“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman back in 1890 as a personal and exaggerated account of the author’s personal bout with what is now known as post-partum depression. The story is written in the first person point-of-view, through the eyes and mind of a female narrator, and details the narrator’s slow descent into insanity as a result of the imposed “rest cure” typically prescribed to women suffering from what physicians describe as “neurasthenia”.
Since the story is a quasi-autobiography of Gilman’s personal experience, her choice of narrator is of no surprise. Her choosing of Jane, presupposing theories that in the lines “I’ve got out at last… in spite of you and Jane” (Gilman) Jane refers to the narrator herself (Wayne), is understandable since Gilman’s aim was to demonstrate firsthand the process by which the idleness created by the “rest cure” is more harmful than it is therapeutic. By giving the reader an insight into the thought processes and sentiments of one suffering from a nervous disorder such as post-partum depression, Gilman hopes to create empathy towards the afflicted. In essence, Gilman was trying to present the situation as very patient/subject-centred to promote a better understanding of the disease.
Lastly, since the story is essentially a cautionary tale for women and their families, to use “Jane” (being loosely based on the author herself) as a narrator not only serves the purpose of creating a window into the nature of anxiety disorders, but it also lends to the authenticity and humanity of the condition and its sufferer. As a result, this gives the narrator just credibility despite the instability of her mental status.
Works Cited
- Gilman, Charlotte P. The Yellow Wallpaper. New York: Feminist Press, 1996.
- Wayne, Teddy. “GradeSaver: The Yellow Wallpaper – Study Guide.” Gradesaver. 2008.16 December 2008. 16 December 2008 <http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/wallpaper/>.
