preview

Postpartum Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Decent Essays

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, A case of Postpartum Depression
Several analyses have been made of the book "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman mostly focusing on patriarchal society as the main source of narrator’s mental illness. However, less has depicted acknowledgement of legitimate biological causes of depression. Postpartum depression is often diagnosed in women especially new mothers. This is characterized by mood swings, crying spells, anxiety and difficulty in sleeping. Some women can experience long-lasting depression that can lead to postpartum psychosis. Symptoms of this psychosis may include; hallucinations, delusions, hyperactivity, paranoia, rapid mood swings, insomnia, unsupported feelings of worthlessness and even thoughts of death. In the modern society, postpartum psychosis is temporary and treatable with professional help. The paper analyses the possibilities of society induced depression and …show more content…

The prison-like setting of The Yellow Wallpaper reinforces the popular belief during the early twentieth century of mental illness as a prison—just another of Gilman’s criticisms of psychology of the time. Gilman compares the room –having a bed that is nailed to the floor, rings on the wall and a decorated yellow wallpaper to a nursery (Scott, 201). Such a description seems more like an adult asylum. The narrator expresses a dislike of the room and wishes for another with airy windows to the decline of her husband. This is evidence of the control of men over women in the patriarchal society of Gilman’s. The society at the time insisted on a rest cure, which forces the narrator to adopt to her

Get Access