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Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in "The Yellow Wallpaper"
Author(s): Paula A. Treichler
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, Vol. 3, No. 1/2, Feminist Issues in Literary
Scholarship (Spring - Autumn, 1984), pp. 61-77
Published by: University of Tulsa
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Escapingthe Sentence:
Diagnosisand Discoursein "TheYellowWallpaper"

PaulaA. Treichler
Universityof Illinois
Collegeof Medicineat Urbana,Champaign

Almost immediatelyin Charlotte PerkinsGilman'sstory "The Yellow
Wallpaper,"the female narratortells us she is "sick."Her husband, "a
physician of high standing,"has diagnosed her as having a "temporary
nervous depression-a slight hysterical tendency."1Yet her journal-in
whose wordsthe storyunfolds-records her own resistanceto this diagnosis
and, tentatively, her suspicion that the medical treatment it dictates-
treatmentthat confinesherto a roomin an isolatedcountryestate-will not
cure her. She suggeststhat the diagnosisitself, by underminingher own
conviction that her "condition"is serious and real, may indeed be one
reasonwhy she does not get well.

A medical diagnosisis a verbalformularepresentinga constellation of
physicalsymptomsandobservablebehaviors.Once formulated,it dictatesa
series of therapeuticactions. In "The YellowWallpaper,"the diagnosisof
hysteriaor depression,conventional "women'sdiseases"of the nineteenth
century,sets in motion a therapeuticregimenwhich involveslanguagein
severalways.The narratorisforbiddento engagein normalsocial conversa-
tion; her physical isolation is in part designed to remove her from the
possibilityof over-stimulatingintellectualdiscussion.She is furtherencour-
aged to exercise"self-control"and avoidexpressingnegative thoughtsand
fearsabouther illness;she is alsourgedto keepherfanciesandsuperstitions
in check. Above all, she is forbidden to "work"-to write. Learningto
monitor her own speech, she develops an artificial feminine self who
reinforcesthe termsof her husband'sexpertdiagnosis:this self attemptsto
speak reasonablyand in "a very quiet voice," refrainsfrom crying in his
presence, and hides the fact that she is keeping a journal. This male-
identified self disguisesthe true undergroundnarrative:a confrontation
with language.

Becauseshe does not feel free to speaktruthfully"toa living soul,"she
confidesher thoughts to a journal-"dead paper"'-instead.The only safe
languageis dead language.But even the journalis not altogethersafe.The

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been untenantedforyearsthroughsomeproblemwith inheritance.It is"the
mostbeautifulplace!"The groundscontain "hedgesandwallsandgatesthat
lock, and lots of separatelittle houses for the gardenersand people"(11).
Despite this palatialpotential to accommodatemany people, the estate is
virtuallydesertedwith nothing growingin its greenhouses.The narrator
perceives"somethingqueerabout it"and believesit maybe haunted.

She is discouragedin this and other fancies by her sensible physician-
husbandwho credits only what is observable,scientific, or demonstrable
throughfactsandfigures.He hasscientificallydiagnosedhis wife'scondition
as merely "a temporarynervous depression";her brother, also a noted
physician,concursin this opinion. Hence husbandand wife have come as
physicianandpatientto this solitarysummermansionin questof cure.The
narratorreportshermedicalregimento herjournal,togetherwith her own
view of the problem:

So I take phosphatesor phosphites-whichever it is, and tonics, andjourneys,and
air,and exercise,and am absolutelyforbiddento "work"until I am well again.

PersonallyI, disagreewith their ideas.
PersonallyI, believethat congenialwork,with excitement andchange,woulddo me
good.
But what is one to do?(10).

Her roomat the top of the house seemsonce to havebeen a nurseryor a
playroomwithbarson the windowsand"ringsandthingson the walls."The
roomcontainsnot muchmorethan a mammothmetalbed. The uglyyellow
wallpaperhas been strippedoff in patches-perhaps by the children who
formerlyinhabited the room. In this "atrociousnursery"the narratorin-
creasinglyspendshertime. Herhusbandis often awayon medicalcases,her
babymakeshernervous,andno other companyis permittedher.Disturbed
by the wallpaper,she asks for another room or for differentpaper;her
husbandurgesher not to give way to her "fancies."Further,he claimsthat
anychangewouldleadto morechange:"afterthe wall-paperwaschangedit
wouldbe the heavy bedstead,and then the barredwindows,and then that
gate at the head of the stairs,andso on"(14). So no changesaremade,and
the narratoris left alone with her "imaginativepowerand habit of story-
making"(15). In this stimulus-deprivedenvironment, the "pattern"of the
wallpaperbecomesincreasinglycompelling:the narratorgraduallybecomes
intimate with its "principleof design"and unconventional connections.
The figureof a womanbeginsto takeshapebehindthe superficiapl atternof
the paper.The more the wallpapercomes alive, the less inclined is the
narratorto writein herjournal- "deadpaper."Now with threeweeksleft of
the summerandherrelationshipwith the wallpapermoreandmoreintense,
she asksonce moreto be allowedto leave. Her husbandrefuses:"Icannot
possiblyleavetownjustnow.Of courseifyouwerein anydanger,I couldand

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imposescontrolson the femalenarratoranddictateshow she is to perceive
and talk aboutthe world.It is enforcedby the "ancestrahl alls"themselves:
the rulesarefollowedeven when the physician-husbandis absent.In fact,
the opening imagery-"ancestralhalls,""acolonial mansion,""ahaunted
house"-legitimizes the diagnostic processby placing it firmlywithin an
institutionalframe:medicine,marriagep, atriarchyA. ll functionin the story
to define and prescribe.

In contrast, the narratorin her nurseryroom speaksprivatelyto her
journal.At firstshe expressesher views hesitantly,"personally.H" er lan-
guageincludesanumberof stereotypicalfeaturesof "women'lsanguage"n: ot
only are its topics limited, it is markedformallyby exclamation marks,
italics, intensifiers,and repetitionof the impotentrefrain,"Whatis one to
do?"3The journalentries at this earlystage are verytentative and clearly
shapedunderthe sterneye of malejudgment.Obliquereferencesonly hint
at an alternativereality.The narratorwrites,forexample,that the wallpaper
has been "tornoff"and"strippedaway,"yet she does not sayby whom. Her
qualmsabouthermedicaldiagnosisandtreatmentremainunspokenexcept
in herjournal,which functionsonly asa privaterespite,a temporaryrelief.
"Deadpaper,"it is not trulysubversive.

Nevertheless,the narrator'slanguagealmostfromthe firstdoes serveto
call into questionboth the diagnosisof her condition and the rulesestab-
lished to treatit. As readers,therefore,we arenot permittedwholehearted
confidencein the medicalassessmentof the problem.It isnot that wedoubt
the existence of her "condition,"for it obviouslycausesgenuine suffering;
but we come to doubt that the diagnosisnames the real problem-the
narratorseemsto placeherown invertedcommasaroundthe words"tempo-
rarynervousdepression"and"slighthystericaltendency"-and perceivethat
whateverits natureit is exacerbatedby the rulesestablishedfor its cure.

Forthis reason,wearealertto the possibilityof an alternativevision. The
yellow wallpaperprovidesit. Representinga differentreality,it is "living
paper,"aggressivelyalive:"Youthinkyouhavemasteredit, butjustasyouget
well underwayin following,it turnsa back-somersaulatnd thereyou are.It
slapsyou in the face, knocksyou down, and tramplesupon you. It is like a
bad dream"(25). The narrator'shusbandrefusesto replacethe wallpaper,
"whitewash"the room, or let her change roomsaltogetheron the grounds
that other changes will then be demanded.The wallpaperis to remain:
acknowledgmentof itsrealityisthe firststeptowardfreedom.Confrontingit
at firstthroughmale eyes, the narratoris repelledand speculatesthat the
children who inhabited the room before her attacked it for its ugliness.
There is thus considerableresistance to the wallpaperand an implied
rejection of what it represents,even by youngchildren.

But the wallpaperexerts its powerand, at the same time, the narrator's

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real medicaltreatment.Publicationof the storyaddedpowerand statusto
Gilman'swordsand transformedthe journalformfroma privateto a public
setting. Her publishedchallenge to diagnosishas now been readby thou-
sandsof readers.Byliving to tell the tale, the womanwho writesescapesthe
sentence that condemnsher to silence.

iii. Escapingthe Sentence

Tocall "TheYellowWallpaper"astrugglebetweendiagnosisanddiscourse
is to characterizethe story in terms of language. More precisely,it is to
contrastthe significationproceduresof patriarchaml edicinewith discursive
disruptionsthat call those proceduresinto question. A majorproblemin
"TheYellowWallpaper"involvesthe relationshipof the linguisticsignto the
signified,of languageto "reality.D"iagnosis,highlightedfromthe beginning
by the implicit invertedcommasarounddiagnosticphrases("aslight hys-
terical tendency"),standsin the middleof an equationwhich translatesa
phenomenologicalperceptionof the humanbody into a finite set of signs
called "symptoms"-fever,exhaustion, nervousness, pallor, and so on-
which are in turn assembledto producea "diagnosis"t;his sign generates
treatment, a set of prescriptionsthat impinge once more upon the "real"
human body.Partof the powerof diagnosisas a scientificprocessdepends
upona notion of languageastransparenta, snotthe issue.Ratherthe issueis
the precision, efficiency,and plausibilitywith which a correctdiagnostic
sign is generatedby a particularstate of affairsthat is assumedto exist in
reality.In turn,the diagnosticsign isnot completeuntil its clinical implica-
tions have been elaboratedas a set of concrete therapeuticpracticesde-
signed not merelyto referto but actuallyto change the originalphysical
reality.Chary with its diagnostic categories (as specializedlexicons go),
medicine'srichandintricatedescriptivevocabularytestifiesto the historyof
its mission: to translate the realities of the human body into human
languageandbackagain.As such, it is a perfectexampleof languagewhich
"reflects"realityand simultaneously"produces"it.7

Why is this interesting?And whyisthis processimportantin "TheYellow
Wallpaper"M? edicaldiagnosisstandsas a primeexampleof an authorized
linguisticprocess(distilled,respected,high-paying)whose representational
claims are stronglysupportedby social, cultural,and economic practices.
Even more than most forms of male discourse,the diagnostic process is
multiply-sanctioned.8"TheYellowWallpaper"challengesboth the particu-
lar"sentence"passedon the narratorand the elaboratesentencing process
whose presumedrepresentationalpowercan sentence womento isolation,
deprivation, and alienation from their own sentencing possibilities.The
right to authoror originatesentences is at the heart of the storyand what

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She is constitutedanddefinedwithin the patriarchalorderof languageand
destined, like Athena in Irigaray'asnalysis,to repeather father'sdiscourse
"withoutmuch understanding."l7"Personally,s"he says, and "Isometimes
fancy":this is acceptablelanguagein the ancestralhalls. Her attemptsto
engagein different,seriouslanguage-self-authored-are given up;to write
in the absenceof patriarchalsanction requires"havingto be so sly aboutit,
or else meet with heavy opposition"(10) and is too exhausting.Thus the
narratorspeaksthe law of the father in the form of a "women'slanguage"
which is prescribedby patriarchyand exacts its sentence upon her: not to
authorsentences of her own.

The yellowwallpaperchallengesthis sentence. Incontrastto the orderly,
evacuatedpatriarchalestate, the female lineage that the wallpaperrepre-
sents is thick with life, expression,and suffering.Masqueradingas a symp-
tom of "madness,"languageanimateswhat had been merelyan irritating
and distractingpattern:

This paperlooks to me as if it knewwhat a vicious influenceit had!
There is a recurrentspotwherethe patternlolls like a brokenneck andtwobulbous
eyes stareat you upsidedown.
I get positivelyangrywith the impertinenceof it and the everlastingnessU. p and
down andsidewaysthey crawl,andthose absurd,unblinkingeyes areeverywhere(16).

The silly andgrotesquesurfacepatternreflectswomen'sconventionalrepre-
sentation; one juxtaposition identifies "that silly and conspicuousfront
design"with "sisteron the stairs!"(18). In the middle section of the story,
wherethe narratorattemptsto conveyherbelief that she is seriouslyill, the
husband-physicianis quotedverbatim(23-25),enablingusto see the opera-
tion of male judgment at first hand. He notes an improvementin her
symptoms:"Youare gaining flesh and color, yourappetite is better, I feel
reallymuch easierabout you."The narratordisputesthese statements:"I
don'tweigh a bit more,nor as much;and my appetitemaybe better in the
evening when you are here, but it is worsein the morningwhen you are
away!"His responsenot only pre-emptsfurthertalkof facts,it reinforcesthe
certaintyof his originaldiagnosisandconfirmshis viewof herillnessasnon-
serious:"'Blessher little heart!'saidhe with a bighug, 'sheshallbe assick as
she pleases!"'(24).

His failureto let her leave the estate initiates a new relationshipto the
wallpaperS. he beginsto see womenin the pattern.Until now,we asreaders
have acquiescedin the fiction that the protagonistis keepinga journal,a
fiction initially supportedby journal-liketextual references. This now
becomesdifficultto sustain:how can the narratorkeep a journalwhen, as
she tells us, she is sleeping, creeping,or watchingthe wallpaperthe whole
time?In hergrowingparanoia,wouldshe confidein a journalshe couldnot
lock up?How did the journalget into ourhands?Becausewe areneverthe-

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rather than to introduce change. Representationis not without conse-
quences.Thus the studyof women and languagemust involve the studyof
discourse,which encompassesboth formand function as well as the repre-
sentationaluncertaintytheirrelationshipentails.As ametaphor,the yellow
wallpaperisneverfullyresolved:it canbe described,but its meaningcannot
be fixed. It remainstrivial and dramatic,vivid and dowdy,compellingand
repulsive:these multiplemeaningsrunthroughoutthe storyin contrastto
the one certainmeaningof patriarchaldiagnosis.If diagnosisis the middle
of an equationthat freezesmaterialfluxin a certainsign, the wallpaperis a
disruptivecenterthat chaoticallyfragmentsanyattemptto fix on it a single
meaning.Itoffersa lessonin language,whosesentence isperhapsnot always
destinedto escape us.

NOTES

'CharlottePerkinsGilman, TheYellowWallpape(rOld WestburyN, ew York:The Feminist
Press,1973), p. 13. Subsequentreferencesarecited parentheticallyin the text.

2UmbertoEcodescribesa "goodmetaphor"asone which, like a goodjoke, offersa shortcut
throughthe labyrinthof limitless semiosis. "MetaphorD, ictionary,and Encyclopedia,"New
LiteraryHistory,15 (Winter 1984), 255-71. Though there is relativelylittle criticismon "The
YellowWallpaper"to date, the wallpaperseems to be a fruitfulmetaphorfor discussionsof
madness, women'srelationshipto medicine, sexual inequality,marriage,economic depen-
dence, and sexuality.An introductionto these issuesis providedby ElaineR. Hedges in her
"Afterword,T"heYellowWallpaperp,p. 37-63. Hedgesalsocites a numberof nineteenth-century
responsesto the story.A usefulthough condescendingdiscussionof the story in the light of
Gilman'sown life is MaryA. Hill, "CharlottePerkinsGilman: A Feminist'sStrugglewith
Womanhood,"MassachusettRs eview,21 (Fall1980), 503-26. A Bachelardiancriticalreadingis
Mary Beth Pringle, "'LaPoetique De L'Espacei'n Charlotte PerkinsGilman's 'The Yellow
Wallpaper,"T' he French-AmericaRn eview,3 (Winter 1978/Spring 1979), 15-22. See also
LoraleeMacPike,"Environmentas PsychopathologicalSymbolismin the 'The YellowWall-
paper,"A' mericanLiteraryRealism1870-1910, 8 (Summer1975), 286-88, and Beate Schopp-
Schilling, "'TheYellowWallpaper'A: Rediscovered'Realistic'Story,"AmericanLiteraryRealism
1870-1910, 8 (Summer1975), 284-86.

3"Women'lsanguage"is discussedin Robin Lakoff,LanguageandWoman'Pslace(NewYork:
Harperand Row,1975);CaseyMillerand KateSwift, WordsandWomen(New York:Anchor/
Doubleday,1976);BarrieThorne, Cheris Kramaraea, ndNancy Henley,eds., "Introduction,"
LanguageG, enderandSociety(RowleyM, ass.:NewburyHouse, 1983);CherisKramaraeW, omen
and Men Speaking(Rowley,Mass.: Newbury House, 1981); Sally McConnell-Ginet, Ruth
Borker,and Nelly Furman,eds., Womenand Languagein Literatureand Society(New York:
Praeger,1980); MaryRitchie Key,Male/FemaleLanguage(Metuchen, New Jersey:Scarecrow
Press, 1975);and PaulaA. Treichler,"VerbalSubversionsin Dorothy Parker':Trappedlike a
Trapin a Trap,"L' anguageandStyle,13 (Fall1980), 46-61.

4Charlotte PerkinsGilman, The Livingof CharlottePerkinsGilman:An Autobiography
(New York:Appleton-Century,1935),p. 121. Subsequentreferencesarecited parenthetically
in the text.

5S. WeirMitchell, DoctorandPatient(Philadelphia:Lippincott, 1888), p. 48.

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