Coffee house #2

Coffeehouse #2

The story that I liked the best thus far in this course is “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The Yellow Wallpaper is a story of a woman going through a mental health crisis who is subjected to a room in isolation by her husband. Although it is asserted that the placement in the nursery room by herself for an extended period of time is for her own good by her physician husband, it is obvious that being isolated and facing a yellow walled room only makes the woman more unstable. This story resonates with me because during the Covid pandemic, I got to experience what the woman in the story experienced. The description of the room, the items in the room and the things going on in the woman’s head as she wrote on her journal were reminiscent of my days in quarantine in the early days of the pandemic.

The story has hallmark elements of gothic style writing. It focuses on atmosphere of madness and the woman definitely has excessive emotions which she expresses in her journal. The actions of the woman further illustrate more gothic tones in her irrational and chaotic behavior such as tearing off the wallpaper in the room. Her obsession with the paper is a sign of her madness but what is interesting about the story is that she’s not mad by nature, she is mad by nurture. It’s evident in the story that her condition worsens while being trapped in that room. Her lack of voice, and power over her situation makes her more erratic and unstable. While she may be a normal woman going through post-partum depression or other condition, the way she is treated is actually what drives her over the edge. She essentially begins to act her diagnosis, like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This story carries a lot of frustration for not just the writer or narrator but also all women who read the story and feel empathy for the position of many women in that time period. This story not only reflects the story of one woman, but it serves as an extended metaphor for many.

Danielle Thompson