Relationships Essay
Relationships are not always set up to be perfect. There are some that are healthy, while others are weak. The relationships involved in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Chrysanthemums” are considered to be weak. It seems that the husbands are playing the role in which they do not understand their wives and are unintentionally hurting them. While there are many subjects to compare between these two stories, there are also some subjects to contrast.
There are many comparisons between the relationships that are discovered in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and in “The Chrysanthemums.” Both of the women have a point of freedom. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” a woman is put into a nursery because her husband believes that she has a nervous condition. In the nursery appears yellow wallpaper. “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide-plunge off at outrageous angles… The color is repellent, almost revolting…” explained the woman, showing that she truly hates this wallpaper. Her husband said that in three weeks, the wallpaper could be removed. “Hurrah! This is the last day…” exclaims the woman, very excited about the removal of the wallpaper. “Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor … ‘Ive got out at last, in spite of you and Jane. And Ive pulled off the most paper, so you cant put me back!” signifies the woman, expressing that she is free now from both the wallpaper and the room. Elisa in “The Chrysanthemums” broke free from the stereotype of being a woman. Near the end of this story she asks her husband, “Henry, at those prize fights, do the men hurt each other very much?” Henry answers, “Sometimes a little, not often. Why?” She then explains, “Well Ive read how they break noses, and blood runs down their chests. Ive read how the fighting gloves get heavy and soggy with blood.” A woman talking like this back then was very unladylike, which made Henry wonder what the matter was with his wife. This portion of the story shows Elisa breaking free from the woman stereotype because she is talking of such a subject a woman would not have chosen to discuss about in those days. Another comparison between these narratives is that both women keep a secret that they are proud of from their husbands. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the woman writes about how and what she feels, concerning certain subjects. “Here comes John, and I must put this away—he hates to have me write a word” she says. The woman keeps what she writes a secret from her husband. In “The Chrysanthemums”, Elisa explains how to plant a chrysanthemum to a traveler. “Well, I can only tell you