The Yellow Wallpaper And Postpartum Depression

The story “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman represents the theme oppression of women by their husbands. The attitude of husband and behavior of wife illustrates the societal thought of the time period in which the story was written. The story is narrated by an unnamed married woman, which helps the reader directly understand the feelings of the victim in a first person view (Hudock, 133). The story is about a woman's temporary nervous depression. She describes the way she feels and how she is treated by the people. Her husband, John, takes advantage of her vulnerability to cover up for his own emotional issues. She feels sick, and initially turns for help to her husband, John, as a doctor, but he dismisses her mental illness as "a slight hysterical tendency".  He uses his title as a physician as advantage to get her to do what he wants. His treatment for her required no activity, and she was forbidden from working and writing.

Forbidden to write or think, given a set schedule, and treated like a child; the woman becomes unstable. John's prescription of the “rest cure” is not helpful in healing the narrator's mental illness. At this time period, women were told what was right for them even though sometimes they only made situations worse and the society kept women from getting intellectual jobs, and strongly believed in the division between men and women. The narrator obsesses about the yellow wallpaper, in which she sees frightful patterns and an imprisoned female figure trying to escape. The woman finally escapes from her controlling husband in a final rage of insanity as she peels the wallpaper off and locks her husband out of the room.

Giving birth is one of the most wonderful experiences of life. This is an exciting and joyous part of life, but it can also be exhausting and frightening. After delivery, the new mother may experience feelings of confusion and feeling overwhelmed by emotions. The woman may fear of not being able to assume the responsibility of being full-time mother. After childbirth, many women have symptoms of depression, which can manifest as a brief crisis of sadness known as postpartum depression. In clinical terms, it is also referred as the "baby blues". A majority of new mothers suffers a mild form of depression, occurring a few days after delivery. These feelings usually ...