Almost everybody feels a sense of alienation or isolation at some point in their life. Maybe it was when you were a young kid at a playground in school, being left out of activities. Or maybe this feeling is being experienced by an adult who is having economical or social issues. Whatever the source is for these feelings, it is not a pleasant one, and one we tend to try and avoid as much as possible in life. In the two stories I’ll be discussing, “ The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, there are two characters who experience feelings of alienation, isolation and oppression quite heavily. The effects of alienation and oppression are hindering to women’s independence and well-being. This is seen in the situations of two women we are going to be focusing on for this paper. Alienation and oppression can hinder the well-being and happiness of the individual experiencing it. It can also have long lasting psychological effects and cultural effects as you’ll see in this research paper.
The first story I’ll be discussing is “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The main character in the story is the narrator. She is not given a name to call her by but it is suggested that her name is Jane by many readers of the story. She just had a child and is going through a medically referable situation called postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is a hindering medical condition that send new mothers into depressive states which affect their ability to care for themselves and for a baby. During the late 1800s, when this story was written, postpartum depression was referred to as “temporary nervous depression” and had isolating treatments such as the one being administered to the narrator by her husband, t...
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...s aren’t being exposed these negative feelings.
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In early nineteen centuries, Women helped shape the course of the American Revolution in numerous ways. However, national and state constitutions included little mention of women. Under the constitution, women did not have right to vote and were not allowed hold office. Judith Sargent Murray, a feminist writer, was one of the most prominent women of the Revolutionary era. She strived for the right and recognition of women from the society of her period. In the feminist essay, “On the Equality of Sexes,” Murray posed the argument of spiritual and intellectual equality between men and women.
Special to The New,York Times. “Women Seek Equal Rights.” New York Times (1923-Current file): 19. Jan 06 1960. ProQuest.Web. 20 Jan. 2014
In this essay, we will examine three documents to prove that they do indeed support the assertion that women’s social status in the United States during the antebellum period and beyond was as “domestic household slaves” to their husband and children. The documents we will be examining are: “From Antislavery to Women 's Rights” by Angelina Grimke in 1838, “A Fourierist Newspaper Criticizes the Nuclear Family” in 1844, and “Woman in the Nineteenth Century” by Margaret Fuller in 1845.
In the "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman describes her postpartum depression through the character of Jane. Jane was locked up for bed rest and was not able to go outside to help alleviate her nervous condition. Jane develops an attachment to the wallpaper and discovers a woman in the wallpaper. This shows that her physical treatment is only leading her to madness. The background of postpartum depression can be summarized by the symptoms of postpartum depression, the current treatment, and its prevention. Many people ask themselves what happens if postpartum depression gets really bad or what increases their chances. Jane's treatment can show what can happen if it is not treated correctly. If Jane would have had different treatment, then she would not have gone insane.
In the stories “To Set Our House in Order” and “The Lamp at Noon” the authors are both able to effectively communicate that alienation is self-inflicted, while using multiple different techniques. As a result it becomes apparent that each author can take a similar approach to the alienation of a character in the story yet develop the theme in a unique way.
Isolation can be a somber subject. Whether it be self-inflicted or from the hands of others, isolation can be the make or break for anyone. In simpler terms, isolation could range anywhere from not fitting into being a complete outcast due to personal, physical, or environmental factors. It is not only introverted personalities or depression that can bring upon isolation. Extroverts and active individuals can develop it, but they tend to hide it around crowds of other people. In “Richard Cory,” “Miniver Cheevy,” The Minister’s Black Veil,” and “Not Waving but Drowning,” E.A. Robinson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Stevie Smith illustrate the diverse themes of isolation.
“Like a river flows so surely to the sea darling, so it goes some things are meant to be.” In literature there have been a copious amount of works that can be attributed to the theme of love and marriage. These works convey the thoughts and actions in which we as people handle every day, and are meant to depict how both love and marriage can effect one’s life. This theme is evident in both “The Storm” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman; both stories have the underlying theme of love and marriage, but are interpreted in different ways. Both in “The Storm” and in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the women are the main focus of the story. In “The Storm” you have Calixta, a seemingly happy married woman who cheats on her husband with an “old-time infatuation” during a storm, and then proceeds to go about the rest of her day as if nothing has happened when her husband and son return. Then you have “The Yellow Wallpaper” where the narrator—who remains nameless—is basically kept prisoner in her own house by her husband and eventually is driven to the point of insanity.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a story about an anonymous female narrator and her husband John who is a physician who has rented a colonial manner in the summer. Living in that house, the narrator felt odd living there. Her husband, john who is a physician and also a doctor to his wife felt that the narrator is under nervous depression. He further mentions that when a person is under depression, every feeling is an odd feeling. Therefore, the narrator was not given permission by John to work but just to take medication and get well fast. This made the narrator to become so fixated with the yellow wallpaper in the former nursery in which she located. She was depressed for a long time and became even more depressed. This ha...
In the stories “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, talk about how two women are experiencing the same emotional situations they have to endure. Both of these stories express the emotional and physical trials the characters have to endure on an everyday basis. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” it shows a woman who is oppressed and is suffering from depression and loneliness. In “A Rose for Emily” it is showing the struggle of maintaining a tradition and struggling with depression. Both of the stories resemble uncontrollable changes and the struggles of acceptance the characters face during those changes.
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.
Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia, eds. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 4th ed. NewJersey: Pearson, 2012. Print.
Schakel, Peter J., and Jack Ridl. The "Everyday Use." Approaching Literature: Writing, Reading, Thinking. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, J.
Mink, Gwendolyn. "The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History: Legal Status." Houghton Mifflin Study Center. 19 Nov. 2005. http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/women/html/wh_020600_legalstatus.htm.
Do you ever feel trapped when you are in a place that you have never been before? Isolation criticizes society since it does not let everyone be equal or have the same rights. Isolation can completely change a person, and it is usually for the worst. Society “acts” like they try to prevent isolation, but in reality they isolate people for certain reasons, then those people get judged for being “different.” Upon closer inspection it is human nature to deny equal rights because people that do not act, dress, or look the same are labeled as strange, and unfortunately, many times are not accepted by the majority of society. This gives authors a way to shine a light on society’s flaws.
In the story The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman uses personal experience with a vivid fictional ending to accomplish her goal of informing her readers of feminist and social issues. Characters within the story are the narrator, who becomes known as Jane at the end; John, the narrator’s husband and physician; Jennie, John’s sister who becomes the typical housewife in that time to allow the narrator to rest; and Mary, who takes care of the baby. The narrator and John rent an estate in the country, which could also be looked upon as “a haunted house” (2) in the narrator’s eyes. Ever since the birth of their child, the narrator has developed a temporary nervous depression. John, being a high standing physician, feels the “rest cure” is exactly what she needs to help with her newfound depression, which restricts her emotions and does not allow expression, ultimately making it worse. However, with her husbands esteemed profession she blindly accepts what John recommends.