A Psychological Review of The Yellow Wallpaper

Mental health problems surround each and every person, and it is up to each person to cope in their own ways, in order to reduce the pain that they may feel. Psychological criticisms look at the mind and the behaviors of the characters throughout the story. In â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist suffers from mental health problems, and not only must cope with this, but must also cope with her husband and the environment he has placed her in to facilitate her rehabilitation. Gilman depicts a husband trying to cure his wife of her depression by letting her rest alone, however, this has the opposite effect by further exacerbating her illness and her psychosis. Her environment, with the yellow wallpaper, can be seen as the reason for this mental decline by looking at her illness, coping styles and the symbolism throughout the story. Gilman presents the protagonist as a woman whose mental health is declining throughout the entire story, and whose illness has developed into something far more serious than it was originally. Depression can be seen in the narrator’s case through journal entries such as, â€Å"I cry at nothing, I cry at everything† (491). Through the several mentions of a baby, and the narrator as being unable to care for this baby, it seems as though the hysteria to which her husband was referring could be due to postpartum depression. Although it makes the unnamed narrator nervous to not be able to take care of the baby, she eventually sees that it is far better this way, when she says â€Å"I never thought of it before, but it is lucky that John kept me here after all; I can stand it so much easier than a baby, you see† (489, 492). If the narrator’s illness began as a case of depression, it certainly develops into something far more serious. Through her journal entries, her hallucinations or visualizations of other women in the yellow wallpaper can be seen. â€Å"Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over,† depicts the narrator as seeing women, not only in the wallpaper, but also outside in the garden (495). These hallucinations, along with her bvious preoccupation and obsessive nature towards the yellow wallpaper as the sole topic in her journal entries, can be seen as development into a case of schizophrenia. Freud’s theory of the personality being divided into the conscious and the subconscious mind can also be addressed within this story. Through the language Gilman uses when the narrator begins to tear down the paper, â€Å"I pulled and she shook. I shook and she pulled†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (4 96), the struggle between the conscious and subconscious can be seen. As well, the personification of the wallpaper through this language, such as when she is beginning to rip it down and â€Å"it enjoys it† and â€Å"shrieks† (496), can further demonstrate the psychosis to which the narrator is going into. Through Gilman’s use of plot and language, it is seen that the narrator’s mental health is declining every day even if she, or her husband, does not notice it; different coping styles are used in order to deal with this evident mental decline. From a psychological perspective, there are many coping mechanisms that can be used when dealing with mental health problems or issues, and in the story, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† there are different views towards these different coping strategies. John, the narrator’s husband, believes that the narrator, suffering from â€Å"temporary nervous depression,† should be â€Å"forbidden to ‘work’,† while she believes that â€Å"congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me [her] good† (487, 488). There are also differences in the attitudes towards the narrator writing in her journal. For many people, writing or doing other creative activities, can be an excellent coping strategy, however, this is not what John thinks; as the narrator says; â€Å"he hates to have me write a word† (489). The unnamed protagonist writes despite the objections to her doing so, as it creates an outlet for her and â€Å"it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me† (490). Through this alone, the difference in coping styles can be seen. There is also a difference in how the husband and wife deal with the wife’s illness within themselves. Freud contended that there are many defense mechanisms that humans use to cope with their own problems, such as repression, regression, denial and suppression. Throughout the story, both the narrator and John use these defense mechanisms. At first, the narrator can be seen as displaying repression – there is no known reason for her to be sick, nor does she tell the readers any reason. John begins to treat his wife like a child of his own, instead of an adult woman, through his overprotective nature and words like â€Å"blessed little goose† and â€Å"little girl† (489, 492), which may be an example of regression. Near the end of the story, although the narrator is still suffering from the hallucinations, she expresses denial when she thinks she is â€Å"feeling so much better† (494) and her neurotic obsessions with the wallpaper can be attributed to her suppressing other facets of her life. Both John and his wife display many differences in coping styles when it comes to the narrator’s mental health problems, and this may prolong the illness; the symbolism in the story illustrates the problems that she is trying to cope with. Gilman’s use of symbolism throughout the story of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† depicts the problems that the narrator is trying to cope with. The narrator’s reaction to the color of the wallpaper can be interpreted as a symbol for her life, with her statement â€Å"no wonder the children hated it† (489); the hideous colored wallpaper being a symbol for her dreary and sad life. The wallpaper is very symbolic, even in terms of its design. First, the narrator describes the pattern after she studies the curves as they â€Å"suddenly commit suicide – plunge off in outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard-of contradictions† (489) which can symbolize her mental health destroying her and the contradictions she is facing in herself. By night, the pattern â€Å"becomes bars† and the â€Å"woman behind it is as plain as can be† (493). The bars allude to her feelings of entrapment in the room, the house, in her marriage with her overprotective husband, and even within her life. Even the plain woman behind the bars that the narrator sees can be seen as another manifestation of herself. The fact that the author decided to keep the narrator unnamed, may exemplify these feelings of unimportance or anonymity even further. Ultimately, when the narrator locks herself in the room to tear off the wallpaper yelling, â€Å"I’ve got out at last†¦and I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back! † (497), symbolizes her pursuit of freedom from the cage of her life. The symbolism that Gilman conveys throughout the story is a very important aspect when looking at the psychology of the protagonist, and the development of her mental health. Mental health problems are clearly evident for the protagonist in the story of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† and by looking at this illness, coping styles, and at the symbolism throughout the story, the development of these problems can be seen; while her husband is putting in his efforts to cure her of this problem by allowing her to rest, he is really worsening the issues. Each person has different ways of coping with issues that have been thrown at them, and it is up to each individual person to figure out what these coping strategies are, rather than being forced into certain methods. Mental health problems are ubiquitous, and coping styles for these problems are extremely diverse; but pain can be reduced, it just takes personal strength.