When Difference Is Not Always Good

The image above is that of the narrator. This picture shows the emotion on her face, but it obviously cannot show the mind which causes them. Her emotions are what are central to one of the themes in the Yellow Wallpaper. This theme communicates that difference in the late nineteenth century was not smiled upon or accepted. This theme is evident throughout the entire story in her husband's and society's rejection of her depression. Both of these parties saw her as crazy, and rather than dealing with it she was forced to be involved in the "rest cure" and tucked away so as to not draw too much attention to herself. She was not treated, as she would today, as having a cureable disease but as a terminal one. Mental disorders such as depression were not understood and, therefore, not accepted. So as stated before, difference is not always good, especially in the time period given in this story.


Return to the film narrator site, to the Yellow Wallpaper site, or to the American Literature Survey Site.