Similarities Between The Yellow Wallpaper And A Doll's House

Today after much progress and contributions in history, Women are still struggling to be equals to her male counterparts. Often judged and seen as second-class citizens. The struggle continues still till this day. Two short stories that I have read that seem to have the same conflict that women struggle with everyday are “A Dolls House” by Henrik Ibsen and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The stories are both similar in the sense of coming from a women’s perspective, as she finds herself through tribulations. The story also involves manipulative and controlling men who assert their so called assumed role as head of the family. However, perception comes into play when comparing and contrasting stories and in my opinion with regard to the overall impressiveness, effectiveness and distinctive merits the better story is “A Doll’s House.”

Charlotte 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. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses interior monologue to add impact to Jane’s progression into insanity, to add insight into the relationships in the story, and to increase the depth of Jane’s connection with the yellow wallpaper it self.

In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator uses the psychological gothic genre to present the portrayal of women, women faced in a marriage, within the time frame of the 1890s. Women were seen as the “shadow” as men dominated society. This is presented throughout the book as many readers first interpitation

One similarity between the two works is the that we are limited on where we get our information. Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” we see everything through the eyes of the narrator. The entire story is told from her secret diary when she has the time to write as shown in the line, “I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal-having to be so sly about it” (Gilman 527). Due to this, we can only make assumptions based on the information we get from her. She tells us she is in “A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate” (Gilman 526) and that she stays in “a big, airy room…It was a nursery first and then a playroom and gymnasium” (Gilman 527). However, once we reach the end of the story, with the

It is noticed from the plot of the story, the images and metaphors used in it that the author wants to draw readers’ attention to feminism especially to the female character who is trying to practice her hobby which is writing. Moreover, Gilman shows that the woman is trying to overcome the oppression she was suffering from, in order to free herself from it and find equality in the society. In the story, readers are exposed to the levels of women’s oppression, and the author expressed that greatly by using the yellow wallpaper as a symbol of that ugly

Although Nora is secretive about the crime she committed, which is forging her father’s name in order to borrow money; she does it to save her husband. During Act I when Nora is speaking to Mrs. Linde about someday revealing to Torvald about the secret loan Nora exclaims: “One day I might, yes. Many years from now, when I’ve lost my looks a little. Don’t laugh. I mean, of course, a time will come when Torvald is not as devoted to me, not quite so happy when I dance for him, and dress for him, and play with him.” (Act I, pg. 12). This quotation shows that even early on in the play Nora understands the reality of her marriage, and her existence to Torvald. Therefore, Act I is merely an introduction to the overall overarching theme of independence. Act I shows the obedient side of Nora, until later scenes when she reveals her independence. Torvald attempts to oppress his wife, but his actions do not stop Nora’s independent thoughts from forming.

While reading the Doll's house Henrik Ibsen by poem it had a strikingly similar theme to "the Yellow wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It was quite shocking that Doll's house was written by a man since the story seems to be told from the wife's point of view how she feels about how her husband value treats her. Both poems is about women rights but during this time period women's didn't have rights and was subject to their husband

Nora starts off the play essentially as Torvalds toy. She is obedient, she is cute, she rarely goes against his wishes, and she is nothing without her “owner”, Torvald. The reader, however, discovers early on that all is not what it seems to be. Nora is actually a very rebellious woman who enjoys going against Torvald’s wishes. There are scenarios where she does this out of the sheer enjoyment she gets. Nora loves macaroons.

In society, there has always been a gap between men and women. Women are generally expected to be homebodies, and seen as inferior to their husbands. The man is always correct, as he is more educated, and a woman must respect the man as they provide for the woman’s life. During the Victorian Era, women were very accommodating to fit the “house wife” stereotype. Women were to be a representation of love, purity and family; abandoning this stereotype would be seen as churlish living and a depredation of family status. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Henry Isben’s play A Doll's House depict women in the Victorian Era who were very much menial to their husbands. Nora Helmer, the protagonist in A Doll’s House

Both the 1892 short story, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Stetson and the 1879 Norwegian play ‘A Dolls House’ by Henrik Ibsen, explore how the female protagonists are products of and are influenced by the harsh social conventions and expectations of their time. Both protagonists are constrained by the patriarchal society and the expectations of the wife of the late 1800s. Stenson challenges the audience’s response through the use of literary techniques including symbolism, to enhance the submission of the unnamed female narrator dealing with nervous depression. Conversely, Ibsen, through the use of theatrical techniques predominately stage directions and dramatic irony, to provoke audiences discuss the women’s abandonment of her marriage and motherly duties, something that still shocks contemporary viewers today.

The structure of the text, particularly evident in the author’s interactions with her husband, reveals the binary opposition between the façade of a middle-class woman living under the societal parameters of the Cult of Domesticity and the underlying suffering and dehumanization intrinsic to marriage and womanhood during the nineteenth century. While readers recognize the story for its troubling description of the way in which the yellow wallpaper morphs into a representation of the narrator’s insanity, the most interesting and telling component of the story lies apart from the wallpaper. “The Yellow Wallpaper” outwardly tells the story of a woman struggling with post-partum depression, but Charlotte Perkins Gilman snakes expressions of the true inequality faced within the daily lives of nineteenth century women throughout the story. Although the climax certainly surrounds the narrator’s overpowering obsession with the yellow wallpaper that covers the room to which her husband banished her for the summer, the moments that do not specifically concern the wallpaper or the narrator’s mania divulge a deeper and more powerful understanding of the torturous meaning of womanhood.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Anna Gilman and “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen were both written in the nineteenth century. These stories were written in a time when women were under the male dominance. The story “The Yellow Wallpaper” and the play “A Doll’s House”, have similarities both portraying women who are in search of their identity and freedom while struggling emotionally. Both of these stories share feminist characteristics and belong to the same time period when women were considered oppressed by their husbands as well as society. Each writer examines the predicament of women during this time, with each female character having special circumstances that leads them to a moment of discovery.

Each and everytime he speaks with her, Torvald has a new pet name for her. Towards the beginning of the play, Torvald says to Nora, “Is that my little lark twittering in there (Ibsen 969)?” By calling her a ‘little lark,’ he is addressing her as if she were small and helpless. This is how an adult would speak to a child. Torvald also chastises Nora, as if she were his own child, making mistakes and doing bad things. After Nora lies about something, Torvald says, “My little songbird must never do that again. Songbirds are supposed to have clean beaks to chirp with - no false notes (Ibsen 987).” A Doll House becomes confusing at times because the reader may feel as though Torvald were speaking to a child and not his wife. This creates immense significance for the title due to Torvald’s controlling actions and Nora’s doll-like

The narrator in the novel “The Yellow Wallpaper ” and the main character, Lily, in the novel “The House of Mirth” are both women in the 19th century. They both face the gender roles driven by the society they live in. The gender politics imprison the women physically and mentally. While both women struggle to find their place in their gender roles, only the narrator survives, whereas, Lily falls victim to society and perishes.

restricted to playing with the children, doing little housework, and working on her needlepoint. A problem with her responsibilities is that her most important obligation is to please Torvald, making her role similar to that of a slave. Torvald easily talks down to Nora saying things like: “…worries that you couldn’t possible help me with”, “Nora, Nora, just like a woman”, and “Mayn’t I look at my dearest treasure? At all the beauty that belongs to no one but me—that’s my very own?” as if she is considered his property.