On Tuesday October 15, 2019, I became immersed in a psychological experience. The dramatic short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” was a powerful play put on by Tulane students that left me feeling sad, scared, angry, and confused. There were several important characters in the play, and one of the central figures who I specifically admired was the husband, John. John was a physician who took advantage of his role as a caretaker over his wife.
The play began by introducing the story and main conflict between John and his wife, Jane. John and Jane just had a baby together but Jane has not been mentally and physically healthy since the birth. As a mother who should feel connected to her child, Jane felt the complete opposite. Jane felt like she couldn’t bond with her own baby, and as a result suffered both mentally and physically. Jane suffered from, what we would call today, postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is a common type of depression that occurs to mothers after childbirth. John felt determined to find the right treatment for his wife. He was determined to try to cure her of this damaging hysteria. John decided to treat Jane with various types of medications with different purposes. Part of his treatment was also constantly telling Jane to stay in and rest.
Throughout the entire story, Jane was kept alone in a locked room, which used to be an old nursery. This room had harsh wooden floors and a lonesome bed in a large house that John and Jane decided to rent together. It had “the strangest yellow, that wallpaper . . . makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw . . . not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things.” The room itself was creepy with its wood floors, barred windows, and cold bed that stood alone. Trapped and alone, Jane felt like she couldn’t even express herself. Consequently, she began to lose her mind. “This was not life, this was a nightmare.” Living in this setting made Jane hallucinate and start to imagine real women behind the yellow wallpaper. To her, the women appeared to be locked behind the paper, pushing and trying to escape. The image of women behind the wallpaper was shown several times throughout the play. This repetitive image symbolized Jane and her mental suffering of not being able to get out of this room and express her feelings. She was so locked up in the room and unable to escape.
Throughout the entire play, in almost every scene, John repetitively insisted that Jane breathes in fresh air and simply rests. He repeated to just focus on getting well and not to write or to keep busy. As part of his prescribed treatment, he felt that this would help cure her suffering. However, he was ultimately controlling Jane’s entire life. Jane was in a locked room with nothing to do. While Jane was locked in this creepy room, John and his sister cared for her baby. Her baby was constantly taken away from her, because it appeared that Jane can’t be with the baby. This made it even more difficult for Jane to bond with the baby. It was actually very cruel on John’s behalf to keep the baby from Jane. The baby was only shown once during the play and for the rest of the time, the audience only heard its cries.
From the beginning of the play until the end, John continued to call Jane his “darling” as he tried to help guide and medicate her. John tried to give off the impression to her and the audience that he really cared for Jane and only wanted the best for her. The name “darling” reflected respect and admiration. However, his constant force for her to take various medications proved otherwise. He seemed to have the wrong intentions for his wife by just wanting to remain the most powerful one in their relationship.
In the final scene of the play, Jane had one of her moments when she vividly imagined the women around her escaping the yellow wallpaper. It was a dramatic and terrifying moment. The audience saw the imaginary women come to life during this final hallucination. John walked in and saw that Jane is in a crisis. He was shocked at what he saw. He fainted shortly after. He couldn’t believe that Jane had completely lost her mind. John’s form of treatment clearly did not help her at all. He had caused this. He knew that he was a failure and had lost all power over her. Jane now seemed to have the power over him. He made her into someone that is even sicker than before his help.
During the final moments of the play, Jane screamed, “At last!” She is finally free. John was essentially keeping her locked up in this room as a prisoner. The imaginary women behind the yellow wallpaper were also in this prison. They became her allies. She tried to free them at the end by ripping down the wallpaper. As she releases the rest of the women, Jane was free as well. The Yellow Wallpaper was a powerful depiction of power and intimidation and what can happen when one is not free to express themselves.