Read "Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper" and at least one additional article from the literature resources center about Gilman. How much do you...

After reading "Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper," and taking note of the fact that Gilman's short story is a fictionalized memoir, I'd have to say that the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is based on Gilman herself. Gilman clearly states that the story is an embellished version of her own experience, and that her purpose in writing it was to convey to the mental health professionals of her day the damage that the "resting cure" was inflicting upon women.

The assumption in the 19th century was that too much intellectual activity was taxing on the fragile female mind, and that it was thinking too much or writing too much that was the cause of hysterical conditions. As Gilman notes in her brief article, work is an important part of life for all people, regardless of gender. Working gives us the feeling of productivity, which in turn can help us feel like our life is valuable and necessary. It was resuming work that allowed Gilman to gain a measure of recovery.

Like all creative non-fiction, the essential core of the story is true and the gaps, like scenery and dialogue, are filled in creatively by the author. Gilman admits that she never had hallucinations, which is such a central part of the story that adding them moves "The Yellow Wallpaper" into the category of fiction. As Gilman indicates though, her ideal was achieved through the writing of the story. People, especially physicians, started to recognize that women aren't so wholly different from men that work harms them.

As a result, treatment of women for hysterical disorders began to change, and women were at times given the courage to advocate on their own behalf. Personally, I don't see that this is directly a feminist agenda, although it can be read that way. A more plausible interpretation (at least in my opinion) is that after Gilman's personal experience with mental health treatment, she wanted to help both patients and practitioners realize the harm that was being done by the treatment standards of the time. This goal can be seen as aimed at advocating the personhood of women, but only indirectly, since the point may have been more the ineffectiveness of treatment rather than the injustice of treatment as it was offered to women at the time. Many scholars, however, do read "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a feminist critique, and would argue that advocating the personhood of women and calling attention to the injustice of the rest cure could be described as Gilman's central aims.