Similarities Between The Yellow Wallpaper And Trifles

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The stories “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Trifle” both depict suppressed female roles in society during the late 19th century. While both contain strong symbols of feminism the authors chose to go about presenting them differently. Both hammered on the topics that once a woman was married they seemed to lose all freedom. As well as both showing that women had extremely set roles in society.
The Yellow Wallpaper” starts with the narrator, a woman, having her claims dismissed by those who appear to be the most important men in her life. This makes her feel helpless because she is told by the men how her body is feeling which suggests that there are basically no decisions or input from the females of that time period. This suggest a very oppressive …show more content…

During this time men control much of what is happening and in the narrators position they even try to control her state of health. The narrator, as all women were, was discouraged from trying to expand out of what is viewed as her domain, because of this she feels as though she must accept when they put no value to her opinions. "John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage." This sentence proves the point and shows the dominant-submissive relationship not only occurring between our narrator and John, her husband, but most married women at that time
Trifles addresses a multitude of gender issues, while stressing that the oppression of women causes them to lose their identity as an individual after marriage. This is exemplified in the interactions between Mrs. Hale, the male characters, and Mrs. Peters. Where a married woman is often referred to as what she “used” to be. Using their husband’s last name as if they are no longer referred to by an actual name, an example being when the characters are remembering Mrs. Wright as who she used to be, Minnie

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