Women in the late 1800s were given a career which was marriage. A career where women will stay home under the authority of her husband. A job that made women feel enslaved by men. They could not give personal opinions or speak out to the world. Women felt they would never be able to be something great because men prohibited it through their marriage. This sexual politics inspired writers to illustrate the problems married women faced in the hands of men. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Kate Chopin’s short story “The story of an hour” both manifests the idea that women’s oppression by men in marriage made it difficult for women to assert independence.
When reading the “ The yellow wallpaper” the reader notices that Charlotte Perkins Gilman does not give a name to the narrator. The purpose for this is to infer that a woman 's entitlement is given up when she gets married. Marriage in the late 1800s caused women to give up their last name, their property, and their voice. This is why john’s name is always mention throughout the story. He is the man oppressing the female narrator through his marriage by silencing her. John, “a physician of high standing”(345, Gilman), assures the narrator “that there is really nothing matter with one but temporary nervous depression” meaning the female narrator has depression and just needs rest. However, The narrator “disagrees with their ideas”(345,Gilman). She believes if women had “congenial work, with excitement and change”(345, Gilman) it would do every women good but then she realizes that “what is one to do”(345,Gilman). The narrator knows that her personal opinion in her marriage does not matter so she seeks her voice through her writing. The only problem is, John “hates to have [her] write a word”(346,Gilman), which shows that John owns her freedom of expression. Since she is not able to write ,the only hope for freedom of expression is “The Yellow Wallpaper.” At first she sees the yellow wallpaper as “ dull enough to confuse”(346,Gilman) the eyes because of its “unclean yellow”(346, Gilman) color but then she starts to see “so much expression in an inanimate thing”(347,Gilman). She not only sees a wallpaper but a woman trapped inside “as if she wanted to get out”(350,Gilman). She realizes that the woman inside the wallpaper is struggling in her world like she is. Which doesn’t make her feel alone since there are many women trying to get out to reach independence against men. The reader will note that the wallpaper helps her gain power to fight against John however the power won’t last forever . “John is so queer now”(353,Gilman) in the eyes of the narrator and wants to “astonish him”(354,Gilman) like the yellow wallpaper astonished her. Gilman allows us to show that the narrator is asserting some independence. She has “got out at last”(355,Gilman) and gained freedom from her marriage by pulling “off most of the paper”(355,Gilman) but at the sametime her fight for freedom is making her look insane. She no longer obeys John when he asks her to “open the door darling!”(355, Gilman). John won’t be able to silence her no more due to the fact that she has been freed from her world. Unfortunately the narrator 's reach for independence is just temporary. She will live her entire life in the hospital because she is “out of the world” meaning she is different and danger to a patriarchal society. The reader can assume that Weir Mitchell ,the specialist who actually treated Gilman,will treat the narrator with “rest cure”. Where men will advice her to “live as …show more content…
The oppression by men in their marriage caused them to never gain independence. They will never live a life full of freedom and become something great. Both Authors wrote the same idea about the sexual politics in their time to show the world that men oppressing women in marriage should stop. They believed if it didn’t stop women wouldn’t be able to declare women’s independence. Making them the same person as the narrator from “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Mrs. Mallard from “ The Story of an Hour”. The characters were Capable of having freedom but it was difficult due to man’s power within their
When reading the “ The yellow wallpaper” the reader notices that Charlotte Perkins Gilman does not give a name to the narrator. The purpose for this is to infer that a woman 's entitlement is given up when she gets married. Marriage in the late 1800s caused women to give up their last name, their property, and their voice. This is why john’s name is always mention throughout the story. He is the man oppressing the female narrator through his marriage by silencing her. John, “a physician of high standing”(345, Gilman), assures the narrator “that there is really nothing matter with one but temporary nervous depression” meaning the female narrator has depression and just needs rest. However, The narrator “disagrees with their ideas”(345,Gilman). She believes if women had “congenial work, with excitement and change”(345, Gilman) it would do every women good but then she realizes that “what is one to do”(345,Gilman). The narrator knows that her personal opinion in her marriage does not matter so she seeks her voice through her writing. The only problem is, John “hates to have [her] write a word”(346,Gilman), which shows that John owns her freedom of expression. Since she is not able to write ,the only hope for freedom of expression is “The Yellow Wallpaper.” At first she sees the yellow wallpaper as “ dull enough to confuse”(346,Gilman) the eyes because of its “unclean yellow”(346, Gilman) color but then she starts to see “so much expression in an inanimate thing”(347,Gilman). She not only sees a wallpaper but a woman trapped inside “as if she wanted to get out”(350,Gilman). She realizes that the woman inside the wallpaper is struggling in her world like she is. Which doesn’t make her feel alone since there are many women trying to get out to reach independence against men. The reader will note that the wallpaper helps her gain power to fight against John however the power won’t last forever . “John is so queer now”(353,Gilman) in the eyes of the narrator and wants to “astonish him”(354,Gilman) like the yellow wallpaper astonished her. Gilman allows us to show that the narrator is asserting some independence. She has “got out at last”(355,Gilman) and gained freedom from her marriage by pulling “off most of the paper”(355,Gilman) but at the sametime her fight for freedom is making her look insane. She no longer obeys John when he asks her to “open the door darling!”(355, Gilman). John won’t be able to silence her no more due to the fact that she has been freed from her world. Unfortunately the narrator 's reach for independence is just temporary. She will live her entire life in the hospital because she is “out of the world” meaning she is different and danger to a patriarchal society. The reader can assume that Weir Mitchell ,the specialist who actually treated Gilman,will treat the narrator with “rest cure”. Where men will advice her to “live as …show more content…
The oppression by men in their marriage caused them to never gain independence. They will never live a life full of freedom and become something great. Both Authors wrote the same idea about the sexual politics in their time to show the world that men oppressing women in marriage should stop. They believed if it didn’t stop women wouldn’t be able to declare women’s independence. Making them the same person as the narrator from “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Mrs. Mallard from “ The Story of an Hour”. The characters were Capable of having freedom but it was difficult due to man’s power within their