Jane’s Postpartum Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Imagine being locked inside a room and having no contact with anyone outside, aside from the occasional conversation with a husband or housemaid. Jane is a nineteenth-century American woman who has experienced postpartum depression and overbearing husbands. Charlotte Perkins Stetson has written a short story about her. Jane is the main character. Jane is a new mom who experiences baby blues. Her husband isolates her to help. His attempts result in Jane spiraling into madness as she becomes obsessive about the yellow wallpaper in the bedroom she’s trapped in. The obsession is caused by a number of factors including postpartum depression, isolation, and husband’s misdiagnosis.

Jane’s misperception is mainly due to her postpartum Depression, which the National Institute of Mental Health defines as “a mood disorder that can effect women after childbirth… [those with this condition] experience extreme sadness, anxiety, exhaustion, that may make their daily care activities difficult” (NIMH). John, her husband, is a doctor and calls it a “temporary nerve depression” and says it causes her to have a “slightly hysterical tendencies (Gilman 648). Jane’s depression was most severe in the beginning. She is a mood swinger, stating that she would get “unreasonably mad at John…I’m sure I’ve never been this sensitive.” (Gilman 648). Her mood swings indicate that her emotional state is deteriorating. In later years, she experiences intense anxiety. This is apparent in her descriptions of her interactions with her child. Jane’s confusion about her baby blues during postpartum depression is understandable. She recounts her experience with her baby, saying, “Such an adorable baby!” Despite my longing, being around him causes me to become uneasy. Jane’s anxiety regarding her child clearly makes her feel anxious. She is irrationally troubled by the inconsistency, and she even says that it makes her mad (649). The behavior she displays in the first and second examples could be described as anxious. These behaviors are not unusual for neurotypicality. The last example shows that her emotional control is beginning to slip. Jane’s irrational irritation at an inanimate object is a sign that Jane may have a deeper cause for her moodiness.

Jane eventually develops depression and then psychosis. This is a much more dangerous path. The yellow wallpaper in the bedroom she lives in becomes an obsession. Jane is averse to yellow wallpaper right from the beginning. It is a dull orange, with a sulphur tint in places. After a lengthy description about her living room, she shared that she could see a spirit in the wall. She stated that she sees a mysterious, formless figure hidden behind a conspicuous and silly front design in places where the sun doesn’t fade. Jane is now in a state known as psychosis. She is not depressed. Her obsession grows as she spends more time in the same room. Jane spends her time alone in the room, with little stimulation other than occasional conversations with John and his sister. Jane has no contact with others for 24 hours per day. Jane’s depression may have been the cause of her mental illness. Sub stimulation makes it difficult for Jane to grasp reality.

Jane stops interacting with people or anything else, so her imagination becomes overactive. She starts to hallucinate and the mysterious figure she saw before is recognized as Jane. Jane continues seeing the imaginary woman and describes her as “always sneaking” (Gilman 654). Jane ends up in complete psychosis after weeks of being isolated. She says that outsiders must “climb on the ground” and that all things are green. She continues her story, telling us that she can easily creep on the ground and her shoulder fits snugly around the wall. These two sentences are enough to prove Jane’s sanity. Jane’s isolation and Jane’s insanity are not connected by chance. Instead, they are a cause-and-effect relationship. Jane’s isolation is the cause and Jane’s mental breaks the effect.

John, Jane’s husband is what causes her mental problems. John diagnoses Jane of hysterical despair at the beginning. He suggests that Jane share all the medicine she takes. Women’s mental health in the nineteenth century was ignored and many legitimate conditions dismissed as short episodes of hysteria. Many women suffered from this condition, and were often subject to one treatment: isolation. This was very detrimental to their health. In their paper, two psychologists from Wisconsin describe the conditions that women were subject to in the nineteenth-century. The authors state that between 1850 and 1900, women were sent to mental institutions when they displayed behavior that was not acceptable by male society. Pouba and Tianen 1995 state that women of this time had no rights whatsoever, even with regard to their mental health. This story could be interpreted as John being a symbol of patriarchy. This is possible, considering John’s actions towards Jane suggest that he might be too controlling in their relationship. Jane does not seem to be able to appreciate John’s opinions about Jane’s health. Jane stated that John laughed at her (Gilman 647). As her husband treats it as a part of the marriage, she appears to have been ridiculed a lot. Jane does show him affection. Gilman 652 says that he did tell her about a conversation she had with him. He is sweet to Jane and shows selfishness in his desire to see her well. It’s a reflection of his character. He is self-centered, misleading, and it is an indication of his character. John thought he was helping, but he became an overbearing presence and neglectful to Jane, which led to Jane’s mental decline.

Jane’s descent into madness is not entirely her fault. Her psychosis can be attributed to postpartum depression and isolation as well as her husband’s lack of understanding. She is afflicted by her baby blues and her inability to function in the world. This makes her feel unwell. This could all have been avoided if her husband took her concerns into consideration. This story, even though it is fictional, shows the harm that mistreatment can cause to women.