In the beginning of the story, the reader learns that the narrator suffers from “nervous depression.” This type of mental illness is incredibly dangerous when left untreated. The narrator’s only source of attempted treatment is from her husband, John, who is a physician. He tells her that she is to stay home all day and that she must not have a lot of contact with the outside world. The narrator’s only other interactions are with her sister-in-law, Jennie. One side-effect of nervous depression is severe excitement over small occurrences. By the end of the story, the narrator is absolutely sure that she can see a woman protruding through the wall. This causes her to become even more excited, and with no one she trusts to tell of what she thinks …show more content…
Her husband rarely spends time in their vacation house, and the narrator is basically confined to her house. Several studies have linked solitary confinement to mental illness. This paper will analyze the narrator’s already severe depression, and the effects brought about by being confined in her house.
In the beginning of the story, the narrator already suffers from a mental illness called nervous depression. Nervous depression is the “lowering of pressure or lowering and weakening of nervous or mental vitality,” (If You Have). Her husband diagnoses her with depression and condemns her to stay in their vacation home until she is cured. Although the narrator says that her husband “does not believe that I am sick,” he does tell her that she is “absolutely forbidden to work until she is well again,” (Gilman 655). While …show more content…
In 1951, researchers at McGill University conducted an experiment on sensory deprivation. They took a group of young men, all paid to do the experiment, and kept them in a room equipped with only a bed. The study was meant to last six weeks, but most of the men only lasted for seven days. The men reported that they were unable “to think clearly about anything for any length of time,” and some even said they experienced hallucinations (Breslow). Other studies show that mentally ill prisoners who are kept in solitary confinement report having their mental stability “dramatically deteriorate” after long periods of time (Breslow). The narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” experiences hallucinations many times throughout the story. She believes that she is seeing things in the wallpaper, such as “rings and things,” and eventually, she sees a woman who she believes is attempting to escape from the wallpaper (Gilman 661). Interestingly, the narrator only experiences these hallucinations when she is alone. When the narrator’s husband returns from work, she no longer sees things in the wallpaper. The narrator’s hallucinations correlate with the study conducted at McGill University, and although the study was conducted sixty-five years ago it is still applicable to the narrator’s experiences throughout the story. Other studies show that mentally unfit prisoners who are kept in solitary confinement report