"It was not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy, and it worked" (Gilman).
What a great feeling that must have been for Gilman. Resisting the influences that were holding her down, and then to write something that changes the course of psychological history. That has got to be better than writing a really persuasive essay. Gilman knows she saved at least one mental life, but by now, that number is probably hugely bigger. Props to Charlotte Gilman for pulling off her goal in writing "The Yellow Wallpaper."
I must just be really cynical and jaded!!!! What do you think her sickness was that she so miraculously was cured from just by not listening to her doctor!
I'm no doctor, but I think she had some sort of depression. and maybe a mix of schizofrenia. But usually the worst thing to do when your depressed is sit around, locked in a room.
So that's probably part of the reason why the woman went nutso in the story.