Mariam Waggeh

FIQWS 10008

Mon./Wed. 2-3:15pm

Alyssa Yankwitt

 

   Summary and  Response Paper

 

Sigmund Freud is known to many as the father of psychoanalysis. He created the clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue of a patient and psychoanalyst. One of his most acclaimed works known as “Freud’s Five Lectures”, is a manuscript of his five part speech in which he refutes a doctors view on the psychology of the mind and his theories on the human mental state. Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story in which shows a woman’s experience with her doctor husband and how he dealt with her as a psychoanalysis patient. ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ was able to effectively display the doctors criticism of psychoanalysis patients through the interactions of the husband and wife in the story.

 

In ‘Lecture I’ of  Freud’s collection he refutes Dr.Breuer’s concept of psychoanalysis patients and what he believed was a proper diagnosis. Breuer has done many tests on his female patient (at the time which many believed that only woman could have hysteria) in which he believed that although his patient would show physical symptoms he wasn’t able to draw any conclusions from these observations. “she developed a series of physical and psychological disturbances which decidedly deserved to be taken seriously.” (FLI1) Showing that Freud understood that the patient had psychological issues and that an understanding of her illness needed to be researched in order to give her the proper form of assistance. Also, “He cannot understand hysteria, and in the face of it he is himself a layman….he did not know how to help her.”(FLI2).  Supporting Freud’s claim that Breuer was able to observe that there was something wrong with his patient, but due to his lack of analysis as to what was going on with her mental state he was unable to draw conclusions to a possible treatment for hysteria.

 

Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story about a woman who suffers from symptoms of hysteria. She experiences a hatred for the yellow wallpaper in the nursery her husband places her to live in, in their home. The women who is also the narrator of the story claims that her husband (a doctor) continues to assure her that she is perfectly fine despite her behavior showing other wise. “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression — a slight hysterical tendency — what is one to do?” (TYRP1). Proving that the patient herself knows that she is not herself but her husband the medical doctor tells her and others that her mental instability is only temporary and as time goes it will pass, then she is stuck and helpless. Which indirectly supports Freud’s claim that doctors were layman or had no understanding of what hysteria was and how it should be dealt with. Also, “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.” (TYWP2). Supporting that no matter how much doctors observed their patients, they weren’t able to see the psychological reason as to why they behave the way they do and ways to help better these issues.

 

To conclude that the ‘Yellow Wallpaper” sufficiently supports Freud’s criticism on doctors and their insights of psychoanalysis through the interactions of the women and her husband and how he continued to brush her off and tell her that her episodes of hysteria were only something temporary when he himself was unable to understand what was actually going on.

 

Work Cited Page:

1. Freud’s Five Lectures Author: Sigmund Freud Lecture I Citations: (FLI1, FLI2)
2. The Yellow Wallpaper Author: Charlotte Gilman Citations: (TYRP1)

 

Reflection

About two weeks ago I was assigned to write a summary and response paper. Initially. going in, I believed that it would be something easy since I had done it before in high school. But for some reason I had some form of writer’s block. I found it to be a little difficult to clearly get my points across and fulfill the criteria. My FIQWS composition teacher was able to refresh my memory in her class as to how a thesis paper should be by giving us examples and a step-by-step process on how to write this kind of paper.

Thus, I began my paper. I chose the first prompt which asked if we agreed that Freud’s criticism of doctors in ‘Lecture 2’ was indirectly supported in the text ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’. I agreed that Freud’s claims were supported. I then had to re skim through both these texts to refresh my memory and bring out evidence to prove that I agreed. It took me a few hours to complete the task but the more I wrote the more confident I became with my writing. I understand that this probably might be one of my weakest papers this semester, but I also understand that with practice takes almost nearly perfect.