When I first started reading The Yellow Wallpaper, it was
hard not to link the story of the main character to the treatment of mental
illness in the late 18th and early 19th centuries;
because like the main character people in that time period were placed into private
safe havens that were owned and operated by physicians who cared for them.
Furthermore, the person who often placed them into this home was usually a
family member who feared for their safety. Because mentality ill people were
viewed as a threat to public safety at the time, and many did not know what to
do with them. Moreover, the treatment of
mentality ill people in today’s society is still in its development phases
because we still don’t fully understand mental illness.
