Summary by author Lesley
In western culture, men are the embodiment of reason, while women are the synonym of irrationality. In various texts, madness is both defect and essence of women. In a "male-dominated" society, all female diseases are understood as diseases of “resistance” and "perceived by men." Gilman's short story The Yellow Wallpaper represents the hysterical cry of women at that time. In China, there are many social prejudices and misunderstandings about women's mental illness, and women's mental health has received less attention. Through the comparison of Chinese and American literature, I hope to explore the metaphor of mental illness, the gender difference of the narrators and the reasons for such prejudice.
References:
Tasca, Cecilia, et al. “Women And Hysteria In The History Of Mental Health.” Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health, vol. 8, no. 1, 2012, pp. 110–119., doi:10.2174/1745017901208010110.
王青. "从病态幻觉到文学经典——离魂型故事的心理基础与文学创造." 明清小说研究 000.002(2014):36-53.
“'Everybody Was Telling Me There Was Nothing Wrong'.” BBC Future, BBC, www.bbc.com/future/article/20180523-how-gender-bias-affects-your-healthcare
Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today. Routledge, 2015, pp. 271.
