Research Paper on:
Historical Significance of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper'

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
role for a woman was to provide a pleasing home for her husband, bear his progeny and see to their upbringing. Those women who fulfilled the societal stereotype were  idealized. However, any deviation from the idealized version of womanhood as domestic goddess was seen as a direct attack on the foundations of society itself. Therefore, when women chafed under  the domination of patriarchy, or simply had problems accepting their preordained role, it was viewed as "illness." History books can tell the modern reader these facts about nineteenth century  society, but a straight historical account fails to convey the emotional and psychological toll that these assumptions had on the women of this era. Charlotte Perkins Gilmans "The Yellow  Wallpaper" (1892) dramatizes one womans slow descent into insanity, which becomes her only way she can avoid the domination that threats to totally suffocate her individuality. In his disturbing narrative,  the heroine can only be "free" by going totally insane. Through her expert use of language, Gilman brings the reader into the world of this woman and shows even  her male readers what it is like to be imprisoned within the confines of societal expectations. Some historical facts from this era and also from Gilmans life further show the  relationship between Gilmans story and the reality of late-nineteenth century life for American women. Shortly after the American Civil War, neurologist S. (Silas) Weir Mitchell published a famous essay  entitled "Fat and Blood: An Essay on the Treatment of Certain Forms of Neurasthenia and Hysteria," in which he outlined his treatment for a "a certain class of women, who,  as a rule are think and lack blood" (Willms). Mitchells concept was that these women, who were generally between the ages of 20 and 30, had lost their vitality due