Naturalism In The Yellow Wallpaper And The Story Of An Hour

There came a time when a woman's role in society was predicted. They were “designed” to play the part of a wife and a mother. The “Cult of Domesticity” was the name of the ideology of feminine behavior. During the late 1800s, women began discovering that they weren’t being treated fairly. They deserved more than they were given and wanted their own agency. Therefore, they started writing in sanctioned publications to try and make a difference in a female’s role. “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin were created during that period. While the female protagonists in Chopin’s and Gilman’s short stories seemingly suffer unfortunate fates-- a characteristic of naturalism-- …show more content…
When she is told about her husband’s death she becomes upset about the tragic news. However, when she realized the freedom she is given, she “could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life… There were patches of blue sky showing here and there” (Chopin 1). She continued describing the window and what she saw beyond it. She was looking out for a fresh start of life. “New spring life” represented the beginning, “open Square” symbolized her freedom, and “blue sky” was her hope. She realized that believe that “there would be no one to live for her during those coming years” (Chopin 2). She gets to live her own life without her husband demanding everything and her having to obey what he commands. Other than Louise gaining her freedom, her feelings of her husband showed an act of feminism. She believed that whether her husband’s power over her was a “kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime” (Chopin 2). She did not want to give up her freedom in exchange for comforts, conveniences, and courtesies of life like other women did at that time. She knew that it was wrong to be treated the way her husband treated