Comparison of Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper
analytical Essay
1214 words
Society continually places restrictive standards on the female gender not only fifty years ago, but in today’s society as well. While many women have overcome many unfair prejudices and oppressions in the last fifty or so years, late nineteenth and early twentieth century women were forced to deal with a less understanding culture. In its various formulations, patriarchy posits men's traits and/or intentions as the cause of women's oppression. This way of thinking diverts attention from theorizing the social relations that place women in a disadvantageous position in every sphere of life and channels it towards men as the cause of women's oppression (Gimenez). Different people had many ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities amound women, including expressing their voices and opinions through their literature. By writing stories such as Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic that took a major toll in American History. In this essay, I am going to compare Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” to James’ “Daisy Miller” as portraits of American women in peril and also the men that had a great influence.
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, “The yellow Wallpaper”, the main character is used as a symbol to express the feeling of all the oppressed women in her time. Most of the women had no voice and were enslaved by “masculinist” ideas and a cult of domesticity (Gilman 685), which would explain why the main characters name was never mentioned in the story alluding to the fact that the women of her era simply lacked their own personal identity. Her husband and brother, who were both Physicians, treated ...
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...en at Daisy’s age did. She was a very rebellious young woman who thought she could take on the world. She broke free from cultural norms and lived her life as she pleased. Although Gilman’s character was stuck in a world of illusions, it is easy to say that Daisy was also stuck in this fantasy world by ignoring repressive attitudes from everyone around her. Today women are still fighting for total equality but I’d say since then we have come a long way in improvements.
Works Cited
Perkins, Geroge, and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature. 12th ed. Vol. 2. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print
Gimenez, Martha E. "Capitalism and the Oppression of Women: Marx Revisited." Science & Society 69.1 (2005): 11-32. ProQuest Central. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
In this essay, the author
- Compares gilman's "the yellow wallpaper" and james' "daisy miller" as portraits of american women in peril and the men that had a great influence.
- Analyzes how the main character in charlotte perkins gilman's "the yellow wallpaper" is used as a symbol to express the feeling of all the oppressed women in her time.
- Analyzes how daisy, the main character in the story, is intrigued by a handsome american named winterbourne because of her frivolity and independence.
- Opines that women are still fighting for total equality but we have come a long way in improvements since then.
- Analyzes how the woman behind the wallpaper is the main character in henry james' short story, daisy miller.
- Analyzes how daisy's reckless behavior and flirty nature caused her to become an outcast but she refused to change her ways.
- Explains that perkins, geroge, and barbara perkins. the american tradition in literature.
Related
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- A Comparison of The Yellow Wallpaper and Daisy Milleranalytical essaySociety continually places specific and often restrictive standards on the female gender. While modern women have overcome many unfair prejudices, late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century women were forced to deal with a less than understanding culture. Different people had various ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities, including expressing themselves through literature. By writing a fictional story, authors like Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James were given the opportunity to let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that society places specific and often restrictive standards on the female gender. late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century women were forced to deal with a less than understanding culture.
- Analyzes how the main character in charlotte perkins gilman's short story, the yellow wallpaper, is a symbol for all repressed women of her era. she recognizes this as nothing beyond the normality, and accepts it as what her society deems standard.
- Analyzes how the woman turns her attention to the hideous yellow wallpaper that lingers on the walls of the room she stays confined within.
- Analyzes how women dealt with the inequality in other ways, such as denying the standards and simply building your own rules. daisy miller was a flirtatious american girl who was spending time overseas in europe.
- Narrates how daisy announced to her italian acquaintance, mrs. walker, that she was leaving alone to meet a romantic interest of hers, and when they discovered that the man was mr. giovanelli, warned her against doing so.
- Narrates how daisy's reckless behavior and flirtatious nature became the talk of the town, but she refused to let it change her course of actions.
- Analyzes how charlotte perkins gilman's character created a twisted image of the world in her mind, and eventually became mentally insane.
- Analyzes how james' character did what most rebellious young american women would do: she broke free from cultural restrictions and lived her life as she pleased. women of today are still fighting for equality, but have authors of the past to thank for the improvements they made.
954 wordsRead More - The Yellow Wallpaper Essayanalytical essayDue to many male-dominated marriages in the early 19th century, some attitudes toward women were viewed as weak second-class citizens who were deprived of self-expression and individualism. In the short story The Yellow Wall-paper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman unbinds the limited roles women had in their marriages. She reveals that these women were subjected to their husbands because they were seen as vulnerable and over emotional during this time. Gilman creates an unnamed female character that is diagnosed with hysteria by her husband and physician, John. He believes the best way to cure her case of hysteria is to stay contained in her room without stimulation of any kind, which could further worsen her condition. In a secret journal she keeps
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how charlotte perkins gilman unbinds the limited roles women had in their marriages. she creates an unnamed female character diagnosed with hysteria by her husband and physician, john.
- Analyzes how the narrator's subordination to her husband is emphasized by the degrading diction and details seen throughout the story.
- Analyzes how john doesn't realize how serious his wife's sickness is getting and never connects with her on any of her feelings or needs. his mentality is fading faster the more he fails to help her.
- Analyzes how the restrictive imagery portrayed throughout her sickness depicts that she is literally trapped inside of her room. the vivid image of the yellow wallpaper illustrates an even larger disturbance in her mind.
- Analyzes how gilman's depiction of the woman in the wallpaper resembles her struggle to break free of this inequality in her marriage and to achieve her self-expression.
- Analyzes how charlotte perkins gilman created a piece that aimed to illustrate women's needs for self expression and the misunderstandings of women made by men in the 19th century.
1006 wordsRead More - Feminismanalytical essayLargely throughout the history of the United States of America, women have been intimately oppressed by their spouses in collusion with a patriarchal society. The Realist literary period saw no exception to this oppression of women. The Realist period, which lasted approximately from 1865-1910, involved many injustices on women, women’s rights, and equality. Males were supreme to females throughout this period, and women were denied many basic freedoms, including the right to vote. Women were regarded as frail, unequal, and inferior. However, the marginalization of women in this period did not go without protest. Women began to have an active voice on issues pertaining to their own rights as the end of the Realist period neared. Headways into women’s rights were made in this period around the turn of the century. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman chronicles the oppression and deteriorating sanity of Jane, who is being confined in a room by her physician and husband. This story is critical in telling of the oppression and subordination of women to their husbands throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin depicts a frail woman, who dies after a fright from her husband, who she believed was dead. The Awakening by Kate Chopin details the life of Edna Pontellier, who seeks individualism and life away from the control of men. Edna Pontellier assists in representing the audible and vociferous women’s rights movement that arose towards the end of the 19th century. American women in the Realist literary period encountered three elements that defined their societal status: oppression, inequality, and activism.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the realist period, which lasted approximately from 1865-1910, involved many injustices on women, women's rights, and equality.
- Analyzes how the real-life mechanisms of jane's confinement represent the large-scale societal confinements women endured in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Analyzes how kate chopin's "the story of an hour" depicts women as scheming, but yet frail. louise finds happiness in her husband’s death taints the image of women.
- Analyzes how kate chopin's the awakening portrays edna as a rebellion against the societal norm of women submitting to the will of their husbands.
- Analyzes how the awakening as a novel is one rallying cry for feminist activism. the predicament at plymouth shows that women's equality is still an ongoing, yet diminished issue.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the word female has had countless meanings throughout its lifespan. it has only been in the last 70 years that women have gained a foothold in society.
- Analyzes how gilman witnessed the harsh effects that men can have on women. she became subordinate to the man's world and became a stilted housewife.
- Analyzes how gilman's "the yellow wallpaper" was her way of explaining the confinement and isolation she experienced while going through her ‘rest cure’ treatment for her supposed madness. she also managed to inject her own feminist agenda into the piece.
- Analyzes how karen ford's critical essay on "the yellow wallpaper" combines the narrator’s life with the experience that gilman had in herself following the birth of her child.
- Analyzes how the narrator regresses into a primal and insane animal-like state that could not be tamed. the seclusion and confinement to the nursery cause her to hallucinate images to keep her company.
- Analyzes how gilman's "the yellow wallpaper" received bad reviews when it was first published. the idea of mental illness was supposed to be the focus, but not to make the reader insane.
- Analyzes how the majority of the characters in "the yellow wallpaper" are males, while the minority, female characters play weak and submissive roles.
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- Analyzes how wohlpart claims that prior to the twentieth century, men assigned and defined women’s roles. it is considered improper for a woman to openly express dissatisfaction and anger.
- Analyzes the symbolism of women not having rights in the nineteenth century. jennie represents lifeless women who allow such degrading treatment.
- Analyzes how the immovable bed symbolizes the relationship between john and the protagonist, which is nailed to the floor. the protagonist wants to be free and in control of her life.
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- Analyzes how gilman's "the yellow wallpaper" is a creative and moving way to show how life may have been for women in the nineteenth century.
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