In 1843, a short story by Edgar Allan Poe was published, telling a tale of the madness within one’s mind, written for entertainment. Fifty-six years later, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, discussing mental deterioration, was published. Both stories use different symbolism and themes to create a climatic tale. “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman compare in a way that both characters suffer from a mental illness and the authors show this using repetition and suspense to make the reader curious throughout the story. However, they differentiate because in “The Tell Tale Heart”, the narrator from the beginning is clearly insane whereas in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator makes it less obvious and takes longer to reveal her true mental illness,. Both stories discuss madness but both narrators use different language and metaphors to show that.

Although there are many similarities between the stories, one that really stand out it the fact that the main characters in both stories are mentally ill. In the “Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator is isolated from the outside world because of her husband. We see her madness through her eyes. This is an example of a story told by showing, rather than telling. One has to assume that there really isn’t a woman trapped in the wall, it’s all in narrator’s mind because she’s not living in reality. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the situation is very similar. The narrator is a madman and a murderer who fails to disguise his insanity. In this case, the man is mad because of his selfishness. Although they have different personalities, both main characters were isolated and alone, further increasing their madness.

In the beginning of “The Tell Tale Heart”, the narrator directly says “TRUE! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?” (Poe 1). On the contrary, Charlotte wrote told her story as if it’s the narrator’s diary, so we know as much as the narrator wants us to know. This allows her to leave out important information that could easily show her illness. Also, Gillman uses a lot more metaphorical language in her story. The wallpaper, like a mirror, is used to describe the narrator, as she’s the woman trapped in the wall. Other metaphorical descriptions include the color of the wall, yellow, representing oppression and corruption. “The color is repellant, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight. It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others” (Gilman 3).

Gilman also uses irony to get the point across. This insane, unknown woman writes in her diary throughout the story and is distance from her husband. “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage” (Gilman 1). This quote shows a hidden message, showing that their marriage is not healthy. John is not a very caring husband, even though the narrator says otherwise. As he’s a physician, the woman assumes that her husband knows best and ignores her insanity. Nonetheless, Poe uses repetition to stress the fact that his story is creepy and dark because of the narrator’s actions. “Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly --very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep” (Poe 1). He emphasizes the word slowly by repeating it to describe the scene thoroughly. His repetitions are also used to show how crazy the narrator really is. Another example of repetition is when he does it with sound patterns to show what the man is doing. “It was a low, dull, quick sound -- much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton” (1).

Another difference between the two stories is the time frame. “The Yellow Wallpaper” takes several months to show her insanity whereas “The Tell-Tale Heart” only happens in a few days. Gilman writes the story in twelve different parts, like chapters in a book. Something different happens each day and although the main character appears to be normal, she’s really insane. By the end of the story, she becomes the women behind the wallpaper and becomes free. Poe, on the other hand, tells the story in only a few days and makes the character very obvious.

In conclusion, both stories are written in different time periods and by different authors but they have many similarities. The main theme in both stories is insanity. Both characters are completely out of their minds and they fail to realize the fact. They also differ in many way too, using different language and metaphors to express the characters. Edgar Allan Poe uses repetition and complex words to emphasize the character’s actions and insanity. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, on the other hand, uses metaphors and symbolism to make the character less obvious.