Yellow+Wallpaper+Psychoanalysis

=Psychoanalysis & "The Yellow Wallpaper."=

The field of Psychoanalysis was pioneered by Sigmund Freud in the late 1800's. His work is highly debated to this day. Despite this, his theories are still widely accepted and have spawned their own form of criticism.

If we apply Freud's theories to Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" we look into a world of what Freud would have called the hysterical. When Gilman wrote this piece she was trying to describe the "therapy" that she received for her hysterical spells years earlier. Freud's work or the "talking cure" was still not widely accepted to treat psychological problems.

A psychoanalytic reading of Gilman's piece would lead us to see a woman who is most likely still haunted by her expiriences while under psychological duress. We can also see Perkins' opinion on the course of therapy that she received. If the woman was not mad before her complete and total separation from society her incarceration brought her there in short order. Through the use of Freudian theory we know that Perkins suffered greatly from her depression & suffered even more from her misdiagnoses. We can also surmise that though the womans movement of the late 19th century was in full swing one of the only forums that she had to vent her frustrations and problems was in her writing. Since the talking cure was yet to be realized as a viable resources for treating "hysterics" Gilman was left only with pen & paper to vent her concerns.

It is also reasonable to conclude that her sexuality influenced her opinion of the men in her stories. Though she married, we know that she was bisexual and had emotional and physical relationships with other women. Freud would not be able to ignore the sexual lifestyle of this women in his reading of this piece. The oppressive nature of sexuality in general during the late 19th century would have provided a huge stress for Gilman. It is my opinion that Freud would have probably deduced that her "Nervous Exhaustion" or hysteria was likely caused by her torn sense of self due to her sexuality.

Taking these factors into account we can see //The// //Yellow Wallpaper// is not a story about the madness of one woman, but a warning to women. The story was a way for Perkins to speak her mind in a time when women were gaining power but still suffered under the heavy yoke sexism, censorship, and oppression.



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Resources:

"The Big Blue Book of Theory &Criticism" __The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism__, ©2001 W.W. Norton & Comapny Inc.

"Why I wrote the Yellow Wallpaper" (First published 1913 in the Forerunner) http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/whyyw.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Perkins_Gilman