An Analysis of the Differences between The Black Cat and The Yellow Wallpaper - Essay Example

Reid An Analysis of the Differences Between “The Black Cat” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” Mental illness appears to be a regular theme for the most prolific story tellers. The most well known of whom is Edgar Allan Poe, author of “The Black Cat”. Surprisingly, another well read thriller based upon mental illness is based upon the work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. While both stories could be considered to be Gothic thrillers, it is the work of Ms. Gilman that fulfills the requirements for a complex issues involved in stories that deal with mental illnesses. In “The Black Cat”, we hear only the voice of the narrator as he falls into madness based upon the negative actions he had taken against the black cat. While Ms. Gilman portrayed the development of postpartum depression and its aftermath in her main character Jane, who is also the narrator of the story, during an era when men ruled the world and women were expected to merely bear children and ensure that their husband was a success in life. It is because of this difference in the way that the topic of developing madness was dealt with and the complex issues surrounding it that made “The Yellow Wallpaper” the more prominent fictional study of the development of madness. " The Black Cat," and "The Yellow Wall Paper," display aspects of psychological issues; however, the complexity of these issues are more prominent in " The Yellow Wall Paper." In “The Black Cat”, Poe continues his tradition of recalling the spiral into madness of his lead characters through flashbacks detailing the events that led to the protagonists descent into madness. This is a trend that we can clearly see in his previous works such as “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. In “The Black Cat”, the only driving factor for the madness of the unnamed narrator seems to be Reid 2 the fact that he is alcoholic and as such, has delusions and suspicions about anything and everyone around him. Including, the black cat that was their family pet. As we can see in the following passage, the madness of the narrator was not brought about by any traumatic experience or frustration in life, but rather, because of his love of alcohol. He narrates: ...my disease grew upon me--for what disease is like Alcohol!--and at length even Pluto, who was now becoming old, and consequently somewhat peevish--even Pluto began to experience the effects of my ill temper. (Poe 2) This where the weakness of the development of the mental illness lies in Poes story. For just like in all his previous works, the reason for the onset of madness stems from the love of drink and th actions of a madman who cannot control his thoughts and observations because he has no control of his own reason and logic. This is a far cry from the development of a mental illness such as in “The Yellow Wallpaper” wherein the narrator was driven to madness because of the lack of control over he mental faculties due to the controlling ways of her physician husband and brother. This is even explained by the narrator in the story when she explains why she thinks she is ill. She tells the reader: I sometimes fancy that in my condition, if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad (Gilman 278) Again, this is a major difference between the development of mental illness in the stories.Gilman, who based the story upon her personal experience, developed the Reid 3 illness after having given birth to her own child in real life. She felt confined by the fact that her doctor, instead of asking her to take a more active role in the family, decided that the best for of treatment for her would be to further pull away from society and any activities that would “tax” her mentally. As such, this created a true psychological reason and psychological break in her mental capacity at the time. The main reason for her madness? Sheer boredom and lack of mental stimulation. In Poes work, we see that the illness is something brought upon the narrator by himself due to the guilt that he feels after having killed the cat. Guilt is a strong human emotion that leaves a person feeling paranoid at times due to the secretiveness of the crime or bad action that he committed. Not being able to share his story with others tends to make him view his environment in a different light. Thinking that people can deduce what he has done simply by looking at him. He does not have any true psychological incapacity which would have driven him to madness. Guilt, is an emotion and not a mental state of mind therefore, unlike in “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator in “The Black Cat” did not have any real psychological trigger, as exemplified by boredom, to consider as a trigger for the state of mind of the narrator. Hence the madness in this story is not truly psychological in nature. As Poe had his narrator explain: I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fiber of my frame. (Poe 2) The complexity of the issue became even more pronounced in “The Yellow Wallpaper” because of the way that Jane was taken away from what was familiar to her Reid 4 and thrust into a situation that would have driven anyone mad, when the intention of her doctor, who is her husband, and her brother, who is also a doctor was to cure her. Keeping in mind that the story took place in the 1800s. long before suffragettes and womens rights became a national issue, it is easy to understand how the mental health issue of a woman could have been taken for granted. After all, women during that era were considered to be only lovely arm-candy for their spouses. Their jobs limited to only caring for the household, bearing children, and helping their husbands advance their careers and family positions in society ensured that they would not be able to practice any trade or form of entertainment that they would enjoy due to the mental stimulation it provided. It seemed like women were prevented from developing themselves during that time of history and as such, a nervous break seemed inevitable for some of not most of them. It is important to note that unlike in “The Yellow Wallpaper” where Jane admits to needing to recuperate due to her mental incapacity, the narrator in “The Black Cat” insists upon the fact that he is sane although people believe otherwise due to the story that he tells. This shows the clear difference between the male and female of society at the time. Men who are spiraling into madness can get away with saying they are sane and society will most likely believe them. Whereas a woman who claims to be sane but only suffering from a breakdown due to boredom is viewed by society as being insane and in need of medical attention, bed rest, and removal of mental stimulation in order to recover. There is further evidence of how the two protagonists in the story deal with their Reid 5 mental incapacities towards the end of their stories. The man in in “The Black Cat” swears to his sanity and the truthfulness of his story despite his love of drink, which is known in modern times to have the ability to cloud ones judgment and ability to analyze certain situations. He is not truly insane but is believed to be so due to the seemingly impossibility of his actions and its results. Jane from “The Yellow Wallpaper” on the other hand, continues to spiral into madness despite the best intentions of her family and household members because of the fact that they have taken away her ability to express herself through her journals, which were obviously helping to keep her sane. The fact that she throws the key away at the end of the story tells the reader that she believes she has found a way to free herself of her prison, the nursery with the horrible yellow wallpaper and barred windows. Sadly, the method that she chose for her escape was exactly the thing that her family was trying to prevent. She surrendered to the madness, freeing herself mentally to see the world in the way that her prolific and creative mind saw it. She created a free woman who roamed the estate at various times of the day or night. Narrating that she found her freedom because of that woman. Stating: I wonder if they all come out of that wallpaper as I did? I suppose I shall have to get back behind the pattern when it comes night, and that is hard! This psychological breakdown was the only way that Gilman a.k.a. Jane, saw to heal herself. In real life, this is what Gilman did. She disregarded her doctors orders to not “tax” her brain by continuing to write and be creative. Saving her from madness by allowing herself to grow as a person instead of stifling herself when society dictated it. Works Cited Poe, Edgar Allan. “ The Black Cat”. poestories.com. poestories.com. 2015. Web. 9 Apr. 2015. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper” . nih.gov.nih.gov. n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2015. Read More