Fighting oppression in The Yellow Wallpaper, At the Cadian Ball and The Storm In their works, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin show that freedom does not it was universal in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The three works, "The Yellow Wallpaper", "At the 'Cadian Ball" and "The Storm" expose society's oppression of women. These works also illustrate that those women who were passive in the face of this oppression risk losing not only their identity, but also their sanity. Gilman's narrator, who chose not to fight this tradition or was unable to do so, loses her sanity at the hands of an oppressive, male-dominated American society. The narrator is certain that the "rest cure" prescribed by her doctor is not working. She says the men in her life are wrong to limit her activity. He feels he could escape his depression if he had the chance. "I personally do not agree with their ideas. I believe that congenial work, with enthusiasm and change, would do me good."1 But despite this awareness, the narrator does not act against what she believes to be the erroneous ideas of the men who they confine and worsen his mental illness. His growing madness is inspired by and depicted in the background of the story's title. The pattern in the background represents to the narrator and the reader the male-dominated society that is depriving the narrator of his freedom. For the narrator, on a personal level, the pattern on the wallpaper represents the actions of her husband, the doctor, and her husband's sister to keep her locked in the room and inactive. While these people are ostensibly attempting to help the narrator, they are in fact imprisoning her in the... middle of paper... the yellow background," the narrator does not act and she loses her sanity. In "At the 'Cadian Ball", Clarisse acts and is successful, Calixta does not act and submits to a marriage with a man for whom she feels less passion "The Storm", Clarisse continues to be happy because she acts in a way that suits her she leaves when she does she feels like it and both she and Alcee are happy. The recurring theme in these stories is that it is important for a woman's happiness and well-being to take action against an unjust society.* 1 "The. Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 1994, WW Norton & Company, New York, p. 646.* 2 Ibid, p. 653.* 3 "The Tempest," Kate Chopin, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 1994, WW Norton & Company, New York, p.. 493.