Jacob Perrotti 1

Ms. Hendra

EN-111

Essay

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate

Chopin are two different stories with the women both suffering from an illness. One of the

women are sufferering from a mental illness and the other physical, and both are bery emotionally

detached from their husbands. In “An Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard is at first devistated from her

husbands death but soon realizes this means she is free from him, and in “The Yellow Wallpaper” it

seems that John is very controlling and doesn't pay true attention to his wife. The illnesses of both the

women affect their relationships in very similar ways.

To begin, though two different stories, both women seemed to be emotionally distant from their

husbands. Emotional detachment could stem from complacency in the marriage but I believe it's their

illness that is the cause of the disengagement. During the era in which these stories were written,

marriages were an economic arrangement which had very little to do with love. In both stories, the

couplese seem to have an ideal marriage, which eventually turns to aloofness, in part due to the

women's illnesses. Perhaps the husband thought that she was too fragile, or it was a one sided

relationship. This could be bacuse ending a marriage during this time was unheard of. The protagonist

in “The Yellow Wallpaper” suffers from mental illness which ca be read as postpartum depression,

which not only affects the one who has the depression but deeply affects those around her. In “An story

of an Hour” Louise Mallard suffers from heart problems, these problems could mean medical bills, or

her not able to get too excited, or not do much around the house, these reasons and more could build up

over time and become very frustrating to another person. The couples sharea certain amount of love

for each other but the disconnection was stronger. The protagonist's disconnection is evident in “The

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Yellow Wallpaper” because her husband treats her like a little girl instead of a wife when he takes her

“in his arms and called [her] a blessed little goose” (p121). The Mallard's disconnection is also evident

because her husband's “face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead”

(p15). These are not the emotions one wants to feel from her husband.

Though there is illnesses gripping both women in the story, there is evidence of love between

both couples. The evidence between the Mallards is when Louise “knew that she would weep again

when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death” (p15). She often didn't love him but it didn't

matter to her now that she thought he was dead. His death, though she felt a sense of freedom and

upliftment didn't mean she didn't feel a tenderness or small measure of love towards him as evident

from certain parts of the story. You can still love someone and not want them around. The protagonist

from “The Yellow Wallpaper” exclaims “Dear John! He loves me very dearly...” (p123). She proclaims

her husband's love throughout the story. That could be read one of two ways, the first she is attempting

to bind the disconnection she feels with her husband, or she honestly believed he loved her. Though the

illnesses were dominant in their lives, they did have some measure of love.

Because of the emotional detachment to both women in the story, it can border on emotional

abuse. The dominant spouse, in this case the husbands, could use this to isolate their spouse from

family and friends. They could decide whom their spouses will see, where he/she can go and what type

of guests he/she can receive. This rings true in “The Yellow Wallpaper” when the protagonists wants to

visit her cousin but her husband “...said [she] wasn't able to go, nor able to stand it after [she] got there”

(p123). Yet he had family visit them over the Fourth of July holiday, it's his evironment and his turf. It

is evident in “An Story of an Hour” that the protagonist lead a very sheltered life due to her illness and

people often too caution, but it is also evident that she wished to be free and to live her life despite her

restriction because of her illness. Though her husband may love her on some level he still keeps her

confined to that house in the name of her health. The contrilling spouse in an emotionally abusive
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relationship usually makes major decision, such as where to live and how to furnish the home. The

protagonist in “The Yellow Wallpaper” wants to take another room “but John would not hear of it”

(p119). He didn't undertand or chose to ignore the fact that the wallpaper in her room was affecting her

mental state. These evidential factors all lead to emotional abuse, using the two women's illnesses as

excuses for their actions.

Both women in the stories suffer from an illness, both physical and mental, an extent in both

stories. Though there is emotional detachment, there is still some form of love, though it may have lead

to spousal abuse. Though their husbands were taking action for their illnesses it seems that the

husbands only thought of their wives by their illnesses, not as a person having one. This caused a great

disconnect and in the end causing a great emotional rift to be caused between husband and wife, and

making both of their lives harder
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Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” E Fictions. Eds. Joseph F. Trimmer et al. Australia: Thomson 2002. 14-16

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” E Fictions. Eds. Joseph F. Trimmer et al. Australia: Thomson 2002. 118-129