Name: Yunhong Li
Date:9/21/2019
FIQWS 10008
Prof. Alyssa Yankwitt
Attitude Is Key
At the end of the 19th century, people’s cognition of mental illness was not very comprehensive. People were still on the road of exploration and learning. Just like the psychologist Freud mentioned in his first lecture, most doctors towards hysterical patients lack seriousness, because they believed as long as the illness didn’t cause any damage to the body and was not life-threatening, full recovery was possible. The doctor’s understanding of hysteria was extremely limited, or couldn’t even understand the concept. This leads doctors to feel frustrated and blame it on the patients (Freud 2200). They are so perfunctory, indifferent to the patients with hysteria. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” illustrates Freud’s criticism of most doctors, because the way that John, the narrator’s physician husband treats the narrator is how most doctors treat the patients with hysteria, they all ignored it and don’t take it seriously.
But Dr. Breuer is different from other doctors. He doesn’t give up on his patient, even though he didn’t know how to treat their hysteria. He was still sympathetic to his patients, paying attention to researching the treatment for hysteria. Through his constant observation and systematic investigation, he found the cause of hysteria, made his patient better with the treatment “talking cure” (Freud 2202). Therefore, Dr. Breuer made a great contribution to treating hysteria. It’s revealed that one’s attitude towards doing things determines his success or failure.
In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, John can’t believe the existence of anything imaginary. He is like most doctors can’t believe the reality of hysteria Freud says. First, John doesn’t think the narrator is sick, he believes she is fine, just temporary nervous depression. In the story “John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures” (Gilman 647). John’s lack of faith doesn’t allow him to believe in mental illness, it’s not a reality for him. This relates to what Freud says in his lecture most doctors don’t consider hysteria as a disease. In Freud’s first lecture “So it comes about that hysterical patients forfeit his sympathy. He regards them as people who are transgressing the laws of his science – like heretics in the eyes of the orthodox.” (Freud 2200). The doctor doesn’t try to understand or study hysteria, and he denies the hysteria directly. Thus it can be seen John and the doctors treat the narrator and the patients like normal people, anything about mental illness and hysteria are preposterous in their eyes.
In addition, John and most doctors blindly believe that the narrator and the patient will get better naturally. John moved the narrator to the village to recuperate, the intention is “He said we came here solely on my account that I was to have perfect rest and all the air I could get. ‘Your exercise depends on your strength, my dear,’ said he, ‘and your food somewhat on your appetite; but air you can absorb all the time’ ” (Gilman 648). John thinks that providing a good living environment for his wife would help her relieve nervousness. But if John’s method had worked, his wife would not be insane at the end of the story. In Freud’s lecture, the doctors have the same idea as John, “but neither can the doctor do anything against hysterical disorders. He must leave it to kindly Nature to decide when and how his optimistic prognosis shall be fulfilled” (Freud 2201). They think nature is the only way to let the patient get better. No doubt, this is a very irresponsible statement, it’s like giving up on patients and letting them die. So John and the doctors’ practice is useless, can let patients worse instead, and they will not get well naturally.
Therefore, “The Yellow Wallpaper” illustrates Freud’s criticism of most doctors, the attitude of John and most doctors to hysterical patients is the same but is quite different from Dr. Breuer’s. Breuer cares about the patients, makes great efforts to treat them. Instead, most doctors don’t think about the patients, they just try to ignore hysteria. Just as John always believes his wife will recover naturally if she has good rest, but in fact, the narrator gets worse. In general, attitude is important, when we have a problem, we cannot choose to ignore, escape a problem, and hope it can solve by itself. This is unrealistic. We have to face it squarely, solve it, just like Dr. Breuer.
Work Cited
Freud, Sigmund. “Frist Lecture ”. Five Lectures On Psychoanalysis. W. W. Norton &
Company, 1952.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, Ann J. Lane. The Charlotte Perkins Gilman Reader: The Yellow
Wallpaper, and Other Fiction. Pantheon Books, 1980.
The Reflection of “Attitude Is Key”
This essay “Attitude Is Key” is about my summary of most doctors and Dr. Breuer’s attitude towards hysterical patients in Freud’s first lecture, and I explained how “The Yellow Wallpaper” illustrates Freud’s criticism of most doctors with evidence from the story and Freud’s first lecture. The essay’s genre is literary summary and analysis. The purpose of writing this essay is I want to show my understanding of reading “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Freud’s first lecture through my detailed analysis. I hope to express my opinions, as well as how I use the examples from the First Lecture and the story to support my thesis in this essay. The audience for my essay is Ms. Alyssa Yankwitt, who will read and grade my essay. In the essay, I compare the attitude of Dr. Breuer and most doctors to hysterical patients, and illustrate the attitude and practice of John and most doctors, to clarify my thesis which is “The Yellow Wallpaper” illustrates Freud’s criticism of most doctors. I want to use specific evidence and convincing analysis to persuade my audience, let them agree with me.
When I wrote my essay, I took out all the required readings and read them again. While reading, I tried to catch the point, and use my own words to express it clearly and succinctly. For supporting my thesis, I used some quotes from the First Lecture and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, then explained why these quotes help to prove, support my thesis. I think writing this essay that helps me know more about Freud’s first lecture and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, because I made connections between them in the essay, that let me think deeply about these two reading, and gave me a new understanding of them. Also, I’m more aware of hysteria. But for this essay, something I still need to improve is reducing grammatical errors. I really need to learn and know the rules of grammar. My expression of the essay will not be hindered by the errors of grammar. I will work hard on it.
