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Essay Comparing Story Of An Hour And The Yellow Wallpaper

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The short stories “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman are full of similarities in content, especially in the portrayal of certain themes and images. One of the most prominent images is shown in the protagonists’ desire for freedom from their marriages. Both stories, however, contain fluid images that contribute to the understanding of that message in each story. Nevertheless, “The Story of an Hour” provides a richer display of images that accentuates the effectiveness of the overall story.
In “The Story of an Hour” there is a copious amount of words that function as descriptors to show off the vast imagery. After Mrs. Mallard receives news of her husband’s death- she retreats to her room where she sits in mourning and contemplation. From there a series of images is given that show off the world in all its glory- unrestricted. “…The delicious breath of rain…The notes of a distant song…and countless sparrow twittering in the eaves…” (Chopin 73). In this line, there is an allusion to Mrs. Mallard’s realization that freedom—a new beginning—is close at hand; “But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the …show more content…

The protagonist describes her changing perception of the wallpaper; “At night, in any kind of light…it becomes bars! The outside pattern, I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be” (Gilman 82). Through the expository level of reading, it can be assumed that the woman is an image that the protagonist created for herself. Her attempts at freeing the woman from behind the wallpaper could symbolize her desire to free herself from the situation she is in, and the marriage that she is trapped in. However, the effectiveness of this is dulled as it is only a

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