Geo wrote:

It's telling when her doctor-husband, John, calls his wife, "little girl" and when she pleads with him to leave and says she is not getting better, he says:

"'Bless her little heart!' said he with a big hug. 'She shall be as sick as she pleases.'"

How condescending! There are also several references to the fact that both her husband and her brother are doctors and, therefore, know what's best for her.

Dr. Weir Mitchell wrote:

. . . moral methods of obtaining confidence and insuring a childlike acquiescence in every needed measure.

Another interesting, and icky component to the "rest cure" was the diet.

Diana Martin, M.D. wrote:

The diet consisted of milk alone for the first week, or, if milk was not tolerated, 18 or more raw eggs per day.

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/con ... /164/5/737

Here's one, you can read Gilman's own words,

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/hi ... whyyw.html

Kyrs, my thesis states, "The Yellow Wallpaper" illistrates the gender biases reflected in society during this time as well as the role of women and how their health issues were viewed. Charlotte Perkins Gilman became a leader in the feminist movement and used her experience that inspired "The Yellow Wallpaper" in the grass roots effort for women's rights.

Another story that illistrates female illnesses is, "The Story of an Hour", Kate Chopin. What is interesting when the two stories are compared, the female protagonists both feel trapped. The message of ,"The Story of an Hour", however, shows the feelings of society, and how women should feel quilty about wanting more out of their lives.

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/

What I find curious in this story is how the woman hates that room. She wanted to sleep downstairs where she could walk outside on the patio. When she first describes the wall paper, and describes the room as a nursery, she says that there are many areas where the wall paper has been stripped away. I found this pretty creepy, it foreshadows what is to come. I couldn't help but to picture demented little kids stripping the wall paper off. It sets the story up well, almost like it happened before. Maybe she wasn't the only one to go crazy in that room.

Suzanne - That sounds like a lovely paper which I would love to read sometime if you don't mind.

I think that the room had been used for the cure before. The bed was bolted down which I don't associate with nurseries.

The wallpaper, however, is a contradiction in terms. For someone who is supposed to be resting, yellow is a bad color as it is said to be mentally stimulating. So, the "off" shade of yellow could be stimulating the narrator's "off" thoughts. It's also a perversion of the happiness and sunlight that yellow normally stands for. It's a sickly yellow, as the narrator is supposed to be at the beginning and becomes by the end.

I think you are right about the room being used once before. It's really revolting to think that other women were in there, something horrible happened in there. The stains could have been drool from another woman who went through the same thing. In the beginning she is afraid of it, and towards the end she wanted to leave the house all together. I think she knew, she knew she was losing it.

This is going to sound weird, but I so wanted her to get that woman out of the wall paper and for the both of them to leave together and be happy. I think this was part of the point of the story, that women needed to help each other.

Geo brought up an interesting line, it said, "women don't creep during the day". Why? Because women have too much to do during the day? Because women must pretend to be happy during the day? Because the husband has put demands on his wife during the day? What do you think about this? Do you think the word "day" smbolizes society, and women have a sort of duty to keep appearances up during the day?

I always enjoy reading your insights Krysondra.

"I always lock the door when I creep by daylight. I can't do it at night, for I know John would suspect something at once." - Charlotte Gilman "The Yellow Wallpaper

This line has always given me something to think about. I think that women cannot creep by day because of the pressures that society puts on them. I believe it's exactly like you said, day is a time for society and duty. Yet, night is a time for husbands and being watched as well. So, the women are forced to creep, to be themselves, to escape, or to go mad, during stolen hours of daylight behind locked doors.

I think that she knew that she was losing it, too, and I think she identified with the woman who could come out and creep whenever she wanted, wherever she wanted. She wanted that woman to have as much freedom as she could give her. I definitely agree with you that part of the theme of the story is that women must stick together. Jennie, the nanny, is an accomplice in the cure and thus, untrustable. She will not help with any of the "escape". It is up to the narrator to free herself and the other woman so that they may creep together in their madness.

Thank you, Suzanne. I always find you to be a wonderful discussion partner. You are so well informed.

Suzanne wrote: Geo brought up an interesting line, it said, "women don't creep during the day". Why? Because women have too much to do during the day? Because women must pretend to be happy during the day? Because the husband has put demands on his wife during the day? What do you think about this? Do you think the word "day" smbolizes society, and women have a sort of duty to keep appearances up during the day?

I think you're right. The protagonist-narrator in this story feels trapped and is clearly subjugated by the men in her life, her husband and brother. According to Wikipedia, Gilman called herself a humanist and "believed the domestic environment oppressed women through the patriarchal beliefs upheld by society." So the only time she could be herself was behind locked doors or at night when her husband is asleep. He catches her creeping about and makes her come back to bed. The bed rest cure seems not designed to make her better, but to keep her in the role that society has dictated.

Even when he catches her out of bed at night and she tries to talk to him about her case, he says something like "It will be as sick as it wants to be." He's very patronizing. He is trying to keep her in her role. Her bed rest will end when she can successfully perform her role in society again. No wonder he faints when he realizes how far she has come from that role by the end of the story.

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a creeper myself. When the kids were little, I could stay up late and do my own thing, but now, I can't outlast my kids. My creeping time now, is in the morning. I'll get up at six in the morning just to get a couple of hours to myself, before all the demands start. I am trapped inside my family's needs, but what is different, is my husband is too.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a couple of days to just spend in bed. Of our own choosing of course, and never in a yellow room. Actually, my kitchen is yellow, I do spend a great deal of time "trapped" in there.

Yes, this story is remarkable. I find it with a lot of common points with "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen. Both stories depict women that are victims of the environment where they live. In the Yellow Paper it's a reach woman, the one ironing is a poor woman, but the two are extremely unhappy.

I encourage you to read "I Stand Here Ironing".

Justareader

Hello and welcome justareader!

justareader wrote:I encourage you to read "I Stand Here Ironing".

Thank you for this suggestion, I will check it out.