John’s Role in The Yellow Wallpaper: an Analysis

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," John is a huge figure. His part is super crucial in figuring out how the narrator ends up losing her mind. Let's dig into John's character and see how his actions and beliefs really mess up the narrator's mental health. By taking a look at different aspects of John's behavior, attitudes, and how he treats the narrator, we can get a clearer picture of the story's themes and messages.

Analysis of John in "The Yellow Wallpaper"

John's Role as a Patriarch

One major aspect of John's character is being this patriarchal figure. As both the narrator's husband and doctor, he's got tons of control over her life. He uses this power to put her on a "rest cure" for what he thinks is her nervous condition. Basically, he locks her up in a room with barred windows and stops her from doing anything fun or engaging. This harsh treatment shows off societal norms back then when women were expected to be all submissive to men.

You can totally see this dynamic in John's dismissive attitude towards his wife's concerns. Even when she pleads for a change of scenery or more stimulating activities, John just shrugs it off, calling her desires mere "fancies." He insists that he knows best for her. This patronizing tone and refusal to treat her like an equal leave the narrator feeling isolated and powerless, inching her closer to madness.

John's Misdiagnosis and Ineffective Treatment

Apart from being this patriarchal dude, John's role as a doctor is also super important. But man, it's clear he's not good at diagnosing or treating his wife's condition right. John believes in this rest cure stuff, which means doing absolutely nothing physically or mentally. That's how things were medically handled back then. Sadly though, this treatment just worsens the narrator’s mental state.

John’s ignorance and arrogance about ignoring what his wife actually needs—more stimulating activities—keeps her from getting proper care she truly deserves. This shows how harmful it was that medicine didn't know much about mental health back then. By sticking with outdated treatments that don't work, John unknowingly pushes the narrator further into insanity.

John's Symbolic Representation

Besides being a patriarch and doctor, John also stands as a symbol of society's oppressive nature too. His character represents those heavy expectations placed on women during late-19th-century times when their own dreams were often squashed for domestic duties' sake.

The yellow wallpaper in that room where she's trapped becomes quite symbolic of oppression itself; John's dismissive attitude toward any complaints she has mirrors society shushing women's voices altogether! The obsession she grows toward that wallpaper only seems more sinister because it's almost like seeing clearly now just how suffocating everything feels around here.

Conclusion

So yeah...In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” John's character plays such an important role in breaking down our protagonist mentally—his part as both patriarch & doctor symbolizes oppressive societal systems overall too! By examining these elements within him deeply enough alongside historical context/societal norms shaping folks like him today—it helps show progress made understanding mental health better nowadays while critiquing patriarchy/oppression from way back then...we gotta keep challenging these systems so everyone gets well-being/autonomy they deserve!

References:

• Gilman, C.P., "The Yellow Wallpaper", New England Magazine (1892).
• Catherine Golden (1989). "The Writing of 'The Yellow Wallpaper': A Double Palimpsest". Studies in American Fiction.
• Meyering, S., "Charlotte Perkins Gilman: The Woman and Her Work", Greenwood Press (1989).
• Treichler, P., "Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in 'The Yellow Wallpaper'", Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature (1984).
• Korb, R., "Overview of 'The Yellow Wallpaper'", Gale Cengage (2007).
• Mazurek, J., “Rest Cure Revisited”, Psychology Today (2018).