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Compare And Contrast The Yellow Wallpaper And The Story Of An Hour

1279 Words6 Pages

Analyn Bernaix
Mrs. Korando
American Literature
20 April 2023
Short Story Essay In “The Story of an Hour” the story that Kate Chopin wrote resembles that of her mother Eliza Faris. In both stories, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the characters were controlled by their husbands. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the Narrator’s husband keeps her on a strict schedule for her medicine and daily routine. He thinks that the Rest Cure is going to work for her and her postpartum depression, but he isn’t listing to the needs of his wife. The cure doesn’t make her better, but it makes her go crazy because she is always alone and not allowed to work or do any of the things that she enjoys. In …show more content…

In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the Narrator tore off the wallpaper which was making her go even more insane. Her husband had always told her that there was nothing wrong with the wallpaper and she was fine, but the wallpaper made her feel like she was trapped behind it and she started to see things in the wallpaper. For her to get better she knew that she was going to have to go against the orders of her husband because what he was suggesting for her treatment was just making it worse.He also wouldn’t listen to her because he thought that he knew what was best for her. The narrator states, “‘I’ve got out at last,’ said I, ‘In spite of you and Jane! And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!”’(Gilman 17). This shows that the Narrator finally took it upon herself to do what was best for her and not let other people make those decisions for her. In “The Story of an Hour” she was happy when she found out that her husband had passed because he was very controlling of her and was living her life for her. The narrator states, “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long”(Chopin 3). This shows that after her husband had passed she finally thought about living a long joyful life. Overall both of these Women went against society's standard for how they were supposed to deal with depression and grief because they …show more content…

At the end of “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator’s husband faints and dies from the shock of coming to see what his wife had done to the room. When he died the narrator started to creep all around the room. By the end of the story, she had gone crazy and lost all sense of herself. She truly felt that she was trapped in the wallpaper and by tearing it down she was freeing herself in one way or another. Gilman states, “Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time!” (Gilman 17). This quote shows that she finally escaped and is freed from her husband and his control. Some people would argue that she didn’t win, but I think that she did because she tore down the wallpaper that was making her trapped and got away from her husband that wouldn’t believe her. At the end of “The Story of an Hour,” Louise dies when her husband walks through the door. She was free and finally living her life for a few days when she thought that he had died. Chopin states, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills” (Chopin 3). This quote shows that she wanted to be free and her heart couldn’t stand living a life of misery after she had the last few days of freedom. They both got the freedom that they have always longed

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The narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the main character in the short novel. She is a young newly married mother in the upper middle class who is very imaginative. The narrator is going through a stage of depression and believes the house they have temporarily moved into is haunted. What the narrator is actually experiencing is called Postpartum depression, depression suffered by a mother following childbirth. This illness can arise from the combination of hormonal changes, psychological adjustment to motherhood, and fatigue.

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"The Story of an Hour ' ' by Kate Chopin and "The Yellow Wallpaper ' ' by Charlottle Perkins Gilman are short stories about women in the late 1800 's. In "The Story of an Hour" the woman is living in the city, her husband has gone off to work, she has a heart condition, and she has believed he was dead. The husband appears and she dies because her chance at freedom is lost. While "The Yellow Wallpaper" is in a country house on vacation. She is forced to play sick and is told she must rest by her husband and doctor. As a result she moves into madness believing the wallpaper has come alive.

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The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Stetson were both written by women to express how they were treated in their time period. Both of these stories were criticized because they challenged the belief that a woman should not be just a docile wife. These two pieces of literature utilized symbolic imagery, repetition, and dramatic irony to convey the common theme shared that women are opressed by the standards of society. In Chopin's Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard sees the outside world through the only window in her room.

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The narrator is a woman who is imaginative trying to make her mind think and realize the meaning of the yellow wallpaper. She describes the wallpaper as, “repellant, almost revolting; smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow turning sunlight” (Gilman 641). This specific wallpaper makes the narrator feel a certain way. At first, she does not like the color or how it looks. But then not having anything else to do in the room, she starts examining the wallpaper.

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Secondly, throughout the story, the narrator describes seeing an evolving woman trapped inside of the wall. Although readers can assume that this woman is merely a product of the narrator’s mind, the woman can also be seen as a symbol of the narrator and her feelings of being trapped. Eventually, the woman in the wall aids the narrator in her escape. In conclusion, many elements of the narrator’s increasing madness throughout The Yellow Wallpaper contributed to her freedom from the confines of the room, the confines of society, and the confines of her

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Apart from the mental battle she experiences throughout the story, Louis from Story of an Hour is also trying to come to terms with her independence and what that means for her as a person now that she is free from the constraints of her husband. When she first hears the news of her husband's accident, she is in the process of grieving, but as she continues to come to terms with his death, she also starts to feel a sense of relief which is what causes her to have conflicting feelings and a sense of guilt. The joy that turns out to be more "monstrous" than Louise seems initially to think possible, and the resulting emotional strain brought about by her new understanding of her marriage and her supposed sudden freedom from that marriage. “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!"

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In the short story of “The story of an Hour”Kate Chopin wrote a story about a lady who had heart trouble and found out that her husband died. She grieved over him but found a new light at the end of the tunnel. She felt independent and free. Then suddenly her husband walks in the room and she realizes he is alive.

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"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin is a moving and thought-provoking short story that makes readers question what they think they know about marriage, freedom, and the role of women in society. The story, which came out in 1894, is about a woman named Louise Mallard. When she hears that her husband has died, she suddenly feels free and happy, but her dreams are quickly ruined. Chopin looks at the complicated and often conflicting emotions that come up when someone is faced with the chance of a very different future through the eyes of Louise. In this research paper, I'll look at the themes and ways of telling a story that Chopin uses in "The Story of an Hour" and think about how they show how she felt about the social and cultural norms of her time.

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The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story full of imaginative symbolism and descriptive settings. However, without the narrator’s unique point of view and how it affects her perception of her environment, the story would fail to inform the reader of the narrator’s emotional plummet. The gothic function of the short story is to allow the reader to be with the narrator as she gradually loses her sanity and the point of view of the narrator is key in ensuring the reader has an understanding of the narrator’s emotional and mental state throughout the story. It’s clear from the beginning of the story that the narrator’s point of view greatly differs from that of her husband’s and other family in her life.

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(678) in this statement she is challenging herself and this shows the reader she is facing some confusion. The yellow wallpaper in the main characters (the narrator) bedroom is a major point in the story. The yellow wallpaper plays a major role in the woman’s insanity. The woman’s obsession with the wallpaper creates her problem and affects her mind and judgment. This is shown in, “It dwells on my mind so!”

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"The Story of an Hour" was written by Kate Chopin, an American writer that was best known for her short stories following the lives of sensitive women, in 1894. "The Story of an Hour" is set in the late nineteenth century in the Mallard residence, the genre being considered that of "modern feminist literature." The story starts off by introducing Mrs. Mallard and the heart disease that she has. It is also revealed that her husband, Mr. Mallard, had been killed in what was to be a railroad disaster and because of her weak heart they wanted to break it to her gently. In "The Story of an Hour," Kate Chopin addresses the theme of death through the character Louise Mallard.

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In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin readers realize how the main character, Louise Mallard, shows how she is joyful while gaining her independence after a tragic accident. The hysterical crying, continuously staring out the open window, and having heart trouble are key symbols throughout the short story. Chopin’s title of the short story is spot on as well. She is quick to the point and describes all the events during the short story that are covered in only an hour time. “The Story of an Hour” is introduced by readers learning that Louise Mallard has heart trouble.

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Louise’s victory in accepting her husband’s death is a feeling that she now cannot live without. The ultimate death of Louise Mallard is one that represents physical and emotional defeat. In this dramatic short story, Chopin uses imagery to sew together a tapestry of emotions all encompassed in an ill-stricken widow. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.”

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The yellow wallpaper is not just the dreadful décor the narrator is stuck within the story but the most important symbol in the story. It symbolizes how women were not allowed to change or free to make their own decisions. The narrator once said that the wallpaper "sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it" (Gilman). She felt like the wallpaper stuck and not able to succumb to change she demonstrates this as well when she says "The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out" (Gilman). The narrator herself became the women she saw in the wallpaper that she felt trapped in a life without change which manifested itself into the wallpaper further increasing the symbolism and importance of yellow wallpaper.

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Kate Chopin is the author of the most popular short story "The Story of an Hour". Chopin paints a bleak picture of marriage in this story. It is a short story focusing on a young married woman of the late nineteenth century as she reacts to the news that her husband has died in a train accident. The story was written in a time period when women did not really have right to express their feeling and desire. Women were supposed to stay home and take care of the family whereas the husbands went out to work.

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