Freud, Jung, and Hippocrates in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Tentative thesis: In "The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator suffers post-partum depression, which has been proven to be a legitimate ailment. However, the narrator's disease is made worse because her husband and brother are not aware that the narrator's condition is a medical one, thus "The Yellow Wallpaper" is to make readers aware of this illness through her various psychological issues. Freud’s Theory of “Id” o The narrator’s Id is her journal, and fixation on the wallpaper and haunted aspect of the house. She get pleasure out of this and ends up obsessing over the one aspect of her life that she gains pleasure. o Sigmund Freud said you could hallucinate …show more content…
This is part of the post-partum depression; her mind has wandered to keep itself sane because she cannot see her child.

Jung’s notion of cultural archetypes: o People are archetypes, most often subconsciously.
(Example: the hero, the scapegoat, the virgin, the martyr). o The Archetypes found in “The Yellow Wallpaper” o The Explorer (The narrator):
 Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world.
 Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life.
 Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness. o The Caregiver (John in a corrupt sense):
 Core desire: to protect and care for others (he’s a doctor)
 Goal: To help others.
 Fear: ingratitude.
 He is the corrupt caregiver because as much as he is trying to help his wife, he is helping her on the pretense that there is something in it for him. That she will be normal again and tuck away her illness. o The Colour:
 Yellow- usually associated with sun, creative energy, and consciousness. Gilman takes a colour that normally represents positivity and turns it into a suffocating perverted meaning for the narrators’ inner