual’s own issue.  This story shed light on the damaging effects of mental illness and the lack of care surrounding someone with an illness at that time.  In the late 19th century, hysteria and depression were common illnesses for women to be diagnosed with; however treatment was often unorthodox and incorrect to deal with the issues at hand (Oakley 31).   In conjunction with the mismanagement of the illness, physicians and husbands were often quick to jump to conclusions, in blatant disregard of the woman’s feelings – a situation which was highly prevalent as described by the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper, “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?”  (Gilman 300).  As Oakley continues, the reason for these misdiagnoses lies in the fact that men often turn to psychiatric or pseudo-psychiatric diagnoses for problems they are unable to understand (36).  The underlying factor is that men have never been able to understand menstruation or childbirth, and the physical and mental toll of these two aspects of women’s health that also affect mental health. 

Sexuality, Class and Role in 19th Century America by Charles E. Rosenberg examines how women with mental illnesses were often treated in this time period, by sexual stimulation and oppression, which contrasts with the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper, who was treated with isolation and chastity causing greater hysteria.  Rosenberg highlights the damage that occurs as a result of repression and the stigmatization of desires, thoughts, and needs, though the lessons taught throughout this time period instructed just that (132).  Gender has long been a factor in determining care for mental illness.  Rosenberg highlights the objectification of women, and the pressure for them to fit into the mold of society or face rejection.   In the 19th century, sex was somewhat accepted as explorative, however, women still faced harsh repercussions when partaking in it for pleasure out of wedlock.  Within the household, being the perfect housewife and tending to the needs of one’s husband was not enough to satisfy the women, often leading to depression.   Such as the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper, who often finds herself wishing for more than a passing touch, “I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more stimulus – but John says it’s the very worst thing I can do…He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction” (Gilman 300).   In this time period however, with little information on mental illness, the ability to suitably treat depression was inconsistent, and often failed completely.   As Rosenberg further displays, sexual health relied on the ability to put the mind and the senses back into ‘equilibrium’ through stimulation (134).   Through this time frame, premature marriages often concluded with strong dissatisfaction on behalf of both the male and the female, however more often seen within the female.   Rosenberg focuses on the individual, and how many doctors and psychologists during this time period failed to see the problem on an individual level.  As a result they failed to provide treatment (132). 

Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in “The Yellow Wallpaper displays how, in the story The Yellow Wallpaper, a consistent theme of misogyny in the health care world and sexual repression highlight how the female mind is forced to obscure itself.  Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in “The Yellow Wallpaper, ties together Rosenberg and Oakley’s arguments that the mistreatment and sexual oppression of women added to the male dominated society of the 19th century, in obscuring the value of the women as a wife and mother.  Treichler argues that the power of the diagnosis is scientific and dependent on language, precision, efficiency, with the correct diagnostic sign, generated by a state of affairs that already exist in reality (69).  In terms of The Yellow Wallpaper, the diagnosis given should be reflective of the narrator’s symptoms as understood by her physician and husband. Misogyny can be seen in the Narrator’s reflection of her husband’s view, “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (Gilman 301).  However, in this case, the misunderstanding between her symptoms, diagnosed as nervous hysteria, and the reality of her situation cause a blatant mistreatment of the narrator. This misunderstanding also fully reflects the notion that women are not in control of their bodies, and that man dictates how a woman feels and what she needs outright. 

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a series of journal entries, written by a woman, who has been stowed away by her husband as a result of what he calls ‘Nervous Hysteria.’ This story, which takes place in the 19th century, sheds light on the misogyny that lays within the medical community at this time, particularly with regard to women. The Yellow Wallpaper (1892) created dialogue with regard to the effects on women’s mental health as a result of systematic oppression, objectification, and dehumanization of women, by husbands, doctors, and leaders.  Escaping the sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Paula Treichler, Sexuality, Class and Role in 19th Century America, by Charles E. Rosenberg and Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper by Ann Oakley, all provide further insight into the mistreatment and misdiagnosis of women with mental illnesses throughout the 19th century, and reinforce the experience of the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper. 
