America History19th Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

America History19th - Essay Example However, in ‘The Yellow Wallflower’ the author has provided a scenario which indicates the dominance of men over women in the second half of nineteenth century. Both these literary works give a contradicting view of the gender roles in the society. The ‘Hospital Sketches’ is a short account of the experiences of a woman who worked as a nurse during the Civil War. The story starts with a woman who is trying to figure out what she wants to do in her life. After turning down a number of suggestions like; teaching, writing a book, acting and getting, she finally determines to nurse the soldiers in the Civil War. This starting of the story suggests the freedom of the women to choose what they want to do in their life. The setting of the story also suggests that the decisions of the women were also encouraged. The author is strong supporter of female equality. In her journey to become a nurse, she is helped by a number of gentlemen. The story further provides the account of the author regarding learning how to nurse and the difficulties faced by the author in the process. Throughout the story, the author provides an indication of the importance of women in the society. ... Thus, the author defines the roles of gender in the society by providing a convincing example. Since the author supports female equality, she has provided a convincing example of how men and women can work together in society for better results. However, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is a story of a woman who is compelled to be confined within the bounds of a room and ultimately the psychological impacts of such confinement on the woman. The story provides a completely contradicting account of the gender roles in the second half of the nineteenth century when it is compared to the ‘Hospital Sketches’. The author tells the story in first-person perspective and she has written it in the style of journal entries. The story starts when a family goes to a colonial mansion for the summer and the woman who tells the story is confined in a room upstairs. Throughout the summer, she remains confined in that room with nothing to stimulate any of her feelings. The story provid es a gradual account of the woman’s descent into madness. With nothing else to interact with, the woman finds interest in the yellow wallpaper of the room. She finds it unnaturally intriguing. She closely inspects the pattern of the wallpaper and she perceives it to be more than ordinary wallpaper. The woman obsessively describes the wallpaper and claims that it has a unique â€Å"yellow† smell. After observing the wallpaper for days, she perceives a figure trapped in the wallpaper. She thinks that there is woman trapped in the wallpaper and in order to free her, she starts removing the paper off the wall. From a critical perspective, it can be said that the author is trying to represent the women