Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Charlotte Perkins Gilman tells us a story about a person suffering from mental illness. In The Yellow Wallpaper we are introduced to a woman who is seriously ill. We are told that she is suffering from a temporary nervous depression. I believe that it might be more serious than that. To me it looks like she is also hallucinating. She sees something that other “normal” people do not see. As the story progresses she starts to believe that they see it too. It was sad to see what people suffering from mental illnesses may go through on daily bases. I believe that in the end of the story her husband has realized that she is more ill than they thought.
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4 comments:
We are told that John is a doctor... Why did it take so long for him to realize that she was more sick then previously thought.... also his lack of presense in her so called recuperation time may have too contributed to her sickness. Maybe if he was more supportive and there a little bit more .... or if he were to relax on all his rules, no stimulus... etc... maybe she would be better..
It might be helpful to think about her illness in terms of gender roles. Think about the given role to her as a woman and her desire to write something creative. Are they conflicting each other?
Yeah why did it take her husband so long to realize how sick she was, was he in denial or was it because he was never home? You are right it's so sad to see what she is going through everyday. I just wish her husband showed her more support.
Yes, the story brings up a lot of issues related to gender roles, and realtionships, as well as mental "illness"--it would be interesting to blog a bit about some of this...
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