In the late 1800’s, Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote two famous short stories that explored a woman’s mental state. The first is called ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and it has to do with a woman going mad after being forced to stay inside her room by her husband. The second story is called ‘The Story of an Hour,’ and it tells the story of a woman who goes into shock when she learns that her husband died in a train crash. While both stories have very different plot points, they both explore the idea of women being oppressed by men and how they respond to their newfound freedom after a tragic event occurs.
Although ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ was written a few years before ‘The Story of an Hour’ there are some subtle similarities that can be discussed in terms of critical analysis. The most obvious similarity between these two stories is how they emphasize on what happens when women experience freedom from oppression for the first time. In ‘The Yellow Wallpaper,’ this comes in the form of going mad while in ‘The Story of an Hour’ it is a period of shock that follows the experience. The only difference between these two events, however, is how long they last for each character.
In ‘The Yellow Wallpaper,’ this freedom from oppression comes to a tragic end as the woman goes mad and never recovers whereas in ‘The Story of an Hour,’ Mrs. Mallard dies giving her this sigh of relief from oppression. In addition to the similarities described above, both stories also share very similar settings as well. For example, in both stories the main characters are all alone at home with nobody else around to bother them throughout their entire ordeal other than a doctor who visits once or twice to check up on what is going on.
Unlike ‘The Yellow Wallpaper,’ the story of Mrs. Mallard in ‘The Story of an Hour’ starts off with two major differences that can also be used as points for critical analysis. The first difference is that it takes place in a confined setting where she is stuck inside her house because it has just started storming outside. Secondly, there are no men present throughout this short story which could open up to many discussions about how important they are to each respective plotline.
For example, without Mr. Mallard around to oppress her, Mrs. Mallward was finally free from her marriage and could have done whatever she pleased without being imprisoned by him or anyone else who had authority over her. However, after she hears the news of his death by train crash, she dies from shock which shows that even someone who was free from oppression was not safe without it. The author believes that both stories are well written because they explore how women react to freedom in different ways and what happens when society tries to take this freedom away. Both stories could be adapted into movies or plays because of their interesting plotlines about women overcoming oppressive situations.
To conclude, the author believes that these two short stories should be read at least once by every person because they have so much insight on how women are viewed by men in different societies around the world. Criticism: The article is mostly descriptive with only a small amount of analysis added for this section. The article should be rewritten to include more critical analysis and less descriptive information. This will allow for a better understanding of the point the author is trying to get across.
? “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story written by the famous American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The protagonist in this story, who goes unnamed throughout it, finds herself suffering from postpartum depression, which was referred to as puerperal insanity at that time. After being advised by her doctor to take some rest and avoid any strenuous activities, she moves to an old country house. She is obsessed with the idea that there is something in the room that follows her around when nobody is looking, which sets into motion paranoia and hallucinations of shadows moving behind the walls.
On the other hand, “The Story of an Hour” is a short story written by Kate Chopin. The protagonist in this story, Mrs. Mallard, finds out through a telegram that her husband had died in a railroad accident while on his way to see her. Although she feels joy because of this event at first, after finding out from another telegram that he was alive but badly injured, she has a heart attack and dies immediately afterwards. In these two short stories, the characters go through a range of emotions from joy to panic.
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the protagonist is going through a pretty intense mental breakdown because of her postpartum depression and fear of being watched by something in her room at night. Although she was initially happy when she found out that she would have to take some time off from everything to rest and recover, this did not last long as paranoia set in along with hallucinations about shadows moving around the room.
In “The Story of an Hour,” Mrs. Mallard also goes through a strong emotional rollercoaster ride after finding out that her husband has been killed in a train accident while on his way to see her. At first, she is quite happy about this event but then suddenly has a panic attack and dies after finding out that he was alive (although badly injured). Both stories end with the protagonists dying of emotional trauma. However, there are some similarities and differences between these two works.
They both involve death at the end; however, Mrs. Mallard’s death is very sudden while the protagonist in “The Yellow Wallpaper” slowly slips into insanity before finally succumbing to it herself. The women suffer physical ailments as well as mental ones; however, only one suffers a direct impact from a physical ailment because of her postpartum depression. The other story does not involve any physical ailment or medical condition though.
In conclusion, although the protagonist in “The Yellow Wallpaper” goes through a much more intense emotional rollercoaster than Mrs. Mallard does in “The Story of an Hour” because of her postpartum depression and paranoia, there are some similarities between these two characters. Specifically, they both go through similar ranges of emotions, suffering physical ailments as well as mental ones at the end. However, only one suffers directly from having a physical ailment while the other does not.
