The Inequality In Kate Chopin's A Pair Of Silk Stockings

Throughout the course of history, inequality has always been a wall that prevented the evolution of society. But as mankind fought for equality, gender is no longer a key element that can deprive people from their rights. This, however, did not occur abruptly; on the contrary, people, notably women fought to gain basic rights and engage in their community. Writers such as Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman talked about the hardships Women faced in the late 1800s to erase their status as lower than that of men. In Silk Stockings by Chopin, she reveals the story of Mrs. Sommers and her struggles to balance between temptations and responsibilities. On the other hand, Gilman talks about a woman going through mental illness and her attempts

to escape from reality. In both stories, the authors talk about the characters suffrage from internal conflicts and the oppression of society against women.

They, however, interpret the response to this oppression differently.

Both characters suffer from internal conflicts. In “A pair of Silk Stockings" By Kate Chopin, Mrs. Sommers struggles and constantly attempts to find a balance between her family life, her responsibilities inside the house and her personal satisfaction and selfish pleasures. For instance, at the end of the story, she finally gives in to her greedy temptations thus, making her personality take a major turn. She becomes a self- centered and egocentric woman to whom money is a central motif.

Chopin writes: "She wanted an excellent and stylish fit, she told the young fellow who served her, and she did not mind the difference of a dollar or two more in the price as long as she got what she desired". Furthermore, Mrs. Sommers inner conflict is whether to spend money on herself or on her children. Prior to being married and having children, she was able to lavish herself with nice things so when she gets money for the first time in a while, she debates on how to spend it. For example the author writes: ‘’the question of investment was one that occupied her greatly. For a day or two she walked about apparently in a dreamy state, but really absorbed in speculation and calculation.’’ Although she goes out to shop for her beloved children, she ends up spending the entire amount of money on herself. This goes to show that the temptations of the outside world were too big to ignore. Likewise, the unnamed narrator of the yellow wallpaper suffered from an inner conflict. She desperately tries to express her own opinion to her husband, but she ends up being overruled every time. In other words, her husband’s choice not to believe her or take her seriously results in her repression. Her internal struggles in the story may not be as prominent as Mrs. Sommers but it definitely plays a major role in the development of events. For instance, Gilman writes in regards of the narrator’s struggles: “I am glad my case is not serious! But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.” Therefore, throughout both A pair of Silk Stockings and the Yellow wallpaper, the authors expose the inner conflicts and emotional struggles women had to go thought during the 1800s.
Furthermore, both characters are prisoners of a confining and restraining society. They live within a patriarchal, institutional framework that only expects from women to bear children, take care of their homes and do as they are told. It is indisputable that both stories serve to highlight the oppression that women faced in the 1800s, during the Cult of Domesticity. For instance, Mrs. Sommers faces a strict routine that involves around fulling her family’s needs inside an enclosed domestic sphere. She doesn’t give much attention to her personal needs and desires in a society that cherishes and respects the wealthy and denies the poor. She’s obviously living a tough reality where she feels oppressed. Chopin says: “ the needs of the present absorbed her every faculty”. Similarly, the unnamed narrator of the Yellow Wallpaper faces oppression, not only by her husband but by all members of society such as doctors and siblings. In fact, her fight against patriarchy and oppression ends up leading to a mad tormented soul. For example, No one really helps the narrator overcome her post-partum depression. Instead, she is left to fight it on her own which drove her even further into insanity. She felt trapped and desperately craved freedom and peace of the mind. In the story, the narrator reveals her desire to break free from her husband repression yet she finds herself unable to take action. “I sometimes fancy that in my condition, if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad.” Thus, both stories emphasize the oppression and restrictions women had to face during the Cult of Domesticity.
In addition, each woman responds to the oppression of society differently.

Mrs. Sommers is clearly a feminist. She decides not to conform to society`s standards and break free from submissiveness and restricting beliefs. She follows the temptations of the outside world seeking a more respectable and honorable position in society. She indulges in life’s material pleasures without thinking of the consequences of her behavior. She dreads going back to her old mundane life under the pressures of poverty so she chooses to temporarily escape from the responsibilities of a rather common, miserable existence to enjoy some of the finer things in life and let go of society’s expectations of a wife and mother. Chopin writes : “She was not thinking at all. She seemed for the time to be taking a rest from that laborious and fatiguing function and to have abandoned herself to some mechanical impulse that directed her actions and freed her of responsibility.” Therefore, Even though it only last for a day, Mrs. Sommers was finally able to escape her tough reality to a better life where she doesn’t have to worry about money. Contrastingly, the unnamed narrator of yellow wallpaper failed to escape her confining society. Instead, she dove deeper into depression and madness which comes to prove that society’s norms and close-minded beliefs can destroy someone’s life. For instance,

the author describes the narrator insanity: “‘I’ve got out at last,’ said I, ‘in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!’ Now, why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time!” As a result, both Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman displayed the response of every character towards oppression and whether they were able to break free from submissiveness or not.
In both The Yellow Wallpaper and A pair of silk stockings, the authors expose the characters’ suffrage from internal conflicts and the oppression of society against women. They also showcase their response to this oppression. In the 19th century, women saw the inequality in society and answered sought for justice, resulting in the ratification of the 19th Amendment giving them a voice in government and allowing them equality in education. Today, the fruits of their victory are apparent everywhere in society.