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Effects Of Post Partum Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper

analytical Essay
1205 words
1205 words
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Imagine being confined in a room for three months, you’ve been suppressing your fears and anxieties from other’s around you, so that you can keep up the facade that you’re in a wonderful marriage. The Yellow Wallpaper written by Charlotte Gilman portrays the struggles of a nineteenth century middle-class marriage. John, Jane’s husband has a special way of showing his love and compassion for his wife. With his persistent and dominate behavior, he has suppressed his wife’s ability to express herself. This literary analysis will focus on the effects of post-partum depression and the rest-cure, how self-expression and oppression throughout the story affected the main character, and how the yellow wallpaper contributed to Jane’s hallucinations.

The Yellow Wallpaper was written in 1892, when post-partum depression and other mental illness weren’t seen by doctors as a disease. This caused most physicians to prescribe a specific treatment for post-partum depression that didn’t help. The Rest Cure was prescribed mostly to women and after being on the treatment patients began to …show more content…

In this essay, the author

  • Analyzes how women's only duties were to be obedient towards their husbands and to bare children. in the yellow wallpaper, jane uses her writing to express herself as her husband wouldn't listen to her.
  • Analyzes how the yellow wallpaper focuses on the importance of self-expression as the narrator couldn't express her feelings, thoughts, or ideas through her writing as her husband forbid the practice.
  • Analyzes how the narrator's wandering imagination contributes to her severe hallucinations. the woman in the wallpaper represents jane being caged in and not being able to express herself.
  • Analyzes how the yellow wallpaper shows the importance of views, opinions, and ideas about women's health, marriage and wellbeing being considered by their doctors and loved ones.
  • Analyzes how the yellow wallpaper portrays the struggles of a nineteenth century middle-class marriage.

It also showed a male dominated society and where women didn’t have any choice but to obey their husbands. Women who acted out of character would be treated for having a temporary nervous depression and even sent to Weir Mitchell. The narrator has been prohibited from writing about her thoughts and ideas. This soon consumes the writer into going insane. Her creativity should have been expressed and not suppressed this would have improved her post-partum depression. The Yellow Wallpaper shows how important the views, opinions, and ideas about women’s health, marriage, and wellbeing should be considered by their doctors and loved ones. This would allow women the ability to control their life and make decisions that empower

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