ession, and hysterical fits, were caused by the uterus's interactions with the other organs in the body. In his text "On the Nature of Women" he explains the cause and treatment of a hysterical fit: If the uterus comes towards the liver, the female suddenly becomes speechless, and clenches her teeth, and her color comes back…In such situations, push beneath the liver with the hand and tighten a bandage beneath the hypochondria, and by opening the mouth administer a most fragrant wine, and anoint the nostrils and apply malodorous fumigations. And fragrant fumigations below the uterus. (Palis 227)Not only was the uterus capable of wandering around the body, it was believed that the womb was attracted and repelled by certain odors.Gilman seems to address the ridiculousness of such logic when she refers to the inconsistencies in the design of the wallpaper in "The Yellow Wallpaper." The narrator complains, "On a pattern like this, by daylight, there is a lack of sequence, a defiance of law, that is a constant irritant to a normal mind" (263). This same complaint could be used against the popular view of hysteria. The theory that the woman's uterus dislodged itself in the body and wandered around aimlessly violates natural law. In this respect, the ancient view of hysteria is similar to the wallpaper design since they both defy physical laws and cause pain to a logical mind.Textual evidence also suggests that Gilman uses the movement behind the wallpaper to represent the supposed movement of the uterus within the hysteric's body. The narrator complains in her journal, "I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design" (260). The "silly and conspicuous front design" not only refers to the wallpaper, but to the outer appearance of the nineteenth-century woman. She presented herself to society as demure, nave, and nurturing while her true character "skulked" ...
