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.
What is the rest cure in the Yellow Wallpaper?
The Rest Cure: The Yellow Wallpaper 1 Definition. In the yellow wallpaper, the husband of the narrator prescribes to her something which is referred to as yellow cure, even though this rest cure is not explicitly mentioned ... 2 The history of the rest cure. ... 3 Importance of this rest cure. ... 4 Relationship to text. ...
What is John's diagnosis in 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.
What is the message of the Yellow Wallpaper?
As the portrayal of a woman’s gradual mental breakdown, The Yellow Wallpaper offers the reader a window into the perception and treatment of mental illness in the late nineteenth century.
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 was the treatment in 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 is the woman treated in The Yellow Wallpaper?
''The Yellow Wallpaper'' challenges this domestic lifestyle and advocates for the right of a woman to choose how to live her life. The narrator of the story emphasizes the patriarchal expectation that women are subservient to men. Any attempt to move outside this boundary is met with disapproval.
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 is the narrator treated in The Yellow Wallpaper?
The narrator is a woman of sensitive temperament, and she is also a writer. She has been ill, and her illness has placed her in a weak position in relation to domineering John. So, “one's own husband” is badmouthing the narrator to her friends and refusing to take her seriously.
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.
Which gender was the rest cure typically prescribed to?
The rest cure was also, as Gilman's experience suggests, an effective means of reinforcing traditional gender roles. By putting female patients to bed and forbidding them any sort of intellectual activity, Mitchell and his colleagues ensured that these women stayed in their proper sphere.
Does the lady in The Yellow Wallpaper have schizophrenia?
She displays her depressive mood within the story by crying all day at nothing. She displays her schizophrenic symptoms when she experiences delusions, hallucinations, and social withdrawal.
What disorder was being displayed in The Yellow Wallpaper?
“The Yellow Wallpaper” comes from Gilman's own struggle with a “nervous disorder,” a depression for which she was treated by a physician named S. Weir Mitchell.
How is marriage portrayed in The Yellow Wallpaper?
Marriage, in the eyes of the narrator represent a kind of imprisonment and suffocation by men. Because of her marriage, the narrator is held captive in the bonds of marriage and is unable to control her own mental stability. Her husband is often portrayed as a domineering man who treats the narrator as a child.
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.
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.
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.
Who wrote the Yellow Wallpaper?
Yellow wallpaper “Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who is facing a dark world where a woman falls into severe after birth depression. Charlotte deals ]
What is the yellow cure?
In the yellow wallpaper, the husband of the narrator prescribes to her something which is referred to as yellow cure , even though this rest cure is not explicitly mentioned in the yellow wallpaper. His husband, John, who is a doctor, has diagnosed her with a nervous condition or a mild hysterical tendency.
What does the wallpaper symbolize in the crusader?
One strategy crusader uses is that the wallpaper as a emblem of the narrators confinement. The wallpaper can also be seen to symbolize the narrators mind. once ages, the speaker ]
What is the isolation process of the narrator?
The isolation process that the narrator receives and is one of the factors that contribute to the rest cure and enlightened the mind that made her move away from the oppression of her husband through the diagnosis of the rest cure and the inability to think and do anything of her own.
Who invented the rest cure?
The history of the rest cure. This cure was invented towards the end of the 19th century by Silas Weir Mitchell, who was an American neurosurgeon and became widely used in both USA and the UK in the early 20th century.
Was Mitchell's period a disease?
However, during Mitchell’s period, the condition was purely a disease and was known to affect women exclusively. Mitchell, developed several crude misconceptions about the situation and therefore he was known to be very unsympathetic to patients who he diagnosed with the case in the use of rest cure.
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.
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.
Definition
- In the yellow wallpaper, the husband of the narrator prescribes to her something which is referred to as yellow cure, even though this rest cure is not explicitly mentioned in the yellow wallpaper. His husband, John, who is a doctor, has diagnosed her with a nervous condition or a mild hysterical tendency. According to the narrator, the diagnosis i...
The History of The Rest Cure
- This cure was invented towards the end of the 19th century by Silas Weir Mitchell, who was an American neurosurgeon and became widely used in both USA and the UK in the early 20th century. This cure was developed during the civil war when the trireme of soldiers who experienced severe nerve damage from bullets and therefore developed wounds (Golden 22). Th…
Importance of This Rest Cure
- Rest cure had a lot of significance in the treatment of a psychological disorder in an individual. It is not to be associated with particular sex since it helps to cure both the female and the male genders from brain injuries and other psychological disorders. However, the condition was misused to undermine women in the society and made them remain low through isolating them …
Relationship to Text
- Based on the experience by the narrator, to contextualize this cure to the context of the Yellow Wallpaper story, Gilman viewed her husband as her physician at the beginning and placed all her faith in him. The treatment she experienced was intolerable, and it was accompanied by cruelty. She, therefore, realized that it was a form of manipulation by men who suffocated her during th…