Thinking about Charlotte Perkins
Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper, was (and is) hysteria a specifically female
disorder?
The word hysteria derives from the
Greek language meaning 'uterus', which gives this disorder a specific association to the female sex as it is
a vital part of the female anatomy. The diagnosis of this exclusive female disorder is through the educated
patriarchal masses from centuries gone as Science Museum (2010) inform us that
'The Philosopher Plato described the
uterus as an animal. He said it roamed inside women's bodies, causing symptoms as it moved' (lines 7-8) this
is a great insight to see how man viewed the opposite sex as 'animals', as irrational weak beings. The weakness of
the female being is preyed upon in the nineteenth and early twentieth century's, especially within literature
with the publishing of Jane Eyre (1847)
the famous 'mad woman' in the attic and The
Yellow Wallpaper (1892) were woman
literary victims yet also written by women who were readily airing their views on hysteria. To distinguish
whether hysteria was solely a female disorder both traditionalist view in comparison to The Yellow Wallpaper in order to come to a solid conclusion.
Hysteria
is a state of uncontrolled excitement or extreme fear; and a medical condition
in which someone is unable to control their emotions or behaviour
(Macmillan dictionary, 2009). Like many disorders hysteria has differing symptoms; due to the individuality of
the patient and what century the diagnosis was made. However the common factor they share is the effect they
have on the body and mind. Science Museum (2010) characterise hysteria by shortness of breath, heaviness in the
abdomen, muscle spasms and fainting; there are also the mental symptoms of anxiety, irritability and general
unusual behaviour. Nowadays these 'symptoms' can be seen as normal every day ailments identified in both the female
and male sex.
Sigmund Freud proposed a theory that
hysteria is the result of a dramatic experience, and unconscious conflicts as well as sexual desires which converted into bodily
symptoms were to blame for these hysterical neuroses. Freud arguably reflects these ancient
philosophers beliefs that these women's reactions are due to being sexually repressed, which was found more common
in young women and widows (Science Museum, 2010); this statement suggests that women are the weaker sex
and become irrational beings when sexually driven, Freud is subliminally making the point that women have no control
and can be considered the weaker sex. However when discussing whether hysteria is a specific female
disorder, Freud himself wrote in 1897 “After a period of good humour, I now have a crisis of unhappiness. The chief
patient I am worried about today is myself. My little hysteria, which was much enhanced by work, took a step
forward” (Mattioli and Scalzone, 2002) it is important to note that both sexes can suffer from hysteria but due to the
period and the type of society and the 'insignificant' role of women they were the weaker sex.
The narrator, a woman from The Yellow Wallpaper is diagnosed with
neurasthenia named because of their connection to their emotions, and
common among women because they had sensitive minds and delicate bodies which could affect a woman's emotional
state. Hysteria was blamed on any activity of the uterus, menstruation, sexual intercourse or birth was to
heighten a woman's vulnerability and here the narrator has not long since
become a new mother. 'Round and round and
round - round and round and round - it makes me dizzy!' (Gilman, 2013, p 9) signifies her emotional symptoms and of
her mental instability and mental and emotional agitation of the 'rest cure'. It was physicians who associated
abnormal sexual activity with this disease, which is symbolic as historically women are regarded as the original sin
that brought the downfall of man and that their sexual desires are not to be
trusted; which insinuates inequality
between the female and male sex.
It seems that the honest victims with
sensitive nerves were primarily women and were forced to endure what contemporaries would now consider a
form of abuse; while the inferior, male medics, would class this as an act of treatment and recovery. The inequality
of relationships between gender prove that men were the inferior sex. Evidence further suggests that the
medical doctrines were sexist and oppressive to women and although men could also suffer these nervous diseases,
like Sigmund Freud, it were the women who were the primary victims because of their mental and physical inferiority;
this is exposed through extensive literary works especially that of the female victim in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper.
No comments:
Post a Comment