Analysis of 'Yellow Wallpaper'

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a first person narrative about a woman with a mild mental disorder that because of an ineffective treatment and her husband's disregard for her true illness, grows into a serious debilitating problem. The author, Gilman herself, suffered from a nervous disorder similar to the woman in "The Yellow Wallpaper." She was diagnosed and treated with "rest treatment"; no more than two hours of "intellectual life" were allowed …

…you could understand that what she was doing was ridiculous, but it was presented in a reasonable way "The Yellow Wallpaper" combined two goals to make one eerie tale. While Gilman intended to convey her story of going to the edge of insanity, and making it back; she also wanted to show the world how she felt about a woman's role. She wanted to encourage women to look outside the pattern, and think for themselves.