Compare And Contrast The Yellow Wallpaper And The Story Of An Hour

"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin is a short story in which the main character, Mrs. Mallard, becomes excited at the idea of a new life of freedom after being given the news of her husband's death. In "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins, the narrator is forced to stay in her room by her husband due to some illness. Both of these stories were written and set during the late 19th century. This is a time period in which women did not have many rights and their voices were not heard. In both stories, the main characters love their husbands but at the same time, they feel repressed by them. Towards the end of both of these stories, both main characters get a taste of freedom from their marriage, only for it to be taken away by their

husbands.

Both "The Story of an Hour" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" are set during the late 19th century.

This is an era in which women were considered fragile and in which husbands believed they knew what was best for their wives. "The Story of an Hour" takes place in the home of both Brently and Louise Mallard. While "The Yellow Wallpaper" takes place over several days, "The Story of an Hour" takes place within an hour. Due to Mrs. Mallard's heart condition, she is confined to the house. The limited time frame of this story could reflect how Mrs. Mallard feels trapped in her life and in her marriage. The entire story takes place within the Mallard household, with the majority of the story taking place within Mrs. Mallard's room. On the other hand, the narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is confined to only her room. She wishes to leave the room and spend some time outside. John, who is both her husband and a doctor, arrogantly believes he knows what's best for his wife and completely disregards anything the narrator says. On top of this, he treats her like a little girl and this shown when he says, "What is it, little girl?" (Gilman 159), when he says walking around the room at

night.

In "The Yellow Wallpaper" the narrator's husband treats her like a child.

This backed up by the fact that the room he confines her in use to a nursery. Although the narrator does love her husband and tries to convince herself that he is trying to what's best for her, whenever she expresses herself, he completely disregards her opinion. This leads to a bit of resentment within the narrator towards her husband as she feels she can't express herself and has no control over her life. In "The Story of an Hour", Mrs. Mallard admits that while she did love her husband, she is still excited by her newfound freedom when she processes the news that he has died in an accident. She had come to view his death as the beginning of her new life unrestrained by someone else. This is shown while she is in her room and starts to think that "There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature" (Chopin 101). Like John from "The Yellow Wallpaper", Brently believed that he knew what was best for his wife and confined her to the

house.

In "The Yellow Wallpaper" the narrator is confined to only a single room within a much larger house by her husband. The yellow wallpaper in her room and the woman that the narrator sees behind it symbolizes how she feels. She feels like she is trapped just like the woman she sees trapped behind the yellow wallpaper. The narrator feels trapped since her husband does not allow how her to do many things due to her illness. Most importantly he does not allow her to write in her journal. This takes away from her a way of expressing herself and the narrator chooses to disobey him by secretly writing in her journal. Towards the end of the story, she feels liberated once she "helps" free the woman behind the wallpaper and the story ends with her having gone insane. In "The Story of an Hour", Mrs. Mallard is confined to her house by her husband due to her heart condition. When she receives news that her husband has died in an accident, initially she does grieve over his death. However, she comes to realize that she is now free to live her own life. Even though she is by herself, she tries to fight the joy that she feels of her newfound freedom. She begins to imagine a new life of freedom, "Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own" (Chopin 101). However, that was all taken away when Brently arrives safely home and she receives a heart attack at the realization that the freedom she dreamed of has disappeared

Being set in the late 19th century, both of these stories show what would be considered a normal marriage at the time. However, both Mrs. Mallard and the narrator for "The Yellow Wallpaper" feel repressed by their husbands. Since they both suffer from some kind of illness they are confined to their homes by their husbands since their husbands believe that they know what is best for their wives. Both of these stories have a bittersweet ending for the main characters, as Mrs. Mallard realized that her husband is still alive and the narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" goes insane.