What is the role of the husband in the Yellow Wallpaper?
In the beginning of 'The Yellow Wallpaper,' the narrator describes her husband as a kind of saintly caretaker. By the end of the narrative, he becomes a kind of prison guard that she has to escape. We'll learn about the role of the husband in Gilman's story.
How do you feel about John and his wife in the Yellow Wallpaper?
While reading the Yellow Wallpaper, I found myself having mixed feelings towards John and the way he treats his wife. The way she describes his reactions to her illness really shows an emotionless side to John as he does not take her suffering seriously.
What does the narrator say about John’s treatment of his wife?
The narrator says that John does not allow her to work at all or to have company, even though she feels that some mental and social stimulation would be good for her. However, she is not allowed to have a say in her treatment. In fact, she says that he “hardly lets [her] stir without special direction.”
Why does my husband hide his true worry for his wife?
As much as he wants to be by her side day and night treating her, if he started to show worry it could cause his wife’s worry to escalate. I believe that he hides his true worry for her for her own well-being.
How did John treat his wife in The Yellow Wallpaper?
He cares for his wife, but the unequal relationship in which they find themselves prevents him from truly understanding her and her problems. By treating her as a “case” or a “wife” and not as a person with a will of her own, he helps destroy her, which is the last thing he wants.
How does Jane's husband treat her in The Yellow Wallpaper?
Her husband, John, diagnoses her behavior as melancholia. He prescribes her rest and leases a house in the country for her rehabilitation. John is a respected physician, so Jane initially needs his advice. He does not let her write, which is her only creative outlet, and she does not visit the baby.
What treatment is prescribed for the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper?
Gilman was treated with the “rest cure”, devised by Mitchell, as is the protagonist of the story; like an infant, she was dosed, fed at regular intervals and above all ordered to rest. Mitchell instructed Gilman to live as domestic a life as possible “and never touch pen, brush or pencil as long as you live”.
How does John try to help his wife get over her illness?
John's attitude toward his wife and the term of illnesses that he thinks her illness can be cured in a short period of time by isolating his wife and putting her in a room where she is alone.
How does John diagnose his wife?
hysteriaLesson Summary In this lesson about ''The Yellow Wallpaper'', a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, we learned that the narrator's husband, John, is a physician who diagnoses his wife with a mild case of hysteria.
What happens to the husband in The Yellow Wallpaper?
Through seeing the women in the wallpaper, the narrator realizes that she could not live her life locked up behind bars. At the end of the story, as her husband lies on the floor unconscious, she crawls over him, symbolically rising over him.
Why is the rest cure prescribed to Jane?
In addition to narcotics, Mitchell prescribed a rest cure to calm them and limit movement that would keep them from healing. The cure involved four basic elements: bed rest, force-feeding and overfeeding, massage, and electrical stimulation of the muscles.
What was the rest cure used to treat?
Noticing that many nervous women looked thin and anemic, Mitchell assumed that their physical and mental health would improve once they gained weight and red blood cells. The function of the rest cure was to help patients gain fat and blood as rapidly as possible, through a rich diet and minimal exertion.
Why was the rest cure given as a form of treatment?
Weir saw the rest cure as particularly suited to treating women, partly because he thought women tolerated a lack of stimulation and inactivity better than men. He also saw it as a corrective for women who were overly active, socially and physically.
What does the narrator's husband believe is wrong with her?
The narrator explains that John believes her illness to be self-created or “all in her head.” He even tells friends and family this diagnosis. His dismissiveness reveals a lack of respect for his wife as both a person and as his patient.
How is John controlling in The Yellow Wallpaper?
John is very limiting in what he allows the narrator to do and what he prohibits her from doing, such as writing or staying in a different room in the house. My own view is that John's controlling attitude towards the narrator causes the narrator to become possessive over the wallpaper.
What does Jane suffer from in The Yellow Wallpaper?
In 'The Yellow Wallpaper,' Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the character of Jane to describe the adverse effects of the rest cure. This woman, who goes unnamed for most of the story, is suffering from a mental illness. Most likely, she is suffering from postpartum depression.
Why does the husband faint in The Yellow Wallpaper?
The reason for John to faint at the end of the story is his shock provoked by the wife's mental state. He prescribes the “rest therapy” to eliminate any distressing events that could worsen his wife's depression.
What happens to the woman in The Yellow Wallpaper?
'The Yellow Wallpaper' is a Gothic horror story – it ends with the husband taking an axe to the bedroom door where his cowering wife is imprisoned – but the twist is that she has imprisoned herself in her deluded belief that she is protecting her husband from the 'creeping women' from behind the wallpaper, and he is ...
What is the condition of the woman in The Yellow Wallpaper?
nervous depressionIn Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the female narrator goes through a temporary nervous depression due to childbirth; in an attempt to help, her husband prescribes for her a treatment where she is confined to an old nursery room with yellow wallpaper for three months.
When was the hysteria cure used?
Used from 1873 to about 1925, it typically involved confining women to their beds, where they were often bathed and fed, forbidding them to social interactions or work. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who was misdiagnosed with hysteria, found this cure inhumanely oppressive.
What is the yellow wallpaper?
In the ''The Yellow Wallpaper,'' a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator has a husband named John who's a physician. He's diagnosed her with what he calls a 'slight hysterical tendency,' but refuses to consider that something different or more serious may be wrong. Hysteria in the nineteenth century wasn't well understood as a psychological disorder and was incorrectly thought to primarily afflict women. The treatment for perceived hysteria was the rest cure. Used from 1873 to about 1925, it typically involved confining women to their beds, where they were often bathed and fed, forbidding them to social interactions or work.
What does the narrator believe about the wallpaper pattern?
The narrator's windows have bars, and the narrator believes that a woman in the wallpaper pattern is also shaking its imprisoning bars. She comes to identify with this woman, believing that she herself has escaped from the wallpaper.
Why does the narrator feel guilty about contradicting John?
A third reason the narrator feels guilty about contradicting John is because he's manipulative. He makes her feel as if she's being unreasonable, whether she is or not, and treats her like a child. When the narrator asks if they can change the wallpaper, John predicts that if he did this for her, she'd also want to change the furniture, window dressings, and other fixtures. Even though she's actually only asked for one thing, he makes her feel as if she's excessively demanding and selfish, condescendingly referring to her as a 'blessed little goose,'' as if she were a precocious child.
Does John respect his wife's views?
Finally, John doesn't respect any of his wife's views, always believing that his own perspective is the superior one. The narrator notes that he ''has no patience with faith. . . and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures.''.
Does the narrator agree with John's diagnosis?
The narrator establishes at the outset of the story that she doesn't agree with John's diagnosis or treatment. (Her brother, who is also a physician, agrees with John). The narrator's careful not to contradict John openly. Her husband ''is a physician of high standing,'' as is her brother.
What is the relationship between the narrator and her husband in The Yellow Wallpaper?
The relationship between the narrator and her husband in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is strained at best. He is acting more like a father or authority figure than a spouse, forcing her to stay in her room and rest when she feels as though some mental stimulation would actually help her. He infantilizes her, laughing at her and calling her pet names. She, meanwhile, grows worse as a result of his "treatment."
What does the narrator say about Jack laughing at his wife?
This quote tells us that John sees himself as superior to his wife, who is something to be laughed at.
Is John in the yellow wallpaper healthy?
The relationship between the narrator and her husband, John, in The Yellow Wallpaper is not exactly a healthy one by twenty-first-century standards. However, it is likely to have been seen as very appropriate to those living at the end of the nineteenth century.
Does John allow her to work?
The narrator says that John does not allow her to work at all or to have company, even though she feels that some mental and social stimulation would be good for her. However, she is not allowed to have a say in her treatment. In fact, she says that he “hardly lets [her] stir without special direction.”.
Does John the Doctor listen to the patient?
It quickly becomes clear that the doctor-patient relationship has superseded that of husband and wife between them. John appears to be the type of doctor who does not really listen to the patient, but relies entirely on his own medical training for diagnosis and treatment.
Is the narrator of Yellow Wallpaper reliable?
" The Yellow Wallpaper " has an unreliable narrator, but she becomes progressively less reliable as she descends into depression and insanity. At the beginning of the story, the narrator seems clear and focused. The first thing she reveals about her relationship with her husband is that he laughs at her rather than taking her concerns seriously. She then adds, tellingly, that one expects to be laughed at in a marriage. This suggests that her husband has never treated her as an equal or valued her opinion.
The Essay on Yellow Wallpaper Patterns In The Wall
In the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; a central conflict centers between the narrator and her husband, John. The husband uses his power as a doctor to control her; he forces her to behave how he thinks a sick woman should. The husband can be seen as a father figure who overprotects her and makes decisions for her.
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What does the yellow wallpaper symbolize?
The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story in which Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author, symbolizes the control of women and their subjugation in society around that era. The narrator, Perkin’s main character in the story, suffers from postpartum depression and was prescribed by her husband, John, a physician, bed rest. Later, the narrator is placed in a room with a yellow wallpaper. The narrator believes that behind the wallpaper she can visualize a woman. Her obsession grows, finds clues towards what she can make out of the women and why the women is there in the first place. Finally, when her husband wanted to check up on her, he fainted from the appearance of his wife and the narrator liberated herself as she rebelled against the control of her husband.
What does the narrator believe about the wallpaper?
Later, the narrator is placed in a room with a yellow wallpaper. The narrator believes that behind the wallpaper she can visualize a woman. Her obsession grows, finds clues towards what she can make out of the women and why the women is there in the first place.
Why does the narrator have to trust John?
The narrator had to trust John because he was doing everything that he could do in order for her to recover quickly. The narrator does take it into consideration and she does what is told by John. During the treatment, the narrator can’t really do much activity and she was just looking around to she what she could do.
