Story of an Hour and the Yellow Wallpaper
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The two men in “The Story of an Hour and the Yellow Wallpaper” dominated the lives of their wives. Both John and Mr. Mallard portrayed senseless acts of love, power and control denying the women the right to feel free.
Marriage is a commitment that involves two people who feel compassion for each other. In the case of “The Yellow wallpaper”, John did love his wife, by providing the care he felt she needed. He made sure that she rests well, eat well, and exercise in order to recuperate from her temporary nervous depression as he puts it (p56). Mr. Mallard also had loved his wife, by choosing to share a life together with her. Even though the men were truly sincere in their feelings, they overlooked the tiny details of their actions in doing so. Johns wife felt that she was not truly ill, but she reluctantly obeyed her husbands commands because he was also her doctor and doctors know best. She did not believe that his treatment was the right one but “what is one to do” (p55) meaning that she is powerless to express how she feels about her body.” In the Story of an Hour”, Louise sees her husband as loving and kind, even though she thought otherwise. Her expectations of her relationship were far from what she had anticipated. By learning about his death, she felt liberated. This was one magical moment for her; she never expected that freedom would affect her this way.
Both women did not work due to their illness; this was because the confinement had overpowering their very existence that they felt isolated. This left them defenseless, unable to fix what they both needed at the time, their freedom. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator was placed in a room of her husbands choice, this clearly demonstrates that John decided was the decision maker for his wife. He gets to say what the right choice is for her. Choosing the room, he feels is best in a secluded mansion, monitoring her by a schedule he made up with supervision, created fear and low self-esteem. His wife liked to write, but he forbids her to do so. Writing was the one thing that comforted her, she felt free by expressing herself. He refused to understand that his wife wanted to express her feelings, which made her oppressed. Louise was lonely too and expressed feelings of freedom with life, but her husband controlled her body and soul (p3) a long life that never materialize. Both men lovingly, yet unconsciously used their power and control to demonstrate how much they care.
“In the Story of an Hour” and the Yellow Wallpaper”, the men had a lot of control over the women and it was not in the least helping their relationship. They made the women feel that they had lost their ability to access the outside world. There was no equality between the sexes. The women felt trapped without having any self will. Being restricted to their surroundings the women began to lose self-control, because