Introduction
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper” presents a valuable insight into the history of mental illness in women. Thus, the main character of the story, suffering from a severe case of postpartum depression, was driven into insanity by forced confinement as part of her rest cure treatment for hysteria. The story’s central theme—criticism of male control over women—is revealed through the main character’s relationship with her husband and doctor, John. This essay will compare the opposing views on John’s motives to define the additional meaning they provide to the story.
Giving a Voice to John from “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Firstly, John’s identity as a physician presents a source of pressure on his wife. Thus, the wife’s health recovery can be acknowledged as both John’s professional and personal goals. While John is depicted as “careful and loving” to the point that the wife feels ungrateful, the author provides several hints at John’s controlling tendencies (Gilman 258). Thus, he often manipulates the wife’s opinion about her illness, downplaying its importance and potential negative consequences. Moreover, John addresses his wife as a “little girl” with a “little heart,” which shows his condescending approach to relationships in marriage (Gilman 265). Therefore, John’s motives in efficiently treating his wife by eliminating all possible interferences can illustrate how much men would extend their control over women if they could.
On the contrary, the author explains that John spent most of his time at work. Thus, creating better conditions for the wife’s recovery during his absence was expected to improve her progress. In this view, John can be perceived as a genuinely caring and loving person who overly relied on his scientific expertise, which resulted in ignoring his wife’s needs and her severe condition. Furthermore, John’s explanation that no one can help his wife but herself can demonstrate his helplessness and despair (Gilman 264). The same feeling of helplessness and hopelessness is present in John’s reaction to his wife’s state at the end of the story.
Conclusion
The position that protects the husband is more aligned with the story’s meaning. Thus, the fact that both the main character’s brother and husband were physicians demonstrates that men’s controlling tendencies were justified by their attempts to achieve the best outcome for the patient. Therefore, John’s decision to prioritize specialists’ opinions in choosing his wife’s treatment and neglect her opinion presents a tragic mistake.
Work Cited
Gilman, Charlotte. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Seeing Ourselves: Great Stories from America’s Past 1819-1918, edited by Alan Cheuse, Applewood Books, 2007, pp. 255-273.