What Is The Difference Between The Yellow Wallpaper And The Story Of An Hour

Women have been oppressed and have been struggling for freedom from patriarchy. They have tried to free themselves from the confinement in the domestic sphere that men have created for them. In the short stories, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonists, both female, experience similar situations in which they try to free themselves from their confining husbands. Both characters follow different paths to their freedom; one fights to get her freedom mentally, while the other acquires it momentarily through an accident. The authors pioneered the beginning of the feminist movement through their writing, portraying, through the stories, how both of their characters experienced
Both short stories, as previously mentioned, are set in the same time period, the late nineteenth century. Mrs. Mallard is probably a member of the middle class; she does not work because of her “heart trouble” (Chopin). Her sister cares for her, indicating that either they don’t have enough money to pay for a personal nurse, or that the husband dismissed her illness and did not think it was prudent to hire a nurse. Either way, Mrs. Mallard had a sickness that was not being treated properly. Just as the character from “The Yellow Wallpaper”; she had, what is now called postpartum depression, that was also not properly taken care of. However, this character was a member of the upper class, as mentioned in the story itself, the character goes on vacation with her husband and is still receiving maid service. In spite of the class difference, both women seem to live in the same conditions. Both had to pertain to the house, and since both were ill, they were mostly confined to a single room. That is to say, both women lived in a rather large area to be confined to a single room. From “The Story of an Hour”, the reader can conclude that Mrs. Mallard lived in a 2 story house, not much is said about it except that “she went away to her room alone” (Chopin) and “descended the stairs” (Chopin). Knowing this, the reader can see that Mrs. Mallard only assists in her room, this is the only place where
“The Story of an Hour” is told in a third person point of view. This type of narration helps the reader know Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts better. While Louise is battling her thoughts, she knows that “She had loved him” (Chopin), him referring to her husband, but she only “loved him – sometimes. Often she had not” (Chopin). Louise felt confined under his love, he did not let her do much and now that he was gone, she questioned the type of love she received “What could love…count for in face of this possession of self-assertion” (Chopin). The reader understands that Louise had loved her husband and that he had loved her, but his death created a turn moil in Louise’s mind, “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully” (Chopin). Louise receives a taste of freedom and lets her mind experience the new sense of liberation knowing her life belongs solely to her now. The reader can perceive something similar through the first person narration in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The narrator loved John, and knew John loved her, “He is very careful and loving” (Gilman), but it was the same type of love Louise experienced, “He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (Gilman). By using first person narration, the reader hears the character itself