Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” both focus on the feministic ideas and struggles of women through the use of irony and symbolism to help channel their message towards the audience.
Both stories take place in the late 19th century, a time when women were oppressed and thought of to be below men. The main characters of each story, which are women in both, feel trapped their “illnesses”. Jane, the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, had a metal disorder which caused her to start going insane when she saw herself in the wallpaper as the story progressed. Mrs. Mallard, the main character of “The Story of an Hour,” had heart trouble which lead to her death and the end of the story.
But their illnesses …show more content…
In “The Story of an Hour,” Josephine, sister of Mrs. Mallard, is worried about Mrs. Mallard locking herself in her room crying about the death of her husband and is making herself “ill” in the process of crying over him. But when in reality she's actually in there foreseeing how wonderful her life's going to be now without her husband controlling her. And in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” John, Jane’s husband, is a physician and his wife's condition worsens under his “care”. He also does not approve of his wife's writing because, he says, writing might worsen her illness by her mind wandering so much. Although Jane thinks that her mental condition is improving, it is actually worsening. After seeing the woman in the wallpaper, she says, “I’m feeling ever so much better! I don't sleep much at night, for it is so interesting to watch developments; but I sleep a good deal in the daytime."(Gilman)
“The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” both focus on struggles of women through the use of irony and symbolism to help convey the characters’ perception of reality. And their perception of reality was so altered and influenced by their illnesses, which ultimately caused them to pass on or to go insane, that it became reality
Both stories take place in the late 19th century, a time when women were oppressed and thought of to be below men. The main characters of each story, which are women in both, feel trapped their “illnesses”. Jane, the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, had a metal disorder which caused her to start going insane when she saw herself in the wallpaper as the story progressed. Mrs. Mallard, the main character of “The Story of an Hour,” had heart trouble which lead to her death and the end of the story.
But their illnesses …show more content…
In “The Story of an Hour,” Josephine, sister of Mrs. Mallard, is worried about Mrs. Mallard locking herself in her room crying about the death of her husband and is making herself “ill” in the process of crying over him. But when in reality she's actually in there foreseeing how wonderful her life's going to be now without her husband controlling her. And in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” John, Jane’s husband, is a physician and his wife's condition worsens under his “care”. He also does not approve of his wife's writing because, he says, writing might worsen her illness by her mind wandering so much. Although Jane thinks that her mental condition is improving, it is actually worsening. After seeing the woman in the wallpaper, she says, “I’m feeling ever so much better! I don't sleep much at night, for it is so interesting to watch developments; but I sleep a good deal in the daytime."(Gilman)
“The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” both focus on struggles of women through the use of irony and symbolism to help convey the characters’ perception of reality. And their perception of reality was so altered and influenced by their illnesses, which ultimately caused them to pass on or to go insane, that it became reality