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During the late eighteenth century, a unique movement emerged known as Romanticism that worshiped the eminent beauty of nature and free will, and inquired into the psychological prevalence of human nature. Sparked by a new generation of thinking, the Realism Movement ignored the fancy and predilection celebrated throughout Romanticism works and inclined towards being factual, genuine, and candor through a portrayal of theme and setting used to explicitly present the social circumstances of the nineteenth-century. It is evident throughout Realist literature that there are recurring and dominant themes of ennui, such as in Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton and The Awakening by Kate Chopin, themes of gender roles and oppression, as evidenced in “The …show more content…
In both texts, the main characters are lead to infidelity and abandonment of societal roles of marriage because of ennui. This is portrayed in The Awakening when the author states, “But as she sat there amid her guests, she felt the old ennui overtaking her; the hopelessness which so often assailed her, which came upon her like an obsession, like something extraneous, independent of volition” (Chopin 96). Disregarding the guests which are present at the dinner, Edna begins to recall her memories of Robert and how boredom overtakes her without his presence. Therefore, Edna’s moral collapse, as shown through her multiple affairs with Arobin because of this feeling of ennui caused by Robert's absence, led her soul to be weakened, and eventually to her suicide at the end of the book. Additionally, in Ethan Frome, there are similar themes of ennui leading to moral collapse in regards to Ethan and Zenobia. Wharton states “Zeena herself, from an oppressive reality, had faded into an insubstantial shade. All his life was lived in the sight and sound of Mattie Silver, and he could no longer conceive of its being otherwise” (Wharton 32). This quote demonstrates how the constant boredom and blandness that Ethan experiences from his wife has led to him no longer seeing her as a human being or his loved one, which leads him to having an affair with Mattie because …show more content…
In the “Yellow-Paper,” the protagonist seeks to relinquish her forms of imprisonment in hopes to escape her mental illness, yet she is still oppressed by those around her and forced to hide her coping mechanism, her journal; from this she is not able to escape her mental illness. The torment caused by the role society consigns for her husband is depicted when he states, “‘What is it little girl’ he said. ‘Don’t go walking about like that - you’ll get cold’” (Gilman 652). Her husband controls her every action and she lacks her needed self expression. She only frees herself after she tears down the wallpaper, freeing the girl inside, which represents her hidden non-expressed self. Similarly, a coinciding of this theme is presented in “The Story of An Hour,” in which Louise Mallard seeks refuge from oppression resulted from a male-dominated society. Mrs. Mallard states, “She said it over and over her breath: ‘free, free, free!’...There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself” (Chopin 2). Ecstatic at the thought of being released from the propriety enforced throughout the nineteenth century, Mallard exclaims that she is able to do the things she is ambitious about. Wanting to live away from the roles of marriage, her short-lived passion is later diminished at the sight
Everyone, at some time in life, will experience fear. But, often fantasies are created in one's mind to escape that fear. Ethan Frome uses his fantasy as an escape to the entrapment of his marriage and the fear of public condemnation.
The rise of Realism in 1855 was the time when farming began to industrialize, communication expanded through railroads, and Nationalism was yet again revived. On top of all these important transformations that have marked this period of time was the significance for literature with a new audience, new settings, and new characters. The novel, Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, is a magnificent example of literature from the Realistic period.
Mattie and Zeena, the two leading women characters in this novel have many differences that set them apart from each other, but also similarities that grab the reader’s interest. When they both entered Ethan’s life, they were a breath of fresh air that broke the silence in Ethan’s life. However, the crisp air that Mattie brought was prolonged and when Ethan began falling into a pit of silence again, she was there to get him to speak his mind and let out his emotions. She tried to have a positive outlook on life and to try new things to benefit her and others around her. Mattie was more outgoing and spontaneous opposed to Zeena. While Mattie was out and about in the town, Zeena was home all day. Zeena was bitter and controlling towards Ethan and everyone else in her life. Regardless, they were both willing to help when push came to shove. "Zeena 's done for Mattie, and done for Ethan, as good as she could. It was a miracle, considering how sick she was – but she seemed to be raised right up just when the call came to her. Not as she 's ever given up doctoring, and she 's had sick spells right along; but she 's had the strength given her to care for those two for over twenty years, and before the accident came she thought she couldn 't even care for herself” (Wharton 23). So despite of Zeena being cruel and pessimistic most of the time, she was willing to return the favor of kindness and
Her transformation and journey to self-discovery truly begins on the family’s annual summer stay at Grand Isle. “At a very early period she had apprehended instinctively the dual life- that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions. That summer at Grand Isle she began to loosen a little of the mantle of reserve that had always enveloped her” (Chopin 26). From that point onward, Edna gains a deeper sense of desire for self-awareness and the benefits that come from such an odyssey. She suddenly feels trapped in her marriage, without being in a passionately romantic relationship, but rather a contractual marriage. Edna questions her ongoing relationship with Leonce; she ponders what the underlying cause of her marriage was to begin with; a forbidden romance, an act of rebellion against her father, or a genuine attraction of love and not lust? While Edna internally questions, she begins to entertain thoughts of other men in her life, eventually leading to sensuous feelings and thoughts related to sexual fantasy imagined through a relationship with Robert Lebrun. Concurrently, Edna wavers the ideas so clearly expected by the society- she analyzes and examines; why must women assimilate to rigid societal standards while men have no such
In Heinrich Von Kleist's The Marquise of O. and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper, the female protagonist is terribly mislabeled. The inaccuracies in treatment, administered by seemingly authoritative and knowledgeable characters -- family members and a medically certified spouse, respectively -- result in tragic deterioration of the state of mind of both the Marquise and The Yellow Wallpaper's narrator. The delineation of each character's weakness is comprised of blatant references to an applied infantile image and approaching unstable mentality. In The Marquise of O, the Marquise is thrust unwillingly into the external world; in The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is locked away unwillingly in an interior world. Though both are persecuted because of their gender, in The Marquise of O, the Marquise is troubled by the symbolic rebirth of her womanhood; while in The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is troubled by the symbolic death of her womanhood.
Most marriages end in divorce. Indeed, the degree and level of suffering and pain throughout the populace is almost unfathomable. Perhaps, Ms. Chopin was living out a vicarious reality through Edna in committing suicide...and perhaps, this may be the underlying reason for the great reception which this novel has enjoyed...as well as staying power. Similarly, it has also been appointed a kind of jewel of the vanguard of women's rights. Indeed, "The Awakening" is one novel which exemplifies the attempt -- even realization -- of American womanhood's escape from personal and domestic bondage.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” explores how a loss of freedom affects one’s sanity. Through John’s treatment of the narrator and the narrator’s resulting thoughts and actions, the short story suggests that denying others their freedom is disastrous to their mental health. Ultimately, John contributes to this theme by assuming absolute control of the narrator’s life, which eventually drives her insane.
The 1890’s were an era of rapid social change in regards to women’s rights. In 1893, Colorado was the first state granting women the right to vote with Utah and Idaho following soon after in 1896. This soon set momentum towards of ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. It was in 1899 the Kate Chopin published The Awakening, a novel telling the tale of a suppressed mother, Edna Pontellier, and her desire for something more in her life. Literary scholars consider Chopin’s The Awakening as a subtle yet effective portrayal of women of the late 19th century and consider it as an important piece of the feminism movement. Throughout the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, women had felt controlled by men and the demands society put upon them. Men had held a discriminatory view of women throughout this era, for they merely saw women as property. Women were expected to bear a man’s child, care for the child, and watch over the household while the man was away. The Awakening was an eye-opening novel in that it challenged the social structure of the time in which men dominated society. This novel showed the discriminatory view of women and treatment of women. The novel also does a great job in showing the dissatisfaction in the women’s lives, particularily through the actions of Edna Pontellier. Due to society’s expectations, women were not allowed to pursue their psychological or sexual drives, for it was scorned by society. Edna pursues these drives as she eventually cannot tolerate her way of living. In The Awakening, Chopin’s use of three characters, Edna Pontellier, Adele Ratignolle, and Mademoiselle Reisz, exemplifies the accepted roles of women in the late 19th century.
When her husband was still with her, she had no identity, she was branded exclusively as Mrs. Mallard, Brently Mallard’s wife. Now, Louise distinguishes that she can finally be her own person and be identified by who she is, not only as someone else’s wife. As Louise departs from her room, she develops into a new person and as Mark Cunningham (2004) writes in his Literary Criticism, The Autonomous Female and the Death of Louise Mallard in Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour”, “With Brently’s return, with the reconstitution of her marriage and previous social position, Louise once again vanishes among her husband and her relatives” (para. 3). This explicates that when Louise’s husband was with her, and when he returns, she fades into the background. In the short time Louise is deprived of her husband, she grows into her own identity and this gives way to her feminist ideas. As Louise realizes that she now does not have to live for anyone else in the years to come, Chopin (1894) writes that “There would be no powerful will bending hers” (para. 14). This demonstrates that Louise frequently felt that her husband’s opinion conflicted on hers and she rarely received the attention she deserved. Now, Louise has no one to rule above her, no one to be associated with as lesser than
During the 19th century, in eastern America, men were the heads of families and controllers of the work place, while women had little power, especially over their roles; particularly upper class women due to the lack of necessity for them to work outside the home. “Men perpetrated an ideological prison that subjected and silenced women”(Welter, Barbara). Their only responsibilities were to be modest, proper women who took care of themselves and did not stray from the purpose of motherhood. They were to remain in the home scene and leave the public work to the men; trapped in their own households, they were expected to smile, accept, and relish such a life. Barbra Walter also agrees that women were imprisoned in their homes, and were merely good for maintaining the family, “a servant tending to the needs of the family”(Welter). Many women's emotions, as well as minds, ran amiss from this life assignment and caused them to stray from the social norms set up by tradition. The narrator in Charlotte Gilman's story, The Yellow Wallpaper, is a victim of such emotional disobedience and rebelliousness. As well as the rebellious women in the poem The Woman in the Ordinary, by Marge Piercy.
Ethan quickly realized that this marriage with her wouldn’t give him the sense of happiness that he wanted, but instead made Ethan feel even more alone and even less happy than he was after his mom had died “.makes him feel further removed from happiness.” (Hoffman). This situation furthers once Mattie arrives at the Frome household and Zeena begins to isolate herself in her room, complaining that she is sick and needs bed rest. This sense of isolation is especially shown when the Narrator tries to talk to Ethan and gain more details about his life, but Ethan won’t talk “, he has trouble obtaining further details. Ethan’s isolation is evident in their conversation.”
The symbols and imagery used by Kate Chopin's in “The Story of an Hour” give the reader a sense of Mrs. Mallard’s new life appearing before her through her view of an “open window” (para. 4). Louise Mallard experiences what most individuals long for throughout their lives; freedom and happiness. By spending an hour in a “comfortable, roomy armchair” (para.4) in front of an open window, she undergoes a transformation that makes her understand the importance of her freedom. The author's use of Spring time imagery also creates a sense of renewal that captures the author's idea that Mrs. Mallard was set free after the news of her husband's death.
When first reading the gothic feminist tale, “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, one might assume this is a short story about a women trying to save her sanity while undergoing treatment for postpartum depression. Gilman herself had suffered post-natal depression and was encouraged to undergo the “rest cure” to cure her hysteria. The treatment prescribed to Gilman resulted in her having a very similar experience as the narrator in the short story. The “perfect rest” (648), which consisted of forced bed rest and isolation sparked the inspiration for “The Yellow Wallpaper.” This story involving an unreliable narrator, became an allegory for repression of women. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gilman illustrates the seclusion and oppression of women in the nineteenth century society by connecting the female imprisonment, social and mental state, and isolation to the objects in and around the room.
Also, the paper will discuss how ignoring oneself and one’s desires is self-destructive, as seen throughout the story as the woman’s condition worsens while she is in isolation, in the room with the yellow wallpaper, and at the same time as her thoughts are being oppressed by her husband and brother. In the story, the narrator is forced to tell her story through a secret correspondence with the reader since her husband forbids her to write and would “meet [her] with heavy opposition” should he find her doing so (390). The woman’s secret correspondence with the reader is yet another example of the limited viewpoint, for no one else is ever around to comment or give their thoughts on what is occurring. The limited perspective the reader sees through her narration plays an essential role in helping the reader understand the theme by showing the woman’s place in the world. At the time the story was written, women were looked down upon as being subservient beings compared to men....
In Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the author takes the reader through the terrors of a woman’s psychosis. The story convey to understatements pertaining to feminism and individuality that at the time was only idealized. Gillman illustrates her chronological descent into insanity. The narrators husband John, who is also her physician diagnosed her with “nervous depression” and therefore ordered her to isolate until she recuperates. She is not only deprived of outside contact but also of her passion to write, since it could deteriorate her condition. The central conflict of the story is person versus society; the healthy part of her, in touch with herself clashing with her internalized thoughts of her society’s expectations. In a feminist point of view the central idea pertains to the social confinement that woman undergo due to their society.