Men treated women as second class citizens in society during the early 1900s. Even with the oppression of women in society in this time, many women have struggled to expand their roles, and acquire additional rights. From my perspective, the authors of these stories are indirectly trying to tell us how much oppression the women have been through during the time. “The Thing on the Doorstep” is a short story about a woman, Asenath, who is not in control of herself because her father, Ephraim, possesses her body after he is deceased. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story about a woman who suffers from mental illness. The woman, Jane, was controlled by her husband, John, who told her what she should do during the day and prevented her from doing …show more content…
The roles played by women in both “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Thing on the Doorstep” reveal a pattern of social oppression. As a result, it becomes apparent that both authors include a theme of the woman being treated as children or as helpless in comparison with men. Both stories show that women were held as second class citizens for much of the early 1900s. The two stories do have an interesting difference, Asenath 's domination is internal, accomplished by possession of her body by a male figure, her father Ephraim. This could possibly be a symbol for many women 's own self-defeating thoughts. Jane is forced into submission by a domineering husband, symbolizing a more external force, perhaps representing the outside powers that exert control over women 's place in society. In modern times, you can see that women 's rights have improved significantly since the beginning of the 1900s. For example, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, there have been many more opportunities for women to make progress in education, jobs, and in achieving the right to vote. To break the chains of the oppression of women, we need to be aware of what women are capable of doing, and realistically accept that they can be as successful as men in all areas