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Charlotte Perkins Stenson's The Yellow Wallpaper

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In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Stenson shows how Jane, an already ill woman, begins to become even more psychologically weakened due to solitary confinement. This story signifies how Charlotte Perkins Stenson, herself, was actually subjected to the slow departure of her own mental health. It allows us to view how isolation can inescapably drive a person to a certain breaking point and into a downward spiral that can ultimately end in lunacy. The story starts off sounding sweet and innocent enough. Jane, and her husband, John, are staying in a colonial mansion for a few months in order for her to get well due to an illness. Right from the beginning Jane has an issue with the mansion, by essentially noting something about the house seemed strange. Whereas, John, felt that it was absurd for her to even have such thoughts. Though, she does note that the home and the property is beautiful, it has a delicious garden, hedges, walls, gates and even homes for the gardeners to stay in. John and Jane’s brother are both prominent physicians. According to Jane, they think that she is not truly ill. …show more content…

Janes husband, John, seems to have unknowingly assisted her to become a target to such a fate. Imprisonment to a single room in the mansion, being secluded from nearly all social interactions, and targeted by her own thoughts is what ultimately pushed Jane over the edge and made her fall victim to insanity. Charlotte Perkins Stetson wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” to show first-hand the damaging effects that the rest cure could have on woman. She wanted to share her experiences and to inform people of how negative this treatment was and what it could and was doing to people who were seeking help for an already underlying mental illness. Charlotte eventually became well known for her boisterous feminist attitude, sociological views on women’s rights and equality, and most notably, her

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