Freedom for Women in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman and The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

1218 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of patriarchal in our society

Freedom for Women in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman and The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gillman and 'The Story of an Hour' by Kate Chopin are two feminist works in which liberation is the overlying theme. Both of the main characters achieve freedom from their husbands' oppression in these short stories; however, freedom is only achieved through insanity in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' and death in 'The Story of an Hour.' The women in these stories are viewed as very powerful, as they do whatever it takes to free themselves from the oppressive holds of their husbands. Their strength proves these two short stories very influential works of feminism.

Oppression is chief in the achievement of liberation in both short stories. Both of the narrators are oppressed by their husbands, and though they want to be happy, it is impossible due to the way they are treated by their spouses. In ?The Yellow Wallpaper,? John, the nameless narrator?s husband, confines his wife to a room with barred windows and hideous yellow wallpaper because she is ill. He does not allow her to exert herself physically or mentally, prevents her from seeing her friends and family and keeps her under intense scrutiny. While isolated in this room, she begins to go mad, believing that the wallpaper is somehow watching her, and eventually she believes she is a prisoner inside it. The narrator proves that her husband is oppressive when she reveals how afraid she is of him. She says, ?There comes John, and I must put this away?he hates to have me write a word? (Gillman 41).

Likewise, in Kate Chopin?s ?The Story of an Hour? it is perceived that the main character Louise Mallard is oppre...

... middle of paper ...

...reedom proves to be the overlying theme in ?The Story of an Hour? and death is the way in which freedom is achieved in the short story.

?The Yellow Wallpaper? and ?The Story of an Hour? are two feminist works that highlight the importance of freedom for women in the oppressive world of men. Freedom is not achieved normally in either of the short stories, but is gained through insanity and death. These two stories prove that women?s liberation is an extremely important issue, and the means by which these women gained their freedom is remarkable.

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. (1894). 31 Apr. 2003. http://www.4literature.net/Kate_Chopin/Story_of_an_Hour/>

Gillman, Charlotte Perkins. ?The Yellow Wallpaper.? The Yellow Wallpaper and Selected Stories of Charlotte Perkins Gillman. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1994.

PID 0230

Show More
Related

  • Representation of Women in Men Should Weep by Ena Lamont Stewart and Perfect Days by Liz Lochead

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Representation of Women in "Men Should Weep" by Ena Lamont Stewart and "Perfect Days" by Liz Lochead

    Read More

  • Comparing the Plots of The Yellow Wallpaper and The Story of an Hour

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    So as we look at the lives of women back in the 19th century, 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, but still women are often looked down upon and men who often think a women’s say is unimportant. The two short stories are about two women who have husbands that are successful and the women who feel suffocated by their lack of ability to live their own lives or make their own decisions. The two stories present similar plots about two wives who have grown to feel imprisoned in their own marriages. In the yellow wallpaper, she is virtually imprisoned in her bedroom, and does not even have a say in the location or decor of the room.

    Read More

  • Metamorphosis of Woman in The Yellow Wallpaper and If I Were a Man by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    In comparison between The Yellow Wallpaper and If I Were a Man by Charlotte Perkins Gilman there is a clear picture created of a woman coming into her own. Both stories weave a tale of two women, although very different they share a common likeness in the fact they are both entrapped by their husbands. For one it was being trapped in a room for one it was monetary restrictions. Their bondage, although seemingly built from love and protection, only seems to serve as a prison within their minds.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman

    301 Words  | 1 Pages

    The "Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman is a great story about the repression of women in the late 1800's but is still representative of issues faced by women today. She writes from her own personal experiences and conveys a message that sometimes in a male dominated society women suffer from the relentless power that some men implement over women.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper and A Doll’s House

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ow Wallpaper" and Henry Isben’s play A Doll's House both prove that independence is key in a woman’s life in order to feel free; yet social norms of the Victorian Age cause freedom to come at a high cost. Nora, the heroine in A Doll’s House, escapes from her husband’s confinement by leaving her family. While this seems revolutionary, Nora’s freedom will only cause confusion in her life. Had she not had her personal awakening on individualism, she would have remained happy with her family. In the “Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator achieves freedom through madness. The narrator thinks she is free when she goes mad, yet this is only a brief feeling, as she will most likely realize the publicity of her mental state will only increase the restrictions upon her. In both texts, the heroines break for freedom will only result in more confusion and confinement in their lives.

    Read More

  • The Story Of The Hour And The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kate Chopin’s “The Story of the Hour” and Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is viewed from a woman’s perspective of the nineteenth century. They showed the issues on how they were confined to the house. That they were to be stay at home wives and let the husband earn the household income. These stories are both written by American women and how their marriage was brought about. Their husbands were very controlling and treated them more like children instead of their wives. In the nineteenth century their behavior was considered normal at the time. In “The Story of the Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” both women explore their issues on wanting to be free of the control of their husband.

    Read More

  • Comparing "Story of an hour "vs "The Yellow Wall Paper"

    347 Words  | 1 Pages

    Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” are both centralized on the feministic views of women coming out to the world. Aside from the many differences within the two short stories, there is also similarities contained in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” such as the same concept of the “rest treatment” was prescribed as medicine to help deal with their sickness, society’s views on the main character’s illness, and both stories parallel in the main character finding freedom in the locked rooms that they contain themselves in.

    Read More

  • Treatment of Mental Disorders Exposed in The Yellow Wallpaper

    1986 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The Story and Its Writer. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 462-473. Print.

    Read More

  • Significance Of The Berlin Wall

    2168 Words  | 5 Pages

    In conclusion Berlin Wall was an important milestone in the growth of the Cold War. It was the expansion that represented the thinking of a determined Communist system. Western Capitalism, which was more powerful, eventually defeated the system. The massive wall that did so much harm to a country was finally destroyed, and the people of Germany could now live the way they all wanted to live. They could live the life of freedom. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall East Germany has went through a lot of changes, and it still is not easy for all of the people in East Germany. But no matter how hard it is for the people of East Germany now, it is better than being alone and separated from their families, friends and rest of Europe.

    Read More

  • Analysis of A Rose for Emily, by William Faulkner and The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    2617 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the short stories “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner and “The Yellow Wallpaper”” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonists experience mental illness, loneliness, feelings of being in control of their lives, and feelings of being insane. Both main characters struggle against male domination and control. The two stories take place in the late 1800’s - early 1900’s, a time where men’s place in society was superior to that of women. Each story was written from a different perspective and life experiences. “A Rose for Emily” was written by a man and told in third personal narration, while “The Yellow Wallpaper” was written by a female and told in first person.

    Read More

  • "The Yellow Wallpaper" Literary Analysis

    1489 Words  | 3 Pages

    Comparatively, the relationships between the two main characters in the stories portray women’s yearning for freedom with different types of confinement. Psychological and physical confinements are terms that we can see used through out both stories. While “Story of an hour” basis its character being emotionally confined, and her great awakening being the room in which she grasps the hope of freedom. The settings show the character analyzes her new life, as her barrier and weight of being a wife is lifted, bring fourth new light. We can see in “The Yellow Wallpaper” that the author chose to base the main character John’s wife, around physical confinement in which her room symbolized imprisonment, and due to her illness mental confinement as well. Soon enough we see that her sickness takes hold making her believe she has desperately found freedom, but in reality she has found nothing merely more than herself. Something she had hated throughout the story, ending in only sadness. Telling us Psychological confinement played a big role as her sickness takes hold of her identity leaving behind the

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Women in The Yellow Wallpaper and Story of an Hour

    1712 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women have traditionally been known as the less dominant sex.  Through history women have fought for equal rights and freedom.  They have been stereotyped as being housewives, and bearers and nurturers of the children.  Only recently with the push of the Equal Rights Amendment have women had a strong hold on the workplace alongside men.  Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men.  This tension is derived from men; society, in general; and within a woman herself.  Two interesting short stories, “The  Yellow Wall-paper and “The Story of an Hour, “ focus on a woman’s plight near the turn of the 19th century.  This era is especially interesting because it is a time in modern society when women were still treated as second class citizens.  The two main characters in these stories show similarities, but they are also remarkably different in the ways they deal with their problems and life in general.  These two characters will be examined to note the commonalities and differences.  Although the two characters are similar in some ways, it will be shown that the woman in the “The Story of an Hour” is a stronger character based on the two important criteria of rationality and freedom.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman explores the oppression of women in the nineteenth century and the constant limitation of their freedom, which many times led to their confinement. The short story illustrates male superiority and the restriction of a woman’s choice regarding her own life. The author’s diction created a horrific and creepy tone to illustrate the supernatural elements that serve as metaphors to disguise the true meaning of the story. Through the use of imagery, the reader can see that the narrator is living within a social class, so even though the author is trying to create a universal voice for all women that have been similar situations, it is not possible. This is not possible because there are many

    Read More

  • Existentialism in Unknown Places

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories. Mineola: Dover, 1997. Print.

    Read More

  • Response to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, the yellow wallpaper is a brilliant work literature of which depicts a woman as a permissive and controlled by her dominant husband. While women now enjoyed freedom and peace in a liberal nation like America, we must not forget in the impoverish states like Afghanistan or Pakistan, women are still being enclosed behind the bars of the "Yellow Wallpaper." They, just like in the past, have no right in their society and have no idea that women can actually enjoy the kind of freedom like their male counterparts. "The Yellow Wallpaper" does not only serve as a witness of what has happened in the past, it has also served the purpose of a reminder of what we must be doing in the future to bring freedom and rights to women all over the world.

    Read More

More about Freedom for Women in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman and The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

Open Document