The Life Taking Effects Of Suppression In The Story Of An Hour And The Yellow Wallpaper

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The Life Taking Effects of Suppression
Balls, formal dinners, and social gatherings dominate people’s view of the nineteenth century. Upper-class women lived a life of splendor and grandeur, and the white, gentle hands of those women hardly lifted to do any work. Most would strive to attain such a life because of its outward appearance; however, masked behind the smiles and parties, suppression ran high. Men dominated their households, and they repressed their wives. Life did not live up to the expectation of many women as they struggled against the controlling and authoritative male figures in their lives.
The same holds true for the women in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. These stories delve into the life of two different, but similar nineteenth century women. Through the women 's differing relationships with their husbands and the suppression presented by their husbands, internal conflicts emerge. The two leading females experience repression from their husbands in their daily routines. Throughout her life, Mrs. Louise Mallard, from “The Story of an Hour,” had continually bent her will to that of her husband’s. In the past, she had no choice in what she did, so she found her husband’s death liberating. However, her joy did not last …show more content…

In both stories, the husbands fulfilled their expected role as the head of the household. Unlike, “The Story of an Hour,” a deeper and more complicated relationship exists in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” John dictated what his wife did, but he did this out of pure love, and in turn a greater sense of mutual love and empathy existed. John based all of his precautions and decisions on his wife’s recovery, and the narrator submits to John’s will because she does not want to “make him uncomfortable” and trouble him. This mutual concern for the other does not arise in “The Story of an

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