Story Of An Hour Comparison
Similarities In The Yellow Wallpaper and The Story of an Hour The stories “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman even though they have two very different plots are very similar in their themes and messages. In both stories, the women are being oppressed by their husbands and find ways to deal with it as well as being portrayed as weak and inferior and they both of their minds play tricks on them by making them hallucinate. Louise and the narrator from The Yellow Wallpaper both are being oppressed by their husbands in their relationships because the husbands are in control of their lives instead of the women themselves. In Louise's case when she gets the news that her husband died in a
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train wreck her initial reaction is shock and grief. But as she sits and thinks she realizes that she is free from her marriage and no longer being controlled by a man. She realizes that “there would be no one to live for her” (Chopin 288) and “ no powerful will bending her.” (Chopin 288) meaning that her husband would no longer be over her life and making decisions for her and that it is now all on her.Before the news of her husband's death, he had control over her soul and her body which is why she repeatedly whispers “free! Body and soul free!.” She is free from “Domestic confinement” (Mavis Chia-Chieh 29) and can now live the life that she’s been “secretly yearning for.” (Mavis Chia-Chieh 29) With The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is being oppressed by her husband in an unintentional way. He thinks that he is helping her with her depression and that everything that he is doing is in her best interest. He oppresses her first by not allowing her to choose the room that she stays in. The narrator says that her husband, John, “would not hear of it.” (Gillman 2) so she has no say in the room, only her husband. He also does not allow her to write even though she enjoys it and he does not allow any visitors in her room. Although he does not realize it, he is adding to her depression by keeping her away from things she wants to do and enjoys and controlling everything in her life. Both Mrs.Mallard and the narrator are both depicted as weak both physically and mentally. The first sentence in The Story of an Hour starts with “Knowing that Mrs.Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble” which already takes a role in symbolizing that she is the weaker one in the relationship, especially considering that her husband was probably on train back from work when it supposedly crashed while she was at home. Not to mention that she is a woman and is already viewed as the weaker sex. The narrator from The Yellow Wallpaper is also depicted as weak in a mental sense because she has postpartum depression and also is the “weaker” one in her relationship because she is a woman and because her husband, John, takes care of her. Even though the narrator is John's wife he does not treat her like an adult, but instead he constantly “speaks of her as he would a child, calling her his “little girl” and saying of her, “Bless her little heart.”” (Hudock) which also makes her look weak. Even though the evidence is very slight in both stories they very much have the symbolism as well as dialogue to show and give the impression that the women are weaker. The women's minds also both played tricks on them and made them see things that were not really there.
In both cases what they were seeing was symbolism for an aspect of how being in the relationship with their husbands made them feel. In Story of an Hour once Louise Mallard knows the news about her husband she sits in a chair facing the window and stares into the blue sky. As she is sitting there something comes to her, it was “too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, scents, the color that filled the air.” (Chopin 288) The thing was coming to “possess” her and because she attempted to fight it away I am lead to believe that it was a hallucination of her husband and his dominating persona, also because once she stops hallucinating she began to whisper the words “escape” and “free.” In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is a perfect example of “of a housewife gone mad.” (Hudock) Because the narrator is trapped in this room that her husband put her in and will not let her leave, her hallucination is a woman that is trapped in the wall. The woman is a representation of her and she feels in the room as well as her marriage. She says the woman tries to escape the wall but the patterns are too difficult to escape. She also says the woman in the wall “takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard” (Gilman 9) because she wants to be set free just like the narrator. And after she pulls all the yellow wallpaper off the wall she writes ““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! ”” (Gilman 11) because the woman was a reflection of her and is no longer trapped so neither is
she. The stories are very much alike in the situations and the women dealing with and responding to them. Both stories also show how the women were depicted as the weaker sex and that the male was the one in charge and how the women did now like the feeling of being controlled and dominated by their husbands.
train wreck her initial reaction is shock and grief. But as she sits and thinks she realizes that she is free from her marriage and no longer being controlled by a man. She realizes that “there would be no one to live for her” (Chopin 288) and “ no powerful will bending her.” (Chopin 288) meaning that her husband would no longer be over her life and making decisions for her and that it is now all on her.Before the news of her husband's death, he had control over her soul and her body which is why she repeatedly whispers “free! Body and soul free!.” She is free from “Domestic confinement” (Mavis Chia-Chieh 29) and can now live the life that she’s been “secretly yearning for.” (Mavis Chia-Chieh 29) With The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is being oppressed by her husband in an unintentional way. He thinks that he is helping her with her depression and that everything that he is doing is in her best interest. He oppresses her first by not allowing her to choose the room that she stays in. The narrator says that her husband, John, “would not hear of it.” (Gillman 2) so she has no say in the room, only her husband. He also does not allow her to write even though she enjoys it and he does not allow any visitors in her room. Although he does not realize it, he is adding to her depression by keeping her away from things she wants to do and enjoys and controlling everything in her life. Both Mrs.Mallard and the narrator are both depicted as weak both physically and mentally. The first sentence in The Story of an Hour starts with “Knowing that Mrs.Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble” which already takes a role in symbolizing that she is the weaker one in the relationship, especially considering that her husband was probably on train back from work when it supposedly crashed while she was at home. Not to mention that she is a woman and is already viewed as the weaker sex. The narrator from The Yellow Wallpaper is also depicted as weak in a mental sense because she has postpartum depression and also is the “weaker” one in her relationship because she is a woman and because her husband, John, takes care of her. Even though the narrator is John's wife he does not treat her like an adult, but instead he constantly “speaks of her as he would a child, calling her his “little girl” and saying of her, “Bless her little heart.”” (Hudock) which also makes her look weak. Even though the evidence is very slight in both stories they very much have the symbolism as well as dialogue to show and give the impression that the women are weaker. The women's minds also both played tricks on them and made them see things that were not really there.
In both cases what they were seeing was symbolism for an aspect of how being in the relationship with their husbands made them feel. In Story of an Hour once Louise Mallard knows the news about her husband she sits in a chair facing the window and stares into the blue sky. As she is sitting there something comes to her, it was “too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, scents, the color that filled the air.” (Chopin 288) The thing was coming to “possess” her and because she attempted to fight it away I am lead to believe that it was a hallucination of her husband and his dominating persona, also because once she stops hallucinating she began to whisper the words “escape” and “free.” In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is a perfect example of “of a housewife gone mad.” (Hudock) Because the narrator is trapped in this room that her husband put her in and will not let her leave, her hallucination is a woman that is trapped in the wall. The woman is a representation of her and she feels in the room as well as her marriage. She says the woman tries to escape the wall but the patterns are too difficult to escape. She also says the woman in the wall “takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard” (Gilman 9) because she wants to be set free just like the narrator. And after she pulls all the yellow wallpaper off the wall she writes ““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! ”” (Gilman 11) because the woman was a reflection of her and is no longer trapped so neither is
she. The stories are very much alike in the situations and the women dealing with and responding to them. Both stories also show how the women were depicted as the weaker sex and that the male was the one in charge and how the women did now like the feeling of being controlled and dominated by their husbands.