https://www.nlm.nih.gov/literatureofprescription/exhibitionAssets/digitalDocs/The-Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf
Mental Illness in Literature: Charlotte Perkins
Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper Updated on August 8, 2014
Mental Illness in American Literature
Gilman's most famous work, her short story "The Yellow Wallpaper", published in 1892, is about a woman suffering from mental illness after of being confined to a bedroom in the attic of a vacation home by her husband, John, for the sake of her health. She becomes obsessed with the room's repulsive, yet alluring yellow wallpaper. Gilman wrote this story to bring light to women's role in society, explaining that women's lack of autonomy negatively affects their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. She used it as a call to action for readers to recognize the legitimacy and complexity of illness and benefit in therapies for treatment, namely in women, and to overcome sexism in treatment
The narrator explains the embodiment of the authors experience during
her time being treated by Dr. Mitchell's "rest cure". The treatment,
which includes no physical activity, mental stimulation, or hobbies, is
in direct conflict with what the author needs to get well. This drives
her further into madness until she descends beyond the point of getting
better.
Left: Charlotte Perkins Gilman Right: "The Yellow Wallpaper" cover
