Essay About Character Of Jennie And Patients Point

A Middle Ground
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A Middle Ground in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Throughout Charlotte Perkins Gilmans short story, “The
Yellow Wallpaper”, a division is seen between the sane and the
insane with no apparent middle ground. With a closer look at
the reading, the character of Jennie is able to provide a
hidden middle ground between the sane and insane, and the
medical community and the patients point of view. Jennies
character is able to see both Johns point of view in his
concern for the patients illness and in the patients issue
with the yellow wallpaper. Her situation in the novel is a
crucial part so that the reader can see that the division
between sane and insane is not as clear-cut as it was thought
to be.
The first glimpse of Jennie that the reader sees is a
description of how Jennie fulfills what a woman should be.
“There comes Johns sister Ð- such a dear girl as she is, and
so careful of me! I mustnt let her find me writing. She is
perfect Ð- an enthusiastic – housekeeper, and hopes for no
better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the
writing which is making me sick (DeShazer, 267)!”
This excerpt gives an accurate description of what women of
the time were expected to do. “The Yellow Wallpaper” was
written in 1892 when the cult of true womanhood was still in
full swing and women of the time were expected to be pious,
pure, submissive, and domestic. This passage shows Jennies
domesticity and how good of a woman she was because she was a
perfect “housekeeper.” This is an excellent and very
important way to introduce Jennie to the story because it
shows that she is in the role that the narrator should be able
to perform but is unable fulfill because of her condition.
Another issue that is introduced to the reader is that Jennie
believes the patients writing is what is causing the illness.
This is an interesting development because the treatment that
the patient is under was the popular rest cure that many women
were put in at the time. This cure requires that the patient
experience “extended periods of complete isolation and
passivity Ð and were forbidden to paint or write (263).” The
fact that Jennie felt the patients writing was the cause of
her illness shows her connection and support of the medical
community. This is crucial because it shows her authority
over her patient and her connection and support of John. This
passage sets up her connection to John, the medical field, and
to authority and starts setting up the relationship that
allows her to become the middle ground of the story.
The next passage that Jennie is a part of consists of her
crossing over from strictly being the perfect woman and
supporter of medicine to joining the patient in being captured
by the pattern in the wallpaper.
“I caught Jennie with her hand on it once. She didnt know I
was in the room, and when I asked her in a quiet, a very quiet
voice, with the most restrained manner possible, what she was
doing with the paper? she turned around as if she had been
caught stealing and looked quite angry Ð- asked me why I should
frighten her so! Then she said that the paper stained
everything it touched, that she had found yellow smooches on
all my clothes and Johns, and she wished we would be more
careful (271)!”
This passage is very influential in the crossing over from the
logical scientific side to seeing and understanding of what
the patient was seeing. By having Jennie looking at the
paper, captivated by it, shows that she saw something more
that just wallpaper on the wall. This gives the reader a
feeling that maybe the narrator is not completely crazy if her
caregiver and an authority figure also sees something more in
the paper. Jennie went on to say that “the paper stained
everything it touched” possibly meaning that not only did it
stain their clothes but maybe that it affected their minds as
well by allowing them to think there was something more to the
paper. This excerpt makes the reader think if the narrator is
really crazy for taking such an interest in the paper if the
caretaker is also perplexed by it. This passage starts the
questioning of