The beginning emphasis will be on the interaction and roles of the husband and wife in "The Yellow Wallpaper", which are based on the male dominated times of the late 1800's. The main character, a woman whose name

is never revealed, tells us of the mental state of mind she is under and how her husband and his brother, both physicians, dismiss it. "You see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? 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?" (671). The doctors seem completely unable to admit that there might be more to her condition than just stress and a slight nervous disorder even when a summer in the country and weeks of bed-rest have not helped. It might be thought that it is a simple matter of a loving husband being overprotective of his ill wife, but this assumption is quickly washed away by his arrogant attitudes, combined with his callous treatment of her which only serve to compound the problem. "At first he meant to repaper the room, but afterwards he said that I was letting it get the better of me, and that nothing was worse for a nervous patient than to give way to such fancies" (673).

American Literature Volume II: Realism to the Present, Sixth edition. Ed. George McMichael. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1997. 671-682.

Virtually imprisoned in her bedroom, supposedly to allow her to rest and recover, she slowly starts to go insane. Without compassion or an outlet for her creativity, her mind turns inward and focuses on her now increasingly shrinking universe. She has no say in the location or the decor of her room: "I don't like our room a bit. . . But John would not hear of it." (672). She is not allowed visitors: "It is so discouraging not to have any advice and companionship . . . but he says he would as soon put fireworks in my pillow-case as to let me have those stimulating people about now." (673). In large part because of this oppression, she continues to decline. "I don't feel as if it was worthwhile to turn my hand over for anything and I'm getting dreadfully fretful and querulous." (675). But by keeping her a prisoner in a room with offensive wallpaper and very little to occupy her mind, John almost forces her to dwell on her psyche. Prison is supposed to be depressing, and she is pretty close to being a prisoner.

Interconnected with the first symptom of irrational obsession is that of thought processing disorder. This disorder can range in severity from a vague muddiness of thinking to a complete breakdown of one's mental processes. The first real clues that she is having trouble controlling her mental state of being comes into focus when she states, "I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes . . . I take pains to control myself - before him, at least, and that makes me very tired" (672). She tries to discuss her feelings rationally, but this only brings a "stern reproachful look" at which she gives up and returns to her room. Again her condition is revealed a few pages later when remarking that, "It is getting to be a great effort for me to think straight" (676).

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'" The

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Approximate Word count = 3265
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)