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Compare And Contrast The Yellow Wallpaper And Trifles

840 Words4 Pages

Amylyn Ja. De Paz-De Paz
Professor Blanchard
American Literature II: ENG-232-830CH)
02 March 2023
An Analyzes of the Narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Mrs. Wright of “Trifles” Literature holds an infinite amount of works with similar themes, and an example of this is “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Trifles.” These stories deal with the historical oppression of women and how detrimental it was to their health. Both stray away from the traditional happy ending and focus on how certain decisions can lead to detestable results. The authors of the stories, Susan Glaspell and Charlotte Perkins Stetson, could be interpreted to have written these pieces to fuel feministic ideals by displaying the adverse impact power dynamics in gender had on their …show more content…

It is safe to say that both stories came out around the same time, and this explains their similar undertones of historical context. This period was plagued with a lack of information regarding isolation and women’s mental health. This is particularly seen in “Trifles” when the male investigators fail to see the motives behind the murder and undermine Mrs. Wright’s condition and abilities as “foolish” concerns over trifles. Unlike their wives, they were not able to see the toll thirty years of isolation had on Mrs. Wright’s mental health despite their professional titles―Sheriff and Attorney. Similarly, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” John, a doctor, displays his lack of knowledge of these topics in the way he handled his wife’s condition, post-partum depression. Additionally, his reaction to his wife’s final episode demonstrates he did not anticipate her condition to worsen to the degree it did based on the extended treatment of withdrawal he had prescribed. These outcomes reflect that these men should not have been entrusted to dictate women’s health and that women should have been given the power to state what they knew they …show more content…

These norms are revealed when the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” remarks, “one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency - what is one to do?” (pg. #). The narrator of this story did not have a voice and surrendered all the power to make decisions to her husband, even when they regarded her solely. In “Trifles,” it is not stated explicitly that Mrs. Wright gave up her power; however, based on her living conditions one can imply at some point, she gave up her power to her husband since prior she was described to be a jovial social butterfly, and now she exhibits the opposite. John and Mr. Wright also suffered from giving their wives little to no power―John fainted out of terror and Mr. Wright was murdered. The surrender of power not only hurt the women but the men, so this disparity is not one-sided and impacts

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