Essay Comparing The Yellow Wallpaper And The Story Of An Hour

beginning of time. From early neolithic ages where the cavemen took woman as ownership to

In the short stories “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, are stories about women who suffer from different conditions, but are very similar. In “The Story of an Hour” the main character suffers from an unknown heart condition, and becomes very detached from her husband. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the main character suffers from a psychological condition, and is taken care of by her husband John but slowly grows away from his care. While these women may have very different situations, they are very similar in the way they grow away from their husbands, feeling oppressed by society, and wanting to feel free.

The first aspect both stories have in common is the fact that both of the women are oppressed by a man in their life.“The

Throughout history, women have struggled to be seen as equals and have had to fight for their freedom from the roles society placed upon them. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman both use their literary works to show the challenges women went through, and how they battled for the freedoms they desperately wanted. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story about a woman that goes to a summer home to rest and get well under the supervision of her husband who is also a physician. Her husband decided it would be best if she sat in a room alone and did nothing. In the end, she becomes insane and finally finds her freedom. “The Story of An Hour” is about, Mrs. Mallard, a woman who has just found out her husband has died. Mrs. Mallard

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman written in the 1890s both reflect gender roles of this time, specifically women’s roles. In these stories both of the women are oppressed by their marriages, and by the end of the stories both wish to be rid of their husbands. Also, in both of these stories these women experience mental illnesses, mainly depression. These illnesses were looked at as something minor during this time, was it because psychologists were uneducated, or because as women their mental stability did not really matter? These stories connect so well because of their work to bring to the surface the reality of gender roles in the 1800s. Even though these stories were fictional their ideas were very real. By comparing how men and women were treated during this time, and how they are treated more equally now, it shows that with time American has come a long way.

Women in history stood best known for a less ascendant sex in the mid-nineteen centuries. Since times have gone by women had fought for their equal rights and freedom. There had been many stereotypes, where the women were considered as a slave to the men’s because the women’s position was to be the homemakers and a mother to their children, while the men’s are out socializing with others. If they were not happy with the marriage, they cannot just walk out or complain because a women role is to endure all these pains without a word coming out of their mouths. Two out of the ordinary short stories, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of An Hour,” mostly focused on a women’s dilemma that they faced near the 19th century. The two main characters in the short stories show some resemblances in some ways, but both characters portrayed them in different ways of how they dealt their sorrows in their marriages.

In this essay I will be comparing the two short stories “The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”. “The Story of an Hour”, written by Kate Chopin, is centered around a woman by the name Louise Mallard and her reaction after being informed of her husbands “death”, On the other hand “The Yellow Wallpaper” Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is about Jane, A young, newly married mother who at the time is undergoing care because of her depression. Although both essays have their similarities and differences I will be focusing mainly on the themes of Freedom, Isolation and Oppression. I will also be focusing on how the themes appear within both short stories and do a compare and contrast about the way the themes appear in the two short stories.

Marriage has often been described as one of the most beautiful and powerful unions one human can form with another. It is the sacred commitment and devotion that two people share in a relationship that makes marriage so appealing since ancient times, up until today. To have and to hold, until death do us part, are the guarantees that two individuals make to one another as they pledge to become one in marriage. It is easy to assume that the guarantee of marriage directly places individuals in an everlasting state of love, affection, and support. However, over the years, marriage has lost its fairy

When we compare contrast the two stories "The Yellow Wallpaper" vs. "The Story of an Hour”. If we first look at the similarities that they have, they are both about women who are controlled by their husbands, and who desired freedom. But both women had different reasons for their freedom. It sounds as though both husbands had control over their lives and both women had an illness. But I don’t believe the husbands knew their wives were so miserable. So as we look at the lives of women back in the 19th century time they have the stereotypical trend of being a house wife, staying at home taking care of kids, the house, and aiding the husband in his work. Being in charge of the household makes women have many responsibilities to take care of

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin give intriguing bits of knowledge to life in the nineteenth century. The short story disputes society's perspective of women during that time period and their duty as just mothers and domestic servants to their spouses. It is evident from a women's activist viewpoint this is a critique on the condition of ladies in the late 1800s, and maybe even of the narrators own battles of the way they are treated by their spouses. This topic is clarified through the portrayal of the narrator's superior husband John, Jane's writings, the narration by Chopin, and the imagery in which the setting of both stories is illustrated. These components depict the confinement

is evident in “An Story of an Hour” that the protagonist lead a very sheltered life due to her illness and

As we go about our lives, we experience many situations that put us through uncompromising times. We tend to be convinced that we are the only ones undergoing these hardships. Contrary to believe, there are other individuals that face the same misfortunes. In the story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a young woman, known as Jane to the readers, suffers with depression and deprivation of creativity because her husband believes she is delusional and loses herself in the wallpaper. In “Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, another woman named Mrs. Mallard is diagnosed with heart trouble and receives the news of the death of her husband, but instantaneously dies from a happy heart. Both of the women in the stories share the

These differences are significant because we see two points of view in this case. When we read through these stories we see how both women escape from their torture at the

Women have been denied social power and the right to various forms of self-expression during the 19th century. Feminism is the belief that women should be treated as equals to men and have the same opportunities. Feminist analysis discusses about topics such as women in society that 's been through oppression, dehumanizing, and depression. Several brave female writers came forth during this period, to speak out against their oppression through the means of poetry, short stories, and the application of a typical female characters. Women 's goal was to end patriarchal oppressions which was a way men oppressed women by limiting them. In the short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the narrative of The Awakening and the Story of an hour by Kate Chopin, both authors write examples of literary feminism. Both authors give an insight of how women are oppressed by their husbands therefore impacting these women 's ability to express themselves and the quality of their daily lives because of the social power structure they live in.

Striving toward greater equality of the sexes has been a major battle since the formation of the United States. In the 1800’s, the Women's Rights Movement centered around suffrage, partially due to the 14th Amendment giving all male citizens the right to vote (“The Movement”). The 14th Amendment was the first time the Constitution defined “citizens” and “voters” as “male,” thereby excluding women (“The Movement”). This type of exclusion was not uncommon during the 19th century, when women were believed to be inferior to men and were expected to maintain their roles as homemakers. This expectation deterred women’s intellectual and personal growth and diminished their ability to function independently. However, when women began to realize the magnitude of their social oppression, activists began to solicit equality in many fashions. One method was feminist literature, which highlighted the plight of women in society and challenged the oppressive narrative pioneered by a male-dominated society. Authors Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman used their literature to voice their unfavorable opinions concerning the unjustly inferior social status of women. As a result, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin share similar themes and characterization, and reflect the current battles women face regarding arranged marriage and within the workplace.