The Yellow Wallpaper

Krysondra · Sun Aug 16, 2009 11:26 am

The Yellow Wallpaper

This is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and I find it to be just a tad, well, creepy. I was wondering if anyone had read it (or wanted to read it) and wanted to discuss it a bit.

Suzanne · Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:17 pm

Hello Krys:

I have reccently read this, I agree, it is very creepy. It's funny you mention this one, I'm in the midst of a research essay on it. It is autobiographical, and it shows how women were perceived in the 1800's.

I think this would make a good sugesstion for the next dark side discussion.

geo · Sun Aug 16, 2009 9:39 pm


	Krysondra wrote: This is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and I find it to be just a tad, well, creepy. I was wondering if anyone had read it (or wanted to read it) and wanted to discuss it a bit.

The Yellow Wallpaper is in an anthology I own called: Haunted Women: The Best Supernatural Tales by American Women Writers. So, what the hell, I'll read it. I like the way this thread is going.

Raving Lunatic · Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:48 am

I have read it twice and found it very creepy.

Patrick Kilgallon · Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:31 am

A good choice of feminist literature. I read that short story and the part where it showed the stains on the wall, Stephen King guessed that was from the drool on the main character as she started walking and going mad and ending it with her crawling on the floor, against the walls.

Suzanne · Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:36 pm

What is really interesting is that this actually happened to Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the "rest cure" I mean. She was treated by Dr. Weir Mitchell who develped the "rest cure". This cure was designed to treat a nervous condition known as neurasthenia. It affected women who were considered wealthy and elite. This treatment is described as total bedrest, 24 hours a day. This could go on for months at a time. A nurse would be asigned to the "patient" and would give meals, and bed pans, etc. Gilman was told by Dr. Mitchell that she should never pick up a paint brush, or a pen ever again and that she was not allowed to use her mind in anything that would put a strain on her. She was not even allowed to read.

This story was written during the "cult of womanhood". Also, the doctrine of "feme convert" was practised during this time. This doctrine states, that once a woman is married, the household becomes one person, of course that one would be the husband. Even if the wife did something criminal, the husband was responsible. All wages and labor from the wife belonged to the husband. Actually, I believe the law finally changed, where a wife would automatically inherit the family home after the husband's death in May of 1980. Before this, the home went to the husband's next of kin, which would be children. If there were no children, the home would go to a brother.

Also, what I find interesting, is the practise of a woman taking on the husband's name. This is smbolic for the wife becoming "one" with her husband, to actually "belong" to the husband.

Another interesting factoid, off topic, but relating to marriages. Has anyone seen the movie "Brave Heart"? In the movie, the "best men" from the King were allowed to rape the bride on the wedding night. This is the origin of today's, best man at weddings. The best man gets to take the garter off the bride at modern weddings. This symbolizes the "deflowering" of the bride.

geo · Mon Aug 17, 2009 2:58 pm

Interesting post. Thanks, Suzanne.

Krysondra · Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:48 pm

I personally think that the "rest cure" would be enough to drive anyone crazy. It wasn't really used with the working class women because they were thought to be sturdier and more stable than the women of the upper class who could easily develop "hysterics" or other "feminine diseases".

I read that women were encouraged not to even roll over during their rest cure and that some women may have been restrained at the beginning of their rest cure in order to enforce it.

What's your thesis for your paper, Suzanne, if you don't mind me asking?

Patrick, that is just really, really creepy. That it would be her drool makes me shiver.

geo · Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:10 am

I read the story last night and was definitely creeped out, especially by the ending.

[spoiler]I can totally see the narrator crawling along the perimeter of the room, believing herself to be inside the wallpaper. Priceless.[/spoiler]

I also love how she looks out the window and believes she sees the woman from the wallpaper. 'It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight.'

and . . .

'I often wonder if I could see her out of all the windows at once. But, turn, fast as I can, I can only see out of one at a time.'

Thanks again for all of the information about the bedrest cure. I was not aware of this at all and I don't think I would have found this story very compelling or believable without this background.

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.

By the way, the book, Haunted Women: The Best Supernatural Tales by American Women Writers was edited by Alfred Bendixen, who says this about The Yellow Wallpaper:

The story, which was based on Gilman's own experience as a patient of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, has often been hailed as a classic horror story and praised for its chillingly accurate account of a mind on the verge of madness.

It's odd for Bendixen to include this particular story because I don't see it as supernatural at all. I guess the woman in the wallpaper can be seen as a ghost of sorts.

GreyIxia · Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:21 pm

W-O-W. I just read it and it sure was a chiller.

And I'd also like to thank Suzanne for informing us on the rest-cure thing. It sure boggles the mind :shock:

Suzanne · Tue Aug 18, 2009 2:05 pm

Geo wrote:


	Quote: 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:


	Quote: . . . 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:


	Quote: 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/

Suzanne · Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:04 pm

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.

Krysondra · Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:39 am

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.

Suzanne · Wed Aug 19, 2009 7:28 am

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.

Krysondra · Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:56 am


	Quote: "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.

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