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Alienation

Introduction:

Alienation is the most significant theme in both Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s story “The

yellow Wallpaper” and “The story of an hour” by Kate Chopin. In effect, there are a lot of

similarities in these two works in regard to their approach to alienation. This paper shows how

this theme is similar in the two stories in social, physical, as well as, mental terms.

Physical alienation in “the yellow wallpaper” is manifested in the book’s fundamental

settings. For instance, the writer utilizes these words to denote the physical isolation: “it is rather

alone, standing way back from main road and around 3 miles from the rural community” (Lawn,

173). In addition, the writer also mentions that “there were bars on some windows and a gate on

top of the stairway (173)”. She considers the wallpapers to be like prison bars which lock a lady

behind them. Possibly even more apparent, this lady spends her time staring at such wallpapers

due to isolation. All these show the extent to which the setting of this story is physically

alienated. Similarly, physical alienation is all over the scenery of “the story of an hour”. In fact,

the setting is quite isolated; it is largely confined to a room, the front door and in the lone

staircase. According to the narrator, “Mrs. Mallard locked herself in the room” (Lawn, 167).

Mrs. Mallard the main character is physically alienated in this kind of setting. This is one of the

places she found suitable to seclude herself from other people. In fact, the book stipulates that.

”she would not have anyone follow her (Lawn, 168)”.

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Social alienation on the other hand, presents itself in equal magnitude in both stories. In

“the yellow wallpaper”, 3 miles out of the nearest town helps in achieving social alienation. As

such, it is impossible for this woman to come into frequent contact with others who she would

socialize with. Moreover, the narrator states that, “John is frequently out and the housekeeper,

Jennie is not always present (Lawn, 174)”. This obviously left the woman alone and away from

friends, neighbors and family members who would bridge the gap of social alienation. Even

worse, the Husband-wife relationship is wanting, a situation much similar in “the story of an

hour”. In fact, the relationship that Mr. Mallard and Mrs. Mallard had was far from being

healthy. “Mr. Mallard would be away for long on business trips (Lawn, 167)”. Mrs. Mallard was

always socially alienated as she spent most of her time in the house and rarely interacted with her

neighbors.

Lastly, mental alienation is yet another kind of distancing that both of these narratives

shares. Both the woman and her husband in “the yellow wallpaper” are mentally alienated given

the fact that they live in denial. In line 25, the woman says “I get angry at John unreasonable”.

She proceeds to say that, “ I am very certain that I was never this sensitive (Lawn, 187).” This is

the most obvious feeling that all people would have given the conditions that this woman thrives

in. her husband laughs at her and put her in some makeshift asylum. Yet, the woman denies her

feeling and thereby alienates herself from the normal human feeling. On the other hand, John in

spite of being a physician is in denial about the condition of his wife. Similarly, Mrs. Mallard

mentally alienated. The author of “the story of an hour “portrays how she was trapped in

unsatisfying and unproductive reality because of her thought of being exploited and dominated

(Lawn, 253). She did not accept the reality that during her time, the place of women was
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normally at home. Yet, when her husband died, she was sad and relieved. “Free! Soul and body

free (Lawn, 167).” This is not the usual reaction a mentally sound person could have.

Conclusion:

In sum, the theme alienation is a common factor as far as “The yellow Wallpaper” and

“The story of an hour” is concerned. As this paper shows, social, physical, as well as, mental

alienation is intertwined in the lives of various characters in these stories.

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Work cited:

Lawn, Beverly. 40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology. Boston, MA: Bedford/St.

Martin's, 2013. Print.