A Middle Ground

A Middle Ground in "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Throughout Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story, "The

Yellow Wallpaper", a division is seen between the sane and the

insane with no apparent middle ground. With a closer look at

the reading, the character of Jennie is able to provide a

hidden middle ground between the sane and insane, and the

medical community and the patient's point of view. Jennie's

character is able to see both John's point of view in his

concern for the patient's illness and in the patient's issue

with the yellow wallpaper. Her situation in the novel is a

crucial part so that the reader can see that the division

between sane and insane is not as clear-cut as it was thought

to be.

The first glimpse of Jennie that the reader sees is a

description of how Jennie fulfills what a woman should be.

"There comes John's sister Ð'- such a dear girl as she is, and

so careful of me! I mustn't let her find me writing. She is

perfect Ð'- an enthusiastic - housekeeper, and hopes for no

better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the

writing which is making me sick (DeShazer, 267)!"

This excerpt gives an accurate description of what women of

the time were expected to do. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was

written in 1892 when the cult of true womanhood was still in

full swing and women of the time were expected to be pious,

pure, submissive, and domestic. This passage shows Jennie's

domesticity and how good of a woman she was because she was a

perfect "housekeeper." This is an excellent and very

important way to introduce Jennie to the story because it

shows that she is in the role that the narrator should be able

to perform but is unable fulfill because of her condition.

Another issue that is introduced to the reader is that Jennie

believes the patient's writing is what is causing the illness.

This is an interesting development because the treatment that

the patient is under was the popular rest cure that many women

were put in at the time. This cure requires that the patient

experience "extended periods of complete isolation and

passivity Ð'... and were forbidden to paint or write (263)." The

fact that Jennie felt the patient's writing was the cause of

her illness shows her connection and support of the medical

community. This is crucial because it shows her authority

over her patient and her connection and support of John. This

passage sets up her connection to John, the medical field, and

to authority and starts setting up the relationship that

allows her to become the middle ground of the story.

The next passage that Jennie is a part of consists of her

crossing over from strictly being the perfect woman and

supporter of medicine to joining the patient in being captured

by the pattern in the wallpaper.

"I caught Jennie with her hand on it once. She didn't know I

was in the room, and when I asked her in a quiet, a very quiet

voice, with the most restrained manner possible, what she was

doing with the paper? she turned around as if she had been

caught stealing and looked quite angry Ð'- asked me why I should

frighten her so! Then she said that the paper stained

everything it touched, that she had found yellow smooches on

all my clothes and John's, and she wished we would be more

careful (271)!"

This passage is very influential in the crossing over from the

logical scientific side to seeing and understanding of what

the patient was seeing. By having Jennie looking at the

paper, captivated by it, shows that she saw something more

that just wallpaper on the wall. This gives the reader a

feeling that maybe the narrator is not completely crazy if her

caregiver and an authority figure also sees something more in

the paper. Jennie went on to say that "the paper stained

everything it touched" possibly meaning that not only did it

stain their clothes but maybe that it affected their minds as

well by allowing them to think there was something more to the

paper. This excerpt makes the reader think if the narrator is

really crazy for taking such an interest in the paper if the

caretaker is also perplexed by it. This passage starts the

questioning of