The Story Of An Hour And The Yellow Wallpaper Given What Is

The Story Of An Hourandthe Yellow Wallpapergiven What Is Known About

The Story of an Hour and The Yellow Wallpaper given what is known about the Victorian era, it is widely known that women were oppressed and held to a standard not seen in the modern-day world. The two short stories The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin articulate themes of what women may have went through in the era. Both stories are written by women who use a limited platform to shear an allegory that shadowed the oppression of all women. In spite of the fact the stories have the similar themes, they are conveyed in two different perspectives to the reader. Both use components of imagery, Symbolism, and Point-of-view to chronicle the overall themes.

Costa/Sample First Last ENC 1102 Professor Costa 03/03/2020 Comparison and Contrast Essay Women in the Victorian era were often oppressed by men, bending to their every will without giving it much thought themselves. This theme is expressed throughout the short stories The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin, and The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Both stories were written by women who each used their platforms to write an allegory that represented the oppression of all women. Although these two stories portray the same general theme, they vary on their writing techniques to get their messages across to the reader. Both stories use the elements of setting, imagery, and irony in different, and sometimes similar, ways to convey the overall theme.

The majority of both stories take place in just a single room of a house, which eludes to the idea that the time spent in that room determines if you will be able to overcome the oppression or not. In “The Story of an Hour" when Mrs. Mallard was made aware of the sudden and tragic death of her husband she broke into tears, but “when the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.” (Chopin, 179) Mrs. Mallard does not reappear out of her room until the very end of the story when she has already gone through her trial and change, having happily overcome her difficulties.

Similarly, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator is having symptoms of an unknown illness and is prescribed by her husband, who also happens to be a doctor, bed rest and isolation from people so that she could get the rest that she needed. This conflict in the story caused it to take place majorly in the narrator’s room due to them being confined and locked in there, solidified by the fact that the Costa/Sample “windows are barred” (Gilman, 217). The narrator refuses to leave her room until the very end of the story when she is absolutely forced to and has already gone through her trial and change, not being as fortunate as Mrs. Mallard in the other story because she had gone completely insane from her isolation in that room.

Another major element utilized by both authors is the use of imagery in both stories to help solidify the changes that the characters were going through. In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard stares out of her window and describes everything in perfect detail, such as “The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the caves. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.” (Chopin) The use of this imagery suggests that this is the first time Mrs. Mallard is able to notice these beautiful things because she is now free from her husband’s grip to do as she pleases instead of always listening to him. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman uses her imagery to have the very opposite effect on the narrator. The narrator immediately admits to the wallpaper being the worst she has ever seen before greatly going into detail about the wallpaper, stating “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide-plunge off at outrages angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions. The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight.” (Gilman) Unlike the positive effect on Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of an Hour”, the narrator was obviously very disgusted with the wallpaper and solidified that with the extensive description and vulgar interpretations of the wallpaper. Costa/Sample Irony was one of the biggest underlying elements of both stories, both authors taking full advantage of it to help build their plot. In “The story of an Hour” the reader is informed that “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble.” (Chopin, 179) which is later eluded to being false, she was just depressed from her current circumstances and was wrongly diagnosed by a male doctor. The reader and characters are also made to believe her husband has died, which is why she thought she was free, but at the very end of the story it is revealed that the husband was still alive and this ironically shocks Mrs. Mallard to death. Everyone blamed her death on her “weak heart” which is even more ironic because she didn’t have one, this drives the plot forward because it gets the point across that she was misunderstood the whole time and everyone including herself turned a blind eye to it. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman uses dramatic irony to let the reader in on the narrator’s oppression, but the narrator herself is totally oblivious to it.

Throughout the whole story John is telling the narrator what she can and can’t do, but the narrator keeps rationalizing his decisions, she solidifies this by saying “He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction.” (Gilman, 217) This use of dramatic irony makes the reader sympathize for the narrator and her unwillingness to stand up for what she wants because she thinks she is being taken care of. The overall theme of both stories was the oppression of women by men in the Victorian era, both of the stories achieving that goal through using elements of setting, imagery, and irony to advance the plot and deepen the meaning of their stories. Although the stories themselves are very different they do a very good job in using those three elements to get across the same moral in the story.

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The Victorian era was marked by strict social norms, gender roles, and systemic oppression of women, which greatly influenced literature of the time. Two notable stories, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," serve as powerful critiques of the societal constraints placed on women. Both authors, writing from a female perspective, utilize literary devices such as setting, imagery, and irony to portray the oppressive realities women faced, as well as their individual responses to these restrictions.

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is set predominantly within the confined space of a single room, symbolizing the physical and psychological imprisonment of women. Gilman describes the room in detail, emphasizing the barred windows and the oppressive wallpaper that dominates the space, reflecting the societal barriers and mental oppression inflicted upon women in Victorian society ("Gilman," 217). The narrator’s mental deterioration underscores the destructive effects of these societal constraints and her lack of agency. Gilman’s vivid imagery of the wallpaper, with its "dull enough to confuse the eye" and "revolting" color, symbolizes the narrator’s own suffocation and the toxic environment created by gender oppression ("Gilman," 217). Her obsession with the wallpaper eventually leads her to identify with the woman she perceives trapped behind it, a metaphor for her own entrapment.

Similarly, Kate Chopin’s "The Story of an Hour" is set in the household of Mrs. Mallard, primarily within her private space where she processes her feelings after receiving news of her husband's death. The story’s setting emphasizes her awakening to personal freedom, particularly through her observations of the outside world. She notes the "blue sky," the "patches of rain," and the "distant song," which symbolize her newfound liberation ("Chopin," 179). The imagery highlights her internal transformation—from grief to an unexpected sense of relief and independence—once she believes her oppressive marriage is over.

Both stories employ irony to critique Victorian societal expectations. In "The Story of an Hour," the irony lies in the fact that Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition is a misdiagnosis, and her death results from the shock of her husband's supposed survival. This situational irony emphasizes the oppressive nature of her marriage and how societal constraints ultimately overwhelm her ("Chopin," 179). Similarly, in "The Yellow Wallpaper," Gilman uses dramatic irony to expose the narrator's ignorance of her oppression; the reader perceives her mental decline and her identification with the trapped woman behind the wallpaper, while she remains unaware of the full extent of her confinement.

In conclusion, both Gilman and Chopin critically examine the systemic oppression of women during the Victorian era through their use of setting, imagery, and irony. These techniques deepen the narrative's impact and effectively communicate the profound struggles faced by women under societal restrictions. Though their stories differ in tone and specific narrative, they converge in their portrayal of the oppressive mechanisms that silenced women and the personal rebellions that emerged from those conditions.

References

• Chopin, Kate. (2016). The Story of an Hour. Backpack Literature, X.J. Kennedy, Dana Gioia, 5th Edition. Pearson.
• Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. (2016). The Yellow Wallpaper. Backpack Literature, X.J. Kennedy, Dana Gioia, 5th Edition. Pearson.
• Showalter, Elaine. (1985). The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and English Culture, 1830-1980. Yale University Press.
• Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. (1892). The Yellow Wallpaper. The New England Magazine.
• Chopin, Kate. (1894). The Story of an Hour. Vogue Magazine.
• Rich, Adrienne. (1976). Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Rubin, Gayle. (1975). The Traffic in Women: Notes on the "Political Economy" of Sex. In Rayna R. Reiter (Ed.), Toward an Anthropology of Women.
• Showalter, Elaine. (1990). Sister’s Choice: Tradition, Change, and the Female Voice. Vintage.
• Mitchell, Juliet. (1974). Woman's Estate: Independence and Sex Role. Harper & Row.
• Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. (1913). Women and Economics. Small, Maynard & Company.