ipl-logo

Ethan Frome And The Yellow Wallpaper Comparison Essay

404 Words2 Pages

Ethan Frome and “The Yellow Wallpaper both have women as their main characters in the stories. In Ethan Frome the women’s names are Zeena Frome and Mattie Silver. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the women’s names are Jennie, Mary, and the anonymous narrator. Each of the characters have their own unique traits and different personalities, but they also have many similarities. Each of the women play very big roles in their stories, and they are portrayed in different ways. Let’s start with Ethan Frome. The women in Ethan Frome are two completely different people with different personalities. They are both portrayed in two completely different ways. Mattie is portrayed as a women who everyone envisions a women being, sweet, caring, helpful, and very nice. Zeena is portrayed as someone who’s always depressed and mad about everything, she’s crazy, sickly, jealous, and controlling. Both of the women are portrayed in two completely different ways. Mattie's personality contrasts with that of Zeena. Mattie is not demanding, she doesn't complain. She is healthy, happy, and pretty. She is full of life and always in a good mood. Zeena is silent, secretive, and observant. When she does speak, it is to voice either a want or a criticism. …show more content…

The narrator is portrayed as a young, upper-middle-class woman, newly married and a mother, who is undergoing care for depression. Jennie is portrayed as a regular housewife who happily assumes all the traditional duties of a housewife. Mary is portrayed as a regular nanny hired to take care of a child. Mary takes care of the narrator and John's baby. This story is about control and attacks the role of women in society. Women are expected to take care of their children, keep the house and do only as they are told. The author of this story suggests otherwise. The author implies that women can do a lot more and combined with men can contribute to

Show More
Related
1032 Words | 5 Pages

Leah, is one half of the set of twins and was almost like the perfect golden child, who was also intelligent. Leah was the one who mostly supported and followed her father, she also brings the tomboy side, with hunting aspects and wanting to hangout and do what the males do. Rachel’s perspective throughout was selfish and privileged. Rachels chapters are filled with complaining and comparisons to her old life in Georgia and when she gets older she is still all about the luxurious lifestyle and puts herself in front of others while throwing out racial slurs. Next, Adah, she was Leah’s twin and the disabled one people overlooked, when in actuality, she was so smart she could read and write backwards.

Read More
1488 Words | 6 Pages

She exists as an intriguing, unconventional, yet assertive mother figure in a free maternal space, loving and caring for Hannah, Plum, Sula and many other motherless

Read More
941 Words | 4 Pages

Freedom has been defined by many as an individual who is not being enslaved or imprisoned by a third party and having the power to speak, act, or think on their own accord. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, she uses the literacy elements such as imagery and symbolism in order to convey the theme of the significance of self-expression and the freedom to do so. The narrator, whose name may or may not be Jane, in the short story is confined to a single room in a large house after her husband, a respected physician, orders her to rest as much as possible. As she is isolated, she establishes a desire to self-express and develop her mind in any way. Writing is specifically off limits and John cautions her a couple of times that she must use her self-control to restraint her imagination, which of course, the narrator eventually succumbs to insanity due to the repression of her imaginative influences.

Read More
1459 Words | 6 Pages

“Christine insists that an author take full responsibility for every word written”(Delaney 324). Christine supports that women are strong and active in the society building a good relationship with other individuals including their family. Christine disproves the fact that women should not be staying home all day doing house chores rather they should go out and work just as

Read More
464 Words | 2 Pages

This narrative demonstrates the expected position of women in society. Today, women have a very different role in society than they did a century ago. Now, it is common to see mothers and wives who are professionals, working for the government or in public service, and at the same time fulfilling their role in their homes. This is a result of a reformation that took place in the 19th and 20th centuries, where women whose only task and purpose was to be in the house craved for more opportunities in

Read More
1248 Words | 5 Pages

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator is suffering from postpartum depression. The narrator 's husband John, who also happens to be her physician, prescribes the rest cure to help lift his wife of her depressive state and ultimately heal her depression. However, the rest cure does not allow the narrator to experience any mental stimulation. Therefore, to manage her boredom the narrator begins obsessing over the pattern of the yellow wallpaper. After analyzing the pattern for awhile, the narrator witnesses a woman trapped behind bars.

Read More
330 Words | 2 Pages

The article is written by Emily Orlando is about how women in society want more income than what they are getting to buy things for themselves and family, but society wants them to do things differently. Society wants women to go back home and have them to be housewives. Edith Wharton said: “women can go and have a career that they love and that no men or society can tell them not to (740)”. Women have a choice to stand up for themselves. Women can go out and have a job to support their family.

Read More
802 Words | 4 Pages

“The Yellow Wallpaper” Literary Analysis The “Yellow Wallpaper” is a iconic short story written by Charlotte Perkins, a famous feminist author. The novel takes place the 19th century and deals with the issue of how women dealt with mental health issues, specifically postpartum depression. Back in the 19th century the way physicians dealt with women 's mental health was much different then it is today, back then they believed that the cure for depression was solvable by isolation and rest. As a result many women suffering from postpartum depression were forced into isolation which only made their situation worse. Jane; the narrator of the short story, is one of these woman forced into the rest treatment by her physician husband.

Read More
947 Words | 4 Pages

Miss Mary serves as a motherly figure to the narrator, Miss Mary represents safety and comfort to the narrator because she gave the narrator housing and food without immediate payment. Miss Mary represents the good in the narrator life while he is in the north, bringing a sense of family and structure to the narrator’s life. 41. The narrator feels alienated for he has “lost his sense of direction,” the narrator’s mentality has been broken which causes him to feel dissociated from society.

Read More
1006 Words | 5 Pages

Right after the dish breaks, Ethan said that Zeena would have to blame it on the cat. In chapter 7, Ethan blames the cat which caused Zeena to “turn her eyes to Mattie” (Wharton, chap 7). This could also mean that Zeena blames Mattie for breaking the dish and relationship. In chapter 6, Ethan gets the glue to fix the dish. Symbolically it could mean that he found a plan or a way to fix his relationship.

Read More
848 Words | 4 Pages

“Generally, men are socialized into believing that their essential role in life is to work outside the home and provide for the family while women are taught that their main role is to be homemakers” (Akotia and Anum 5024). The breadwinner is normally thought of as a man, but Lena puts a twist on that gender role. “You the head of this family. You run our lives like you want to” (Hansberry 1948). Lena breaks the gender role

Read More
738 Words | 3 Pages

Both Zeena and Ethan have varying responses, however both showing some commitment to repair their union. In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton utilizes a broken pickle dish, to represent the views of espousement, and the representation of their varied human actions. Ethan and Zeena Frome’s marriage represents a union based on obligation rather that love. Throughout the story, Ethan is a weak and submissive husband under the control of a domineering wife.

Read More
527 Words | 3 Pages

Early in the story, Before she begins to change, Mary Maloney is a sweet, loving housewife. Mary Maloney, the kind-hearted wife, is 6 months pregnant. She waits every night for her husband. She always makes sure his whiskey and water is set out and everything is perfect.

Read More
819 Words | 4 Pages

She's naive and really doesn't seem like theres a thought going through her head that isn't about love and who she will marry. While I know this is typical of a telenovela protagonist, she really isn't a person I care for so much. She basically does whatever her mother tells her and then cries about it. I don't like how she is portrayed. There was one point when they had her say something intelligent and kind but that was very short lived.

Read More
1208 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the course of history, gender roles have been depicted by our society. We’ve been told how we should behave, the choices we should make, and the ways we should live our lives. As a result, it becomes prominent that we as individuals often allow the opinions and views of others to affect the decisions we make. For example, women were expected to be in charge of child - care and daily household responsibilities. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that women started working and becoming breadwinners along with their husbands or in some cases by themselves for their families.

Read More

More about Ethan Frome And The Yellow Wallpaper Comparison Essay

Open Document