Seeing and Imagining Through the Yellow Wallpaper

In class, we began to discuss whether John contributed to his wife's breaking point in "The Yellow Wallpaper," or if she would have had a mental breakdown regardless of her husband's overcontrolling demeanor. After re-reading the first few pages of the text, I have come to my own conclusion that her downfall and mental breakdown were a direct result of her husband's intense interference. There is no direct evidence that the narrator was crazy within the first half of the story, ie before and right after she moved into the upstairs room. The narrator's ability to critique the colors of the wall (33), sneakily write without her husband knowing (15), and to be aware of John's loving nature towards her (28) all demonstrate that she was not crazy before she was confined to bed rest. The only evidence of a possible mental condition is her "nervous condition" (24). Still, the narrator notes that she is frequently angry with John and that he says she lacks "proper self-control" (25). The ability of the narrator to both notice John's behavior and her own emotions illustrate that she not crazy nor unstable. Yes, she might have been a little bit uneasy-- this could be related to her baby or a previous event in her life-- but she was not crazy.

However, by the end of the story, the narrator is facing extreme hallucinations in which she sees a woman-- probably herself-- through the wallpaper. The woman behind the paper who is "crawling fast" and "trying to crawl through" (186) is clearly trying to escape from something. The narrator stresses that this woman is always creeping around can sometimes escape during the day. Her description of this unnamed woman would most logically be a description of herself. The narrator wants to escape from her room, her husband, and her restricted life in which she is not allowed to write or see anyone. She truly has gone crazy from being forced to stay in the upstairs area and stare at the yellow wallpaper all day. In addition, the wife's reluctance to open the door for her husband at the end of the story illustrate that she is trying to shut him out of her life. She notes with a seemingly relieved tone that she "got out at last in spite of [her husband] and Jane" (261). This suggests that by locking her husband out, she was able to feel free from all of the constraints in her life.

She was driven to insanity by her husband. John had no malicious intent; however, his extremely invasive technique for curing his wife proved to be fatal. The narrator's joys of writing and analyzing turned to the horror of seeing and imagining. She went insane.