Cindy D. Ghanie
Professor Von Uhl/ Professor Yankwitt
FIQWS HA9
21 September 2021
Freud’s Relevance in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Throughout history, patients with hysteria have often been neglected and misunderstood. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” it illustrates how a hysterical patient slowly begins to suffer from a mental decline after receiving instructions from a doctor. Freud’s first lecture offers insight into how doctor’s usually treat hysterical patients and reinforces this representation as accurate within the “The Yellow Wallpaper” while providing Dr. Breuer’s alternative thinking to treat the patients.
In Lecture I, Freud assesses that most doctors do not think much of hysterical patients. After evaluating the condition of a hysterical patient and finding nothing physically wrong with them, most doctors would write off the patient and give them unrealistic solutions, such as bed rest. These solutions were generally ineffective and normally worsened the patient’s state of mind. Author Charlotte Gilman recalls how she was given similar instructions, and after a period of three months “came so near the borderline of utter mental ruin”(Gilman 1). These patients might have even complained of physical symptoms, but holistically their physical conditions were up to par. Since most doctors believed these patients to be unworthy of serious treatment, “he punishes them by withdrawing his interest in them”(Freud 2201). Most doctors did not understand that the mind plays an equal part in health as the body does, and due to this misunderstanding, many female patients were written off and shown no interest or concern.
Comparatively, Dr. Breuer displayed an uncommon interest in the research and treatment of hysteric patients. Within the same first lecture, Freud details one specific case of Breuer’s where a woman experienced several physical symptoms without a physical condition being the cause. Rather than provide her with the same response given to most patients with hysteria, Breuer took the initiative to treat her as an actual patient. Despite his lack of experience treating such patients, Breuer approached the subject with wary sympathy and attempted to help her . Through his efforts, he created a “talking cure”, where the patient would verbally recall the event that triggered their current distress. Recalling these experiences allowed the patient to work through her trauma and even cured her of being unable to drink water. Breuer’s persistence and desire to help these women provided them with a real opportunity to alleviate their conditions.
According to Freud’s criticism of how doctor’s treat hysterical patients, “The Yellow Wallpaper” provides an accurate depiction of that interaction. Within “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator is a woman who seems to suffer from some form of hysteria and who has been told by several doctors that her condition is temporary and not of much concern. Throughout the rest of the story, she is told to stay in the house and do nothing, which slowly contributes to her steady mental decline. The directions given to her by the doctor and her husband are in line with Freud’s criticism of how hysterical patients are treated. The narrator describes her husband telling their friends and family that she is not seriously ill, only suffering from a “temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency” (Gilman 648). This directly relates to Freud’s description of how doctors downplay hysterical patients after learning there is no overwhelming physical issue. The narrator’s husband continues to minimize her concerns throughout the story, practically telling her that her ailments are figments of her imagination.. This indicates that just like the doctors, her husband does not truly believe her concern regarding her own mental health. This lack of concern paired with the isolation she withstands ultimately drives her to mental ruin. Freud’s lecture provides somewhat of a warning to this possible outcome, stating that “you must not suppose that a patient’s prospects of medical assistance are improved… by the fact that a diagnosis of hysteria has been substituted for one of severe organic disease of the brain” (Freud 2201). Freud was aware of the consequences of how hysterical patients were treated, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” accurately displays Freud’s criticisms while depicting a realistic situation.
Freud and Breuer’s contributions helped to improve the mental care of people globally by changing the way doctor’s treated them. They pioneered psychological techniques that would benefit many patients and began to change the mindset about the importance of mental health. Gilman’s writing served as a cautionary tale to women across the nation and gave doctors a different perspective to the treatments they prescribed. Although there is still work to be done in the field of mental health, we can appreciate the progress we have made over the years.
Works Cited
Gilman, Charlotte. The Yellow Wallpaper. New England Magazine, 1892, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/theliteratureofprescription/exhibitionAssets/digitalDocs/The-Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf. Accessed 13 Sept 2021.
Freud, Sigmund. The Five Lectures On Psycho-Analysis. 1909, http://file:///C:/Users/Cindy/Downloads/Sigmund%20Freud%20[1909]%20Five%20Lectures%20on%20Psych-Aanalysis%20_James%20Strachey%20translation,%201955_.pdf. Accessed 13 Sept 2021.
Gilman, Charlotte. Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper. The Forerunner, 1913, http://file:///C:/Users/Cindy/Downloads/Why_I_Wrote_The_Yellow_Wallpaper_with%20citation.pdf. Accessed 13 Sept 2021.
