Two Similar Women of the 1800’s”
“Two Similar Women of The 1800’s”
During the time of the 1800’s women did not have many rights. Their main obligation in life was to marry young and take care of the house and the children, while the husband did all the physical things such as work and bring in an income. Women had very few rights during this time. It was almost like they were ruled by a man, that man being their husband. Although, in love with this man or just living the life of that era, they could not speak for themselves and were expected to live by the rules of the men they married. Women lived a very unequal unsatisfying lifestyle. In the stories “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of an Hour” both women are living very similar lives during the same era; lives of which were all but their own. Both of the women in these stories are characteristically the same, they both have wishes they were living lives of their own, both suffer from an illness developed by their husbands, and both women use parts of a room to symbolize their feelings.
The most powerful point of comparison between the women in the story’s “The Yellow Wall Paper” and “The Story of an Hour” is how both women are living lives that they did not truly want to live. The protagonist in "The Yellow Wallpaper" wants to write her own destiny literally. In the story Gilman states, “You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? If a physician of high standing and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—what is one to do?” (1). The narrator is tired of no one believing in her illness, she wanted to break free from this lifestyle, she was miserable and wanted nothing to do with this life any longer. She secretly kept a journal about the ways that she felt. Her desire to keep a diary was something that she did to help with her illness and boredom, but she could not let others know about her diary due to the prescribed medical
During the time of the 1800’s women did not have many rights. Their main obligation in life was to marry young and take care of the house and the children, while the husband did all the physical things such as work and bring in an income. Women had very few rights during this time. It was almost like they were ruled by a man, that man being their husband. Although, in love with this man or just living the life of that era, they could not speak for themselves and were expected to live by the rules of the men they married. Women lived a very unequal unsatisfying lifestyle. In the stories “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of an Hour” both women are living very similar lives during the same era; lives of which were all but their own. Both of the women in these stories are characteristically the same, they both have wishes they were living lives of their own, both suffer from an illness developed by their husbands, and both women use parts of a room to symbolize their feelings.
The most powerful point of comparison between the women in the story’s “The Yellow Wall Paper” and “The Story of an Hour” is how both women are living lives that they did not truly want to live. The protagonist in "The Yellow Wallpaper" wants to write her own destiny literally. In the story Gilman states, “You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? If a physician of high standing and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—what is one to do?” (1). The narrator is tired of no one believing in her illness, she wanted to break free from this lifestyle, she was miserable and wanted nothing to do with this life any longer. She secretly kept a journal about the ways that she felt. Her desire to keep a diary was something that she did to help with her illness and boredom, but she could not let others know about her diary due to the prescribed medical
Cited: Gilman , Charlotte. “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Boston, MA.: Small & Maynard,, 1899. eBook. Chopin, Kate. "The Story of An Hour". Vogue, 1894. eBook.