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Men In The 1800's Through Feminist Short Stories

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How Were Women Portrayed and Compared to Men in the 1800’s Through Feminist Short Stories? “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done ask a woman.” ~Margaret Thatcher. This quote is saying that woman can do anything. In “The Story of an Hour” and the “Yellow Wallpaper” the main characters, who are women, feel trapped because the control that men had. Also, in the 1800’s men thought of women as a personal servant and the quote above identifies that perfectly. Additionally, the women in that time frame had no choice on who they married. Even if, the woman hated the man they had no say in whether to marry them or not. In feminist writers Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Stetson short stories “The Story of an Hour” and …show more content…

(Chopin) This quote is a perfect example of a metaphor that women were under a man’s “control”. The quote is saying that the woman is excited almost that her husband is dead because she is saying that he does not have control of her anymore and she is free from his grasp. Now she can do whatever she wants to do without having to ask permission from her husband. This quote also shows that women felt controlled and trapped in their own lives. Also, from this quote it is obvious that men are treated much higher than women. When women and men should be treated as equal. In the 1800’s was difficult for women to be treated disrespectfully. It would be super difficult for the majority of women back then to keep in the anger they must have felt. In the “Yellow Wallpaper” and “Story of an Hour” portray what women felt like back in the …show more content…

The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometime only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over.” (Stenson, 645) This is a description of the hideous wallpaper is a symbol. This description is a representation of what women feel like under man’s control. The wall paper represents a cage and the so called women in it’s stuck and can’t get out of it and only man has the key to unlock it. Over all, some women in this time frame felt like they were treated as little caged “birds” almost and they could not escape the path that their husband set out for them. That was probably stay at home, cook, and cleaning. That does not seem like a fun life to live for the rest of their life while the men got to do whatever they wanted back then according to the quote. Finally, the mysterious wallpaper is a perfect representation of what women must have felt like in the 1800’s. “She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!"” (Chopin) This quote states that was she was free and not under control of man and she was happy almost that her husband was dead. She felt like she was under control by her husband and now she was not. Also, she was happy and felt like she could do anything she wanted. Additionally, she probably felt that she was not trapped in a cage any more and could do whatever she wanted. Moreover, this quote states that she did not love the way

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