Theme Of Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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Throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator’s husband, John, fails to see there is something more serious that simple nervousness occurring within his wife. This should not be surprising as the narrator states John is “practical in the extreme” and “scoffs openly” at things that are “not to be felt or seen or put down in figures” (Freedman, 2007, p. 129). From this it can be concluded that John does not even believe there can be anything wrong with his wife as her “condition” is composed of her mental state and mental state is not something that John, as a physician, can physically feel or see in order to diagnose. This leads me to believe John really does not know how much the narrator really suffers and how “dreadfully depressing” her nervousness has become (Freedman, 2007, p. 131). …show more content…

131). We now know in today’s world that this is a common characteristic of depression. The narrator discusses growing lazier and how daily life is becoming increasingly more difficult; both of which are signs and symptoms of depression as well. On multiple accounts, the narrator approaches the subject of her illness with her husband, but each time John writes off her concern and reassures her she can will herself to become well again. Now, returning to modern medicine, we know depression is not willed away. Depression often worsens as time goes by and we see this in the passage especially when the narrator hits her breaking point during which she locks herself in the bedroom. Throughout the plot, the narrator grows more ill, yet nothing is done to help her cope with and recover from her illness. In the end, her husband John faints at the sight of her “creeping” around the room along the floorboards, which in a sense is his breaking point in which he realizes the narrator is experiencing something much more troubling that

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