The Yellow Wallpaper has often been regarded as an important piece of feminist literature. Published in 1892, The Yellow Wallpaper shines a light on the patriarchal attitudes towards women's mental in the 19th Century. The story follows a young woman who, with her physician husband, has moved to a rented mansion while she recovers from post-natal depression (referred to as temporary nervous
depression). The story chronicles her descent into madness as she is forbidden from writing and looking after her child.
One of the key themes is the inferiority of women in marriage, there is an imbalance between the narrator and her husband John. John treats her almost like a child as if she knows nothing and he is the more knowledgeable other. Ultimately, he has her best interests at heart but she is reduced being just a hysterical damsel in distress. The author also uses the story to criticise 'the resting cure', often prescribed to women with 'nervous depression' during this time period, which can ultimately lead to a deterioration in an individual's mental health rather than an improvement. The author herself was subjected to this treatment, so knew the consequences all too well.
The narrator's mental health is represented by the yellow wallpaper that decorates her room, as the days pass she starts to become fascinated and obsessed with the wallpaper. She initially describes the wallpaper as disgusting but then becomes suspicious of the wallpaper as her mental health deteriorate. This is cleverly done by the use of the unreliable narrator as she tries to downplay the seriousness of her condition and question whether what is real and what is not.
Although it is only a short read, The Yellow Wallpaper encompasses the oppression of women and the infantilization of women's mental health and is an interesting and thrilling read. This is particularly poignant because there is still an element of gender inequality today, especially stigma against mental health.
The Yellow Wallpaper was read as part of the society book club which is ran monthly with a different book each month as well as sessions discussing the book.
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