Story Of An Hour Realism

In the late 19th century, women were not treated equally by men and they played a different role in society than what they do today. There are many stories that can help us depict somewhat of what life was like in that time period using a literary device known as realism. Realism is correctly portrayed in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, written by Charlotte Perkins, and “The Story of an Hour”, written by Kate Chopin, which depict real life situations and reality. In both of these short stories, the women are both tied down by their husbands, and their thoughts and ideas are considered to be absurd by men. Also, the authors use these stories to describe scenarios that they once found themselves in. The illnesses that the women faced during this time

The men always thought they knew best and they would often laugh and scoff when the women would try to voice their opinions. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator tries to explain to her husband that the summer house they are living in is not helping her condition and that it needs to be renovated, but he does not take her seriously. Instead, John replied that “the place is doing you good and really, dear, I don’t care to renovate the house just for a three months’ rental”(Perkins 772). John was not listening to his wife at all and she wasn’t even getting better, but he told her she was. The men did not pay attention to any of their wives concerns and they would often let the woman know what they were saying was nonsense. The narrator 's tone when she states that “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in a marriage” would cause one to think that the way they were treated, like a child, was normal for this time period (Perkins 768). Also, the men didn’t want the women working too hard. One might think this seems like it would be great, but in reality it wasn 't that much fun just sitting around at home all day. The reader can see this when the narrator tries to write her daily journals, but she has to do it in a sneaky way so her husband will not catch her doing so. John disapproved of his wife writing her thoughts down in journals, because he did not think it would help her get better. Additionally, the husband 's constantly felt like their wives weren 't happy with something and if they wanted something fixed, it was the husband 's job to do so. The reader learns this when John mentions that “after the wallpaper was changed it would be the heavy bedstead, and then the barred windows, and then the gate at the head of the stairs, and so on”( Perkins 772). This demonstrates realism because women during this time were truly looked down upon by the men and the author