Essay On Freedom And Self-Identity

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The Quest for Freedom and Self-Identity Women have struggled to gain freedom for centuries. While looking for freedom, finding self-identity in the world can also be a task. In these short stories “Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “A Jury of her Peers,” by Susan Glaspell explain the struggles of women such as freedom and having superiority in the world. In these stories, these female authors present characters such as Mrs. Mallard, Jane, and Minnie Foster to illustrate and highlight the importance of the idea self-identity as it relates to their freedom, both physically and psychologically; Even though these women had no authority in their household, nor did they have a voice for their self, they still expressed their concerns and self expressions toward this topic. In the “The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin portrays how Mrs. Mallard felt toward being unhappy with her husband Brentely Mallard and having no freedom to do what she wanted too. Mrs. Mallard, who had a heart condition, was presented with the news that her husband John was killed in a “tragic” train accident. Chopin states, “It was he who had been in the newspaper …show more content…

John’s wife expressed how much she hated and could not stand the room, but John did not hear of it. She eventually started to study and observe the wall, and this led to her obsession with the wallpaper. She found freedom in the wallpaper from John and started to enjoy herself finally. The more she studied the wallpaper the further her mental state went. During the day she slept well, but at night she crawled everywhere and started noticing figures and a person trapped in the wallpaper. She peeled every inch of the wallpaper off to free that woman, and by saving the woman trapped who was really her, she gained freedom once again and found her