Have you ever thought you had seen something and you couldn't figure out what it was? The more you inspect it the more obsessed you got. That is what happed to the lady in The Yellow Wallpaper. Suffering from a mental illness, her small obsession turned into insanity. Three aspects that lead symbolizes what may have lead to her insanity could have been how controlling her husband was, the role of a women at that time, and the wallpaper.
Gilman's female character started out with a mild mental illness that may have been cured with the right atmosphere. Her and her husband, which was a doctor, moved into this house to get away while there house was being painted. It seemed like a good idea but as time went on, it turned out to be the biggest mistake ever. It is like she knew something was wrong with the house as soon as she saw it. "Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it."" "Else, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stood so long untenanted?- (Gilman,152) Instead of her husband sitting down and discussing her problem together, he just pushes it aside and tells her to take her medications. As she said "You see he does not believe I am sick?- (Gilman, 152). She thought maybe if she got a chance to get out and does some work to get her mind off her depression she might be able to over come it. "So I take phosphates or phosphates "whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to "work- until I am well again."" (Gilman,153) Her husband forbid her to go out for walks and demanded that she rest will he was at work.
Secondly, women were taken advantage of by men and made to stay at home and be domestic. Gilman's female character had it in mind that if she could get out from behind the wallpaper then she wouldn't be under her husband's control. She wasn't even allowed to take time to write out her thoughts in a journal, which could have helped her, because John, her husband, didn't want her to.