Essay on Narrator and Point of View in Yellow Wallpaper...

Narrator and Point of View in The Yellow Wallpaper and The Story of an Hour Both Gilmans and Chopins stories are, in effect, stories of women who feel trapped by the men in their lives. Gilman uses first person narration to reveal a womans creeping loss of reality to her readers, while Chopin allows us to experience the joy Louise Mallard felt upon hearing of her husbands death through third person narration. Interestingly, neither story would have been able to reveal either womans psyche to impact the reader as successfully as both did had their individual narrations been attempted through another form. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilmans point of view is expressed through first person narration, which provides her†¦show more content†¦Her descriptions and obsessions with the wallpaper as viewed from her perspective, truly draw readers into her downward spiral to ultimate insanity. Readers follow her in her mind from a nervous condition through her mild subsequent pleadings for alternative treatment to eventually creeping through the wallpaper with her--experiences which readers grasp within a powerful narration indeed. Through her, and only her is precisely how readers clearly knew how she felt at the end when she says, Ive got out at last in spite of you and Jane. And Ive pulled off most of the paper, so you cant put me back! (330). Husband John fainted, he had no idea she had gone that far, but readers did. Similarly, Chopins The Story of an Hour also draws readers into the emotions revealed within Louise Mallards mind when her husband appears to have been killed. Chopin also succeeds powerfully but accomplishes this through the third person narration of this one character [with Louise as the center of awareness]. With third person narration in this story, one is provided a bystander perspective concerning other characters treatment of her and the entire situation/scene set-up in the exposition of the story. The narrator assures us that . . . great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death (177). This type of narration brings both a sense ofShow MoreRelated`` The Yellow Wallpaper `` By Charlotte Perkins Gilman And The Story Of The Hour917 Words   |  4 Pagescreate a theme in a short story. Most of the factors are the elements of fiction, which include plot, setting, characters, symbolism, conflict, and point of view. The two stories that will be compared in this essay are â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and â€Å"The Story of the Hour† by Kate Chopin. The elements that especially contribute to creating a theme for these short stories are the characters, point of view, and plot. The characters of both stories play a main role in moldingRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper: A Look Into Post-Partum Depression1061 Words   |  5 PagesCharlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, The Yellow Wallpaper, portrays the life and mind of a woman suffering from post-partum depression in the late eighteenth century. Gilman uses setting to strengthen the impact of her story by allowing the distant country mansion symbolize the loneliness of her narrator, Jane. Gilman also uses flat characters to enhance the depth of Jane’s thoughts; however, Gilman’s use of narrative technique impacts her story the most. 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The Yellow Wallpaper was a good story to write aboutRead Moreâ€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†: A Comparison Introduction2266 Words   |  10 Pages â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†: A Comparison Introduction Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† has received wide praise for its accurate depiction of madness and the symptoms attributed to mental breakdowns (Shumaker 1985).  Ã‚   While these symptoms may seem obvious from today’s psychological perspective, Gilman was writing at the close of the 19th century when the discipline of psychology was still emerging out of a rudimentary psychiatric approach to treatingRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper: a Stifling Relationship1609 Words   |  7 PagesHusband-Doctor: A Stifling Relationship In Gilmans the Yellow Wallpaper At the beginning of The Yellow Wallpaper, the protagonist, Jane, has just given birth to a baby boy. Although for most mothers a newborn infant is a joyous time, for others, like Jane, it becomes a trying emotional period that is now popularly understood to be the common disorder, postpartum depression. For example, Jane describes herself as feeling a lack of strength (Colm, 3) and as becoming dreadfully fretful andRead More The Yellow Wallpaper: A Stifling Relationship1551 Words   |  7 Pages Husband-Doctor: A Stifling Relationship In Gilman’s â€Å"the Yellow Wallpaper† At the beginning of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, the protagonist, Jane, has just given birth to a baby boy. Although for most mothers a newborn infant is a joyous time, for others, like Jane, it becomes a trying emotional period that is now popularly understood to be the common disorder, postpartum depression. For example, Jane describes herself as feeling a â€Å"lack of strength† (Colm, 3) and as becoming â€Å"dreadfully fretful andRead More Theme of Isolation in Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums and Chopin’s The Awakening1619 Words   |  7 PagesDespite differing story lines, Charlotte Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, John Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums and Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, depict the same suffering; the isolation that women have been forced to endure throughout history. In the time period that all three characters were placed, it was culturally acceptable for wives to be dominated by their husbands; their responsibility revolving around the needs of their children and those of their spouse. Most women simply did not have a meansRead MoreFeminism During 19th Century American Short Stories4097 Words   |  17 PagesKaylee Gould Ms. Henderson 3rd period Feminism in Late 19th Century American Short Stories Research Question: How is feminism revealed through the divergence of women’s roles in society and their own personal desires in the American short stories â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper,† â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† â€Å"The Storm,† and â€Å"Life in the Iron Mills†? Introduction Literature changes as current events change and as the structure of society begins to shift. American feminist literature started to become prevalent