The Role Of Hysteria In The Yellow Wallpaper

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During the 19th century in Western Europe and the United States, many women were diagnosed with hysteria, an illness that only female patients had to endure. This disease is what many doctors associated with women that deviated from the standard of female behavior. Coincidentally, this is exactly what the protagonist of “The Yellow Wallpaper” is diagnosed with by her husband and physician. Said short story contributes to debunking the fallacy of hysteria, by subtly indicating that John consciously diagnoses his wife with this fabricated illness, so as to compel her into seclusion and conceal the psychological abuse that he inflicts on her.

Hysteria is one of the main topics of study when dealing with Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story.