Tension In Charlotte Perkins Stetson's The Yellow Wallpaper

Immediately in Charlotte Perkins Stetson’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the female narrator mentions to us that her husband “John is a physician, and perhaps –– (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind –– perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster” (Stetson 1892, 647). Indeed, readers are able to observe that there is tension because of what the narrator wants to say. For John, this statement clearly indicates that science triumphs over the fantasy of religion. Therefore, he intellectually dominates his wife as a result of this view. The reading of literature is, likewise creative and inventive. Attridge believes that, “invention is never a matter of creation ex nihilo;

Thus, reading causes the literary work to unfold its inherently dynamic character” (Iser 1972, 280). Iser makes the point that a literary text must be developed in such a way that it will engage the reader’s imagination so he or she can become more knowledgeable about the text. Again, reading is only a pleasure when it is active and creative, not passive. For this purpose, Iser believes that as a reader, one should look for determinacies, indeterminacies and gaps in the text, as a method of developing one’s emotional connections to the work or text. As a result, one is able to interpret themes, emotions, thoughts, or supports of feminist theory.

Similarly, in “The Story of an Hour,” the narrator, Mrs. Mallard shows thoughts and emotions that both support and refute feminist theory. A critical feminist view of this short story focuses on female oppression in the Colonial Era and more specifically, in marriages of the time. Chopin reveals the tragedy of this situation through an intimate exploration of the