the yellow wallpaper

Often times, what is meant to help can hinder. Positive intentions do not always bring about beneficial effects. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an example of such an occurrence. In this short story the narrator is detained in a lonesome, drab room in an attempt to free herself of a benign, temporary nervous disorder. During the era in which this narrative is written, such practices are considered beneficial. The narrator’s husband, a physician, adheres to this belief and forces his wife into a treatment of solitude. Rather than heal the narrator of her psychological disorder, the treatment only amplifies its effects, driving her into a severe depression.
Under the orders of her husband, the narrator was moved to a house far from society in the country, where she is sequestered in an upstairs room. This environment serves, not as an inspiration for mental health, but as an element of repression. The locked door and barred windows serves to physically restrain he...