Essay On Differences Between The Yellow Wallpaper And The Story Of An Hour

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Recommended: Position of women in societal literature

Throughout history, women have had to continuously fight for their rights and equality in society. Women have fought to separate themselves from their controlling husbands, fought to become independently accepted and have fought to create their own destiny. Within their short stories, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin address this search for freedom and independence. Chopin’s publication of “The Story of an Hour” in 1894 was not far behind Gilman’s publication of “The Yellow Wallpaper” in 1892. During this time period, women were starting to fight for more social rights and social equality. Both stories analyze the social standards of this time and the oppression of women by men. “The Story of an Hour” symbolizes a woman who wishes …show more content…

When comparing, Chopin would have made the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” a more rational person who could clearly see that she needed to escape from her husband. Chopin’s style is more realistic than that of Gilman’s. Chopin would not of had that crazy and elaborate scenario of a woman trapped behind the wallpaper. She also would not of had blurred lines between reality and fantasy because that would be irrational. Gilman’s style was giving her characters a blurred clarity when presenting them. Likewise, Gilman would have made the narrator in “The Story of an Hour” suffer from more of a mental illness than a physical one. Gilman would do this because she went through her own depression in reality and it reflects into her writing style. According to Deborah M. De Simone, Gilman suffered from a nervous breakdown once she was married and forced to assume a traditional wife role. (De Simone). This clarity given to the characters is what makes the narrators so different from each other. The narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is hesitant while the narrator in “The Story of an Hour” is strong in the fact that she recognizes that she needs her

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