Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper And Story Of An Hour

The stories of the Yellow Wallpaper and Story of an Hour are both stories that have deep meaning, and many hidden symbols. In both stories there is a woman who in some way is oppressed by some outside force and must find a way to overcome this oppression. While in both stories the main charcter goes through a different ordeal, The main theme behind these events are the same and the two experiences can compare to eachother. the events match in both women we oppressed by men and portrayed

as the weaker sex, both the woman find a way to cope with the situation, and both stories have a tragic and ironic ending.

The first aspect both stories have in common is the fact that both of the women are oppressed by a man in their life.“The Yellow Wallpaper” provide valuable insight into the ways in which Gilman\\\\\\\'s story chronicles how women have been socially, historically, and medically constructed as not only weak, but sick beings.\\\\\\\"(Suess pg.86) In The Yellow Wallpaper the main charvter Jane is going through post pardum depression, but in the time period in which the story takes place this illness was not know. There for the husband feels that she is not fit to take care of herself and locks her in the attic to portector her. In the case of The Story an Hour, the reader never Intinaly does not know that the husband of the story is oppressive. Yet it becomes apparent

to the reader after the husband is thoguht dead and Mrs. Mallard has a chance to think about it. \\\\\\\"When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: \\\\\\\"free, free, free!\\\\\\\" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright.\\\\\\\"(Chopin) She is happy to hear about her husbands death, which leaves the reader with the feeling that in some way she was held back by the husband. In this story as well the woman is portrayed

as a weak charcter as soon as the story begins there is a statement; \\\\\\\" Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband\\\\\\\'s death.\\\\\\\"(Chopin) Not only because

she is woman, she also has a heart problem and would not be able to cope with the news.

Althoguh both women are now in diffcult position, they both find a common ground or a way to deal with their problems. In the case of The Yellow Wallpaper one critism stated \\\\\\\"Even if Jane does not consciously recognize the socially oppressive character reflected by the physical pattern of the wallpaper, her observation that “I fancy it is the pattern that keeps her so still” indicates her awareness of the futility of any attempt made by the woman in the wallpaper, or herself, to receive any relief, understanding, or satisfaction from this oppressive Order.\\\\\\\" (Suess pg.86) He comes to realize that the answers she is looking for she will not be able to find being trapped in the room. Just as the woman she now sees trapped in the wallpaper can not be happy in there. In The Story an Hour however, Mrs. Mallard takes a different approach to dealing with her current situation. After the death of her husband as mentioned before she is relievef and states that she is now \\\\\\\"free.\\\\\\\" The way she begins to deal with the situation is that she realizes that she can now live her life for her. unlike Jane the answers she was looking for came in the form of her husbands death. This is appapent when she feels, \\\\\\\"There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she