The Yellow Wallpaper Essay

Submitted By roy_93
Words: 637
Pages: 3

How Much is Too Much?

Illness: “a specific condition that prevents your body or mind from working normally: a sickness or disease” as defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gillman writes about a woman who has just given birth and moves into a new house with her husband and child. Her husband, a physician, has diagnosed the woman with an illness, limiting her freedom. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that the house has a negative effect on the woman which causes her “illness” to get worse. Throughout the store, one has to question whether the woman is a reliable source in the story or if she has become delusional and is straying away from providing the truth to the readers. The house is described in the beginning as a sort of melancholy-like place at first sight. As they move in, the narrator describes some weird points about the house, such as the nursery being on the top floor, the wall having bars and rings and things around the house. The more disturbing aspect of the house though is the yellow wallpaper in the nursery. The house is being described as a sort of jail cell possibly causing the woman to feel even more trapped alongside with her husband controlling how she lives. The woman’s illness is determined before we get to know or see any of the actual symptoms. Her husband had advised her of not doing any work or strenuous activity in attempt to “alleviate” her illness. Although it is seen in the beginning of the story that her husband seems to be worsening her condition instead of aiding her: “John is a physician, and perhaps--(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind)--perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster.” By doing this, the woman begins feeling her freedom being taken away. She resorts to writing a secret journal from her husband so she feels like she has some freedom of her own. As the story progresses, we see that the house is starting to take even more of a toll on the woman than we expect. She begins to imagine things within the house showing that her condition seems to be declining. She begins to see motion within the yellow wallpaper showing that she has started to become a bit delusional and in time she even describes the