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The Influence Of Freedom In Literature

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Authors write stories sometimes based on their beliefs, despite conflicting influences like society or normalities of time. Because of this, their themes can be quite straightforward and based on the time period. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and Susan Glaspell's “A Jury of Her Peers,” the female protagonists have the craving for freedom from their state of living; this passion of freedom shapes their environment and influences on the people they love and on their own self. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” the main protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, suddenly realizes that she has the ability to be free after hearing the news of her husband’s death. This sudden epiphany causes the …show more content…

This so-called freedom leads Jane to become so obsessed with it that she loses control of what her subconscious wants her to believe what is real and false. She tells her thoughts and feelings in a diary or some type of book in which she keeps her mind’s voice, due to her actual voice being ignored and put aside by her husband. “I don’t know why I should write this. I don’t want to. I don’t feel able. And I know John would think it absurd. But I must say what I feel and think it in some way—it is such a relief! But the effort is getting to be greater than the than the relief.” (Gilman 5) This entry states that her voice is obviously being denied by her husband so she is desperate for someone to hear her, even if it’s the pages of her daily logs. With this, she also states her actual interacts with her husband to take record of how they go to give proof of her subjectification by even her spouse. “Dear John! He loves me very dearly and hates to have me sick. I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how I wish he would let me go and make a visit to Cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I wasn't able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there and I did not make out a very good case for myself, for …show more content…

With freedom, all three women could be able to express how they felt and thought without prejudiced and biased discrimination. In “The Story of an Hour,” the main protagonist longs for a sense of freedom when the news of her husband’s death impacts her emotions and thoughts, ironically, for the better. This longing becomes a desire; a desire which is so impactful that it overtakes her senses and thoughts. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” all Jane wants is to be free from her confinement away from her love, her freedom, her life. She wants to escape from the aliment which hangs over her. In “A Jury of Her Peers,” both Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale relate to the struggles Minnie Foster faced being oppressed during the time period as a woman and assist her live in freedom by saving her due to hiding evidence. All of the stories follow the theme of freedom and womens’ expressionism during this time period and their struggle to achieve bliss. All three stories use the same theme of freedom as a connection to women during this time period and their endeavours for their rights and

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The work is not yet complete, and is evident by looking at the domination of women throughout the centuries, specifically the 19th and 20th century, which was the height of the women’s rights movement. By analyzing two literary works from two different eras, “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the late 19th century and “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” written by Adrienne Rich in the mid-20th century, one can conclude that while there have been improvements to women’s rights, there is still discrimination prevalent. Although set in two different time periods, the main

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Authors, especially female authors, have long used their writing to emphasize and analyze the feminist issues that characterize society, both in the past and the present. Kate Chopin, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Susan Glaspell wrote narratives that best examined feminist movements through the unreliable minds of their characters. In all three stories, “The Story of an Hour”, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and “A Jury of Her Peers”, the authors use characterization, symbolism, and foreshadowing to describe the characters’ apparent psychosis or unreasonable behavior to shed light on the social issues that characterized the late 19th century and early 20th century. Penning many stories that demonstrate her opinions on the social issues of the era,

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Jane tells John, her husband, what she is feeling, but he does not listen to her and assumes everything is fine ( Gilman 527). John decides to ignore her feelings instead of trying to help her; this suggests that their relationship is not healthy. According to Suess, Jane also has an unhealthy relationship with the medical language. One of the reasons she feels this way is because according to doctors, there is nothing wrong with her health. Mental problems, such as depression, are issues men in the nineteenth century do not seem to be aware of (Suess).

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In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, both female protagonists are faced with opposing male forces that seek to control, undermine and take advantage of them. However, in the midst of the challenges and subordination they face from these dominant male figures, each protagonists independence is tested as they both strive to overcome these forces. Connie, the protagonist in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is a 15 year old, narcissistic teenage girl, searching for independence through her sexuality as she enters into the realm of adulthood. “Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home,” (Oates, 1).

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This differs greatly from Jane, who begins to sympathize with the plight of all domestic women through her experience with the woman behind the yellow wallpaper. Although she initially frowned upon the woman’s efforts to escape, the more her mental health deteriorated, the more she began to relate her plight to that of the trapped woman, both prisoners desperate for escape. With her newfound revelation, she sought to save the trapped woman from her prison, subconsciously freeing herself in the process. “As soon as it was moonlight and that poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern, I got up and ran to help her…I wonder if they all came out of that wallpaper as I did?… “I’ve got out at last,” said I, “in spite of you and Jane!

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