Comparative Essay
Olivia Burns
Mrs. Cavallin
ENG 4U1
24 March 2013
Throughout history, there has been several incidents revealing how males can be superior to females. Males have been recognized to sometimes have an upper hand over women, because they may be better than them in some aspects. Some men, take advantage of this by belittling women. Dominant male roles can often be found in relationships, particularly marriage. Excellent examples of this can be found in the short stories “Celebration” by W.D. Valgardsen, and “Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gibson. Both authors create dominant male characters, showing how husbands are superior to their wives. This creates hierarchy and therefore puts women below men, forcing them into a secondary role to the point where they have no control over themselves.
The husbands in both stories play controlling roles, which belittles their wives. In “Celebration”, Eric takes full control in the relationship. He makes decisions for her, revealing the fact that he has the upper hand. Both Eric and Mabel love to drink alcohol. Eric refuses to give Mabel more alcohol, deciding the rest would be solely for himself: “Mabel and he had shared the first half but then, seeing how quickly it was being used up, he had decided to keep the rest for himself.” (Valgardson 60). He denies her having anymore, proving his word overrules hers. Their little house depended on heat from their fire place. Mabel asked Eric if he would go get more logs so they could keep the fire going, but he refuses and makes her do it: “Get it yourself.” (Valgardson 61). He forces her to get the wood by herself, revealing that he does what he pleases, and Mabel listens to him. Her role isn’t seen as much of a wife, rather than someone who just does what he says. As she goes to retrieve the wood, Eric locks her out in the freezing cold conditions: “A shadow obscured the light, then a board covered the hole and she knew that Eric was barring the window with a
Mrs. Cavallin
ENG 4U1
24 March 2013
Throughout history, there has been several incidents revealing how males can be superior to females. Males have been recognized to sometimes have an upper hand over women, because they may be better than them in some aspects. Some men, take advantage of this by belittling women. Dominant male roles can often be found in relationships, particularly marriage. Excellent examples of this can be found in the short stories “Celebration” by W.D. Valgardsen, and “Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gibson. Both authors create dominant male characters, showing how husbands are superior to their wives. This creates hierarchy and therefore puts women below men, forcing them into a secondary role to the point where they have no control over themselves.
The husbands in both stories play controlling roles, which belittles their wives. In “Celebration”, Eric takes full control in the relationship. He makes decisions for her, revealing the fact that he has the upper hand. Both Eric and Mabel love to drink alcohol. Eric refuses to give Mabel more alcohol, deciding the rest would be solely for himself: “Mabel and he had shared the first half but then, seeing how quickly it was being used up, he had decided to keep the rest for himself.” (Valgardson 60). He denies her having anymore, proving his word overrules hers. Their little house depended on heat from their fire place. Mabel asked Eric if he would go get more logs so they could keep the fire going, but he refuses and makes her do it: “Get it yourself.” (Valgardson 61). He forces her to get the wood by herself, revealing that he does what he pleases, and Mabel listens to him. Her role isn’t seen as much of a wife, rather than someone who just does what he says. As she goes to retrieve the wood, Eric locks her out in the freezing cold conditions: “A shadow obscured the light, then a board covered the hole and she knew that Eric was barring the window with a