The Role Of Women In The Scarlet Letter And The Yellow Wallpaper?

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Society creates standard rules that create a barrier between the male and female roles. In most cases, the male comes out on top as the superior breadwinner of the family, while the women stay home and perform the role of the housewife. Therefore, women are limited to having one perspective and do not experience the outside. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman illustrate how the American woman define the limits and experiences a woman has. Initially, the American woman has a position that does not change; thus the women must accept the role. However, both Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter and the unnamed narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” establish the condiment women face, unable
For Hester Prynne, she is known for wearing the scarlet ‘A’ on chest, as the unnamed narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is defined by the yellow wallpaper in the room she is locked in. The symbols that represent these women exemplify the American felinity because it defines their role in society. Both Hester and the unnamed narrator represent their roles as trapped women based on the symbols they embrace. The scarlet ‘A’ for Hester Prynne and the yellow wallpaper for the unnamed narrator signify how society assigns certain roles to the American women; thus society expects the women to perform. Therefore, society traps the American women based on their roles and initially have no way to escape. Hester and the unnamed narrator only know their roles they are given, and have no outside
The narrator’s isolation establishes her limited experience or knowledge outside the room. This illustrates the lack of abilities the American women can perform outside of the box. Nonetheless, the narrator suffers because she is no one understands her position. Initially, she has no proper position that stands her apart from the house; therefore, she becomes part of it. In comparison to Hester Prynne, the narrator does not find a place in society because no one accepts how she feels and how she acts. Thus, Hester and the unnamed narrator establish how society is the one who pushes the separation between the American women and

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