Escaping from the feminist vision “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman are both unified on feminist vision of women coming into the world. Taking into account the year these stories were written (1899 and 1894), the idea of male dominance and the suppression of most female voices was idyllic in the framework of the time. Women of the time believed that men remembered all knowledge and should pay attention to their strong male counterparts. When a woman married, her husband legally owned everything she had, including her children. If he died, she would only be entitled to a third of her husband's estate. Both Kate and Charlotte fought this issue in their writings, seeking independence from their oppression. The narrator's spouse, John, also establishes his dominance by talking down to his wife. We see this in the following quote: "What's up, little girl?" he said. "Don't walk around like that, you'll get cold." While in “The Story of An Hour,” there is a different form of male dominance. We find out that Mrs. Mallard has lived a life of oppression in this story and after reading the entire text in its entirety; it is clear that Mrs. Mallard had been in a marriage that would not allow her to achieve her dreams and we see this most dominantly in "The Story of an Hour" when she describes the happiness that comes after the pain as a result of the fact that she is free now. Now he comes to the conclusion that he is independent and with this newfound independence he can begin to do the things he had been trying to do. She is alive with the feeling of not being a stay-at-home housewife of the time, free to explore her new life. He had gained a sense of freedom when he whispered, “Free! Free body and soul!” again and again. While the role of the female protagonist/wife in “The Yellow Wallpaper” has difficulty finding herself, due to her illness and the restrictions her husband has condoned her to. Throughout the story, the speaker finds it difficult to express his feelings about the room in his house. This is represented by the wallpaper of the house itself, symbolically describing it as a girl trapped behind bars within the paper, which is meant to be symbolic of the narrator. In the story's conclusion she frees herself from the confines of the wallpaper by tearing it as she steps over her unconscious husband as he goes round and round the room. The tearing down of the wallpaper and the liberation of the girl trapped inside represents herself becoming free and independent. The way he writes the story is also a big clue to the lack of autonomy since then
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