Maternal Silence, Medical Patriarchy, and Postpartum Depression in Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper

Abstract

Motherhood has conventionally been associated with feelings of care, consideration, nurture, and self-fulfillment. However, many literary texts deconstruct this myth by highlighting the nuances of new mothers' lived experiences. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s work The Yellow Wallpaper (1892), is a Victorian-era short story that holds a seminal place in this regard. The proposed paper aims to conduct a literary investigation of how the writer has articulated the ideas of maternal silence and medical patriarchy in the selected text. The paper draws on the theoretical frameworks of Adrienne Rich and Simone de Beauvoir. It analyzes how patriarchal medical interventions play their part in the suppression of maternal voices and the psychological breakdown of women. Gilman has subtly critiqued the treatment of women’s depression in the nineteenth century in this particular work. Partly inspired by her own experiences, Gilman reflects on how the “rest cure” was enforced on women in the Victorian era. The paper thus challenges the myth of the ideal mother and unveils the maternal suffering that women have undergone throughout history.