The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin

1606 Words4 Pages

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...

... middle of paper ...

...s aren’t being exposed these negative feelings.

Works Cited

Josefsson, A., et al. "Temperament and Character in Women with Postpartum Depression." Archives of Women's Mental Health 10.1 (2007): 3-7. ProQuest. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

Kaya, Naz. Epps, Helen H. "Relationship Between Color And Emotion: A Study Of college Students." College Student Journal 38.3 (2004): 396-405. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.

Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell, eds. Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. Print.

Salmon, Marylynn. “The Legal Status of Women 1776-1830” NYC. The Gilder Lehrman 
Institute of American History, 2009-2014. Web. March 2014.

Wikipedia contributors. "Anti-miscegenation laws." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 6 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

Open Document