Traces of Modernism and Women Emancipation in The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening - Term Paper Example

 Introduction There is no denying the fact that the short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the novel The Awakening be Kate Chopin happen to be women centric stories. The influx of the women to the centre of the socio-economic and literary stage was a development that gradually unraveled in the Western world under the influence of some unavoidable and exceptional historical and cultural occurrences. In the wake of the First and the Second World War, with the pressing need for men to serve on the war front, the Western society came under the need to seek the help of women in strengthening and aiding the war efforts. This for the first time brought women out from the confines of their homes, where they were primarily responsible to serve as mere wives and mothers, to a larger reality, with provided them with a chance to carve an identity in the socio-economic domain. This led to many supporting developments like the dilution of the taboo associated with divorce and cohabitation, the advent of the Pill that gave women a decisive say in the sphere of their reproductive health and decisions, and a larger scope for women in the educational, career making and workforce related opportunities. However, these changes did not remain merely confined to the area of economic affairs and social status, but also greatly influenced the role ascribed to women in personal relationships. The women became more questioning of the issues like sexuality, marriage and motherhood. The short story The Yellow Wallpaper and the novel The Awakening to a great extent pertain to this altering stance of women in the interpersonal relationships and a changing approach of the women towards issues like domesticity, marriage and motherhood. The Portrayal of Women in The Yellow Wallpaper Gilman masterfully uses her short story The Yellow Wallpaper to make reveling statements about the issues like feminism and womanhood. To do so, Gilman expertly leads the reader through the misery faced by a woman in the wake of her neurotic state, characterizing a mix of her mental state and her views pertaining to marriage and womanhood through her association with the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom. No wonder, considering the fact that the woman in the story is very confined and limited, a symbolic presentation of the status of women in the larger social sphere, much of the story is centered on the monologue in which the woman character resorts to scary descriptions of the yellow wall paper in her bedroom, and the way this women interacts with this wallpaper, projecting her fears, anxieties and doubts on it (Ford 309). One wonders whether this woman is elaborating on her own mental problems, fears and expectations or whether she is relating to much larger questions about the traditional status of and expectations from women. So, while reading this story, it is important for the reader to remember that though the writer is seemingly delving on the neurotic status of the female character, actually speaking she is trying to deal with an issue that does not seem to have any direct relationship with the narrative. Gilman seems to be dealing with the problem of the female right to expression, and in a way masterfully does so by systematically leading the reader through the development and progression of the neurotic state of the central character. Right at the very start of the story it becomes amply clear to the reader that the female character in this story allows herself to be inferior to her husband John, very much like the recourse opted for by Edna at the start of The Awakening, in relation to her husband Leonce. This gets amply clear when she says that, “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression- a slight hysterical tendency- what is one to do?... So I take phosphates or phosphites- whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to work until I am well again (Gilman 1).” No wonder her words do suggest that though she is referring to her own domestic situation, actually speaking, she is referring to a different issue, the very same issue that haunts and disturbs the character of Edna in The Awakening. The woman’s description of the wallpaper throughout the story not only depicts the progression of her illness, but also depicts her evolution as a person getting aware of her constraints, limitations and the expectations burdening her. In The Awakening, when Edna’s husband leaves for a business trip to New York, one comes across a similar realization of the women character regarding the important aspects of her status as a wife and mother, and how these domestic and social expectations mar her sexuality and her full evolution as a woman in her own right. The description of the wallpaper at the start of the story sets the stage for a vivid explanation of the modern women’s frustration against her constrained and limited status, as she says, “… dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves into unheard of contradictions (Gilman 2).” In that context, this paragraph is of utter relevance to the overall topic in the sense that it not only reveals a modern woman’s sentiments regarding the issues pressing her, but at the same time reveals as to how her husband’s treatment, who stands to be the embodiment of patriarchal preferences, is driving her into abject depression and frustration. Her words in a way convey her grief over her inferior status and the burden they impose on her. Hence, the Gilman’s treatment of the female character in The Yellow Wallpaper do conveys the angst of the modern women with the patriarchal preferences and expectations. The Treatment of Women Characters in The Awakening There is no denying the fact that in Chopin’ novel, The Awakening, Edna though being the central character of the story comes out as being confusing and elusive at the start of the story, reminding the readers of the noncommittal and unreliable approach of the female character in The Yellow Wallpaper. Though the readers are quiet able to see the things that shoe does, going by the weight of the domestic and social expectations from her as a women, her reasoning comes out to the readers as being cloudy and confused. Chopin vividly depicts as to how the women are made to evince a complacent attitude towards societal and domestic expectations. At the beginning of the story, Edna seems to exist in a semiconscious state, seemingly content with her marriage to Leonce, totally out of touch with her own feelings, ambitions and aspirations. Though being a romantic, Edna sees her marriage to Leonce as a culmination of the more romantic and passionate side of her life. Although she believed that her passions were bound to cool down with age, as she got more involved in her duties as a wife and a mother, surprisingly, they reawaken, as she meets Robert on a vacation with her family. It is than that the writer elaborately delves on the boring and dull nature of her marital existence with Leonce in the words, “Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of Fate. It was in the midst of her secret passion that she met him. (Chopin 7.29).” Reading these lines one simply cannot help thinking about the dull and lifeless life of the neurotic woman in The Yellow Wallpaper. In that sense there exist marked resemblances in the fate of the two women presented in The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening. Both of them tend to be victims of the prevalent societal and domestic expectations and confinements and both of them have the mental ability to be able to think of a life beyond them. The people Edna meets and the experiences she goes through at the Grand Isle, awaken in her, her dormant desires pertaining to sex, art, creativity, liberation and passion. Actually speaking, the Grand Isle acts as a canvass which facilitates to Edna the scope for personal growth and expansion, very much unlike the plight of the woman in The Yellow Wallpaper, trapped in her circumstances, projecting her aspirations on the yellow wallpaper. Also, while The Yellow Wallpaper tends to be a lonesome affair, Chopin in The Awakening introduces two other important female characters that are Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, which serve as a foil against which Edna could weigh her choices and make her decisions. Reisz acts as an accomplished female character living on the periphery of the regular social life, while Adele stands to be a symbol of feminine sacrifice, both of whom represent a state of life, which is not as per Edna’s basic instinct and innate desires, a substitute for the yellow wallpaper that proves to be so averse to the woman in The Yellow Wallpaper (Gray 54). Similarities in the Two Works of Literature The two works of literature being discussed that are The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening tend to evince modern trends in the sense that the central female characters in both these works tend to defy and in a way stretch beyond their social and domestic shells in their own unique way and as per the space available to them. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the neurotic female character, trapped in terms of space and social exposure, gives vent to her frustration and fantasies on the yellow wallpaper. In contrast, The Awakening being a novel with the scope for the introduction of diverse settings and backgrounds allows Edna the space to test the relevance of social and domestic restraints by engaging in intimate and passionate relationships, and by meditating and pondering on them. True to the modern trends, in both the works of literature, the female characters tend to question the validity and relevance of the traditional patriarchal beliefs and expectations. Conclusion There is no denying the fact that the female characters in The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening are modern in the sense that they try to weigh the traditional and orthodox beliefs pertaining to femininity in the light of their practical experiences and deep seated feelings. References Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Print. Ford, Karen. “”The Yellow Wallpaper” and Women’s Discourse”. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 4.2 (1985): 309-314. Print. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. Print Gray, Jennifer B. “The Escape of the “Sea”: Ideology and the Awakening”. The Southern Literary Journal 37.1 (2004): 53-73. Print. Read More