The Yellow Wallpaper Vs Story Of An Hour Essay

Women were always oppressed by men, leaving them to more subordinate roles in marriage. In the story Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Stetson and The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin, contains two married women that have expected roles towards their husbands.In the Yellow Wallpaper the narrator is forced to live in a nursery room her husband John believes will benefit her. His solution for her ‘sickness’ is bed rest, but he never lets her say how she feels about that. And, in The Story of An Hour, Mrs.Mallard , the wife of Mr.Mallard receives the news that her husband allegedly has passed away during a tragic accident, and she begins to mourn differently than someone would. They both viewed their husbands as superior, and felt restrained in their relationship, but during that time period this was a society norm.
First and foremost, the narrator in the Yellow Wallpaper views her husband as imperious only because he claims he is a doctor. When they had just moved into their new ancestral house, she tells him that she is starting to feel sick, and his solution is bed rest. According to the text, she states: “You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency - what is one to do?”(647-648). From this, it can be inferred that she feels as if she has no way to express herself. She has no saying in what she feels, because
her husband being a physician. Her husband John discords her and claims that is just a temporary depression as stated in the text. John being a physician gives him the authority to decide what is best for her, because of how society was when it came to men and women. He makes sure her friends and family don't worry much about her because her sickness isn't that of importance. When she constantly repeats “What is one to do?” shows that at that time women couldn't do anything but just obey their husband, and agree to what they say, especially if they had majored in something like a doctor. In addition, when John claims that she is significantly better she feels that she is not. The way he speaks to her signifies how at that time gender roles were entirely for men only. For example, the narrator says “ ‘Better in body perhaps-’ I began, and stopped short, for he sat up straight and looked at me with such a stern, reproachful look that I could not say another word. ‘My darling,’ said he, ‘I beg of you, for my sake and for our child's sake, as well as for your own, that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind! There is nothing so dangerous,so fascinating, to a temperament like yours. It is false and foolish fancy. Can you not trust me as a physician when I tell you so?’ ”(652). The narrator emphasizes to her husband that bed rest is not curing her at all, and instead making her worse. But, when she sees the way he looks at her, she doesn't say a word. This portrays that she is scared to step above her husband, and tell him what is right. During this time period, she was expected to go along with her husbands decision, because he’s the man. John tells her again that it's nothing to worry about and says it's a fancy for believing that she isn’t better. Kind of making her feel worthless because she has no way to express herself without her husband always making her think she is exaggerating. The narrator had no judgement in how she felt, making her feel trapped in her marriage with her husband John.
In addition, The Story of An Hour also portrays men in that time period were predominant. Mrs.Mallard is afflicted with a heart problem, and receives the news that her husband has passed away in a tragic accident, and she locks herself in her room to let out her feelings. But, the way she acts towards the news behind closed doors aren’t normal for a wife who just lost her husband. For example, she describes how her life would be now without him, “There would be no one to live for during these coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.”(Chopin). In other words, the author is expressing the way Mrs.Mallard would live her life, and claiming there would be no powerful will over her. It portrays Mrs.Mallard felt subdued in her marriage, and all she wanted was freedom. Also, when the author states that she would no longer feel the sense of men forcing a will upon her, it suggests that during that time period men were expected to be powerful towards women. Something the other characters don't realize when she locks herself in her room, is that she begins to reflect what life would be without her husband. Reflecting her upcoming years to be all about her, and for that moment, she felt free. Hence, when Mrs.Mallard decides to leave her bedroom and comes downstairs with a dreadful look in her eyes. She begins to see the door open, and out came in Mr.Mallard, her husband who apparently died. The narrator describes the tragedy caused by gender roles when the author says “When the doctor came they said she had died of heart disease-of the joy that kills.”(Chopin). The author may have chosen to include this scene because it shows some type of dramatic irony, that the characters believe she had died because of being overjoyed for seeing her husband alive. Seeing her husband walk in that door actually lead to her death because her heart couldn't bare seeing him alive and she couldnt feel free anymore. The character didn't understand her emotional pain she felt living with her husband. From her death, it is shown that many women during that society time period felt chained in their marriage. It can be inferred that men were too overpowering in marriage, causing pain to their wife.
Briefly, both stories reflected a woman's hidden perception of a man being superior towards them.
The narrator in Yellow Wallpaper viewed her husband as always dominant, and felt as if she wasn't able to have a say in anything. In The Story of An Hour Mrs.Mallard masking her emotions behind a closed door signified the predominance her husband had over her. No woman should be labeled as the weaker link, no matter how much education a husband
has.