The women in The Story of an Hour and The Yellow Wallpaper attempt to overcome their oppression by finding an outlet. They tried to find something or do something that would comfort them. In The Story of an Hour, the window is the main symbol. Correspondingly, in The Yellow Wallpaper, the wallpaper itself is the main symbol. In The Story of an Hour, the window is what symbolizes Mrs. Mallard’s freedom in that she has new opportunities.
She says that she is finally free, “free body and soul.” She says this because she realizes that she is finally free from her husband. It can be inferred from the story she was oppressed because she didn’t have any opportunities in the past. The window is what releases her from her oppression by setting her free and giving her new opportunities that were not available to her in the past. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the wallpaper symbolizes her oppression in a way. In which John’s wife sees a woman in the wallpaper.
During the daytime the light makes it look as if she is behind bars shaking them. However, during the night the woman in the wallpaper creeps around. John’s Wife relates the woman in the wallpaper to herself by saying that she creeps in the daytime when John isn’t around. However, during the night she is quite still because John is around and he will notice her.
John’s wife tries to overcome her oppression by setting the woman free inside the wallpaper, in order to free her oppression. Which the house itself is a prison for her since John won’t let her leave and that he keeps telling her that writing will make her worse, while it was only depression. Both stories are not to be taken literally because of the meanings behind each of the main symbols. The women in the story try to overcome their oppression by finding an outlet for how they feel and their depression. Mrs. Mallard uses the window which sets her free.
The Essay on Free Women Of Petersburg
The Free Women of Petersburg, Status and Culture in a Southern Town, 1784-1861, was written by Suzanne Lebsock in 1984 and won the Bancroft Prize in 1985. Lebsock focuses on Petersburg, Virginia between 1784 and 1860 to recount the status of women in society, and how that status changed. She also examines the views of women during that time. The author did extensive research of Petersburg local ...
John’s wife tears down the wallpaper and she tries to write to get her feelings out.
