Jane - Characters I’ll Never Stop Thinking About

I have been in love with stories ever since I was a little girl. I have mentioned in one other post that I would stay up reading and writing on my computer in the dead of night with school in the morning. Yet, ever since, it is still by far my favorite thing to do: a quiet room, my imagination filling my vision, enjoying the moment in my stories.

Now, going into my final two semesters of my undergraduate, I have thought of all the stories that I have read throughout my academic life. Then, writing down the first that came to my mind and attempt to explain why and how they are so influential. In no particular order, these characters are ranked; I just love them entirely.

Jane from The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Backstory

Now, we are starting strong. In context, Miss Jane is married to John, who is a physician in the New America in roughly 1890. This story starts off in Jane's mind, talking about the large estate they are living on, the haunting feeling of the place, and her health.

The story gives off the feeling of nervousness, anxiety, and a sense of being overwhelmed. Jane is going through some type of mental health decline after having a child, and struggling to cope. She talks at some length about her doctor husband, doctor brother, and their acquaintances of other doctors. Yet, she is only seen as having a "temporary nervous depression" with maybe some slight hysteria. They fill her with tonics, encourage getting fresh air and daily walks, but absolutely no "work" that could aggravate her further.

Yet, we know about this story as she is telling us from her perspective and her writings, even though it is against the advice of the medical professionals around her.

I will hold any spoilers of the end in case you have not read this incredible story, but I promise it is a quick and easy read.

Scene from The Yellow Wallpaper Movie (2022)

History

Jane is such a powerful character since, at the time, mental health and women's issues were often just labeled as "insane" or "hysterical" due to the nature. Since these issues were overlooked and considered unnecessary to research, it led to a long history of poor mistreatment and misdiagnoses.

There are hundreds of cases talking about the history of insane asylums in which the mentally sick or postpartum women (or women in general) would be held in horrific situations. In all irony, "asylum" is supposed to mean protection and safety, yet the stories are incredibly awful to hear.

Yet, as an English major with a minor in history, I cannot stress the importance of continuing to talk about these various topics so they are not forgotten. The common phrase, "history always repeats itself," is true, but it can be prevented and improved when we do not leave the stories in the past.

Through my research, here are some reasons why you could be institutionalized in the 1800s:

• Convenience of Relatives

• Uncontrollable Children

• "Female Hysteria"

• Natural Life Stages

• Disobedience

• Novel Reading

• Divorce Alternative

• Jealousy

• Asthma

• Immigration Stress

• Laziness

Among others from this list, these might just be some reasons why. What I find equally horrifying is that these husbands can hand their wives over without any questions or concerns from the staff. The wives have no choice; they cannot fight, argue, or get themselves out; they have to comply or suffer consequences of starvation, solitary confinement, restraints, or many other horrible crimes.

When looking into history, one of the earliest pioneers that advicated for women's postpartum health, Louis-Victor Marce, published a 400-page article called Treatise on Insanity in Pregnant, Postpartum, and Lactating Women in 1858. I will commend that this research was good for its time, as it looked into 310 cases, calling to the idea that women have a high level of susceptibility to lower mental health during these times.

Sadly, his work was mainly ignored, with physicians arguing that it was not important research for the time. Then in 1962, roughly 72 years later, Dr. James Alexander Hamilton led a landmark study on postpartum psychiatric conditions.

Two Individuals Reading Medical Documents

Impact

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an impactful piece for the time, calling attention to the mistreatment of women, lack of understanding of mental health, and the lack of control that women had over their own lives. While mental health and women's health are still being researched and improved upon, there is always more that can be talked about.

I remember reading this story for the first time, taking a few moments to sit with the weight of it all and attempting to understand it all. It has since impacted me to write in different perspectives of the story and on similar topics/themes. Hopefully, they will be shared with the world when the time is right!

If you found this post interesting, I will have more "Characters I’ll Never Stop Thinking About" posts coming in the future! I was going to write them all in one, but that would make for a very long post!

Drawing of a Red Heart on Paper