Compare & Contrast Authors
Jarell Brown
Professor Tracy Grant
American Literature After 1865
AML2020 160791
America in the late nineteenth century was full of women poets who hungered for freedom of different sorts. Through journalism they were able to express their personal life issues or be the voice for the other women of America. Two phenomenal authors that we’ve studied were Emily Dickinson and Charlotte Gilman. Dickinson’s untitled poems & Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper both expressed their lack of freedom and provident injustices. While both Dickinson and Gilman were secluded from the outside world, Gilman is forcibly confined while Dickinson is confined involuntarily. Both writings basically have the same theme, but their messages are presented differently.
In Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper, she tackles women’s lack of freedom directly. This story shows the role women played in the 19th century. Men were of more value than women. The woman’s job was to be submissive to the husband. Although this unintended act was harmful to the women in this time, it also gave them power. Gilman’s story was from firsthand experience but she was also a voice to the women in that time as well. The choice that the main character’s husband chose to make in Gilman’s writing gives the reader a clear definition of marriage life as well as male power. He doesn’t give her a choice he does what he thinks is best. “There comes John, and I must put this away—he hates to have me write a word.” (509). John, her husband, intends to keep her comfortable and her mind not stressed. Although his intentions are good, this one example shows the reader the mindset of men and the role of women in this century. Gilman was known to have a “mental illness”. However, her writings expressed the current social conduct perfectly. Her confinement contributed to the theme of this story allowing the reader to clearly visualize the women of this century pain, agony, and desire for equal rights.
Emily Dickinson
Professor Tracy Grant
American Literature After 1865
AML2020 160791
America in the late nineteenth century was full of women poets who hungered for freedom of different sorts. Through journalism they were able to express their personal life issues or be the voice for the other women of America. Two phenomenal authors that we’ve studied were Emily Dickinson and Charlotte Gilman. Dickinson’s untitled poems & Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper both expressed their lack of freedom and provident injustices. While both Dickinson and Gilman were secluded from the outside world, Gilman is forcibly confined while Dickinson is confined involuntarily. Both writings basically have the same theme, but their messages are presented differently.
In Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper, she tackles women’s lack of freedom directly. This story shows the role women played in the 19th century. Men were of more value than women. The woman’s job was to be submissive to the husband. Although this unintended act was harmful to the women in this time, it also gave them power. Gilman’s story was from firsthand experience but she was also a voice to the women in that time as well. The choice that the main character’s husband chose to make in Gilman’s writing gives the reader a clear definition of marriage life as well as male power. He doesn’t give her a choice he does what he thinks is best. “There comes John, and I must put this away—he hates to have me write a word.” (509). John, her husband, intends to keep her comfortable and her mind not stressed. Although his intentions are good, this one example shows the reader the mindset of men and the role of women in this century. Gilman was known to have a “mental illness”. However, her writings expressed the current social conduct perfectly. Her confinement contributed to the theme of this story allowing the reader to clearly visualize the women of this century pain, agony, and desire for equal rights.
Emily Dickinson
Cited: Brundage, Matt. Roles of Women in the Nineteenth Century. 10 July 2011. 8 10 2012 <http://mattbrundage.com/publications/women-19th-century/>. Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008.