Comparing The Yellow Wallpaper with Hop Frog Essay Example for Free

Comparing The fair-livered cover with hop salientian EssayThe yellow Wallpaper and skip over toad frog were both written at a quantify of social turbulence and revolution. Poe wrote skitter Frog twelve years prior to the American civil war, so it is fitting that many of the ideas in the re rearation carry a strong anti- break hotshots backry message. Similarly, The color Wallpaper was written in 1892 just before the finish of equal-rights for women. Gillmans The Yellow Wallpaper is one of the early feminist texts in which her writing criticises the position that women were oppressed into and the ignorance of friendship as a whole. twain Gillman and Poe attack fiercely these ideas that were both upheld and volitionally accepted by the legal age of society. These two settings immediately portray the two central characters, a womanhood and a striver, as two of an unheard minority, who were subjected to an unjust, patriarchal world.One of the main similarities betw een bound off Frog and The Yellow Wallpaper is the asynchronous transfer mode of each of the stories. Both argon horror stories argon very dark, and have a horror genre, that hop-skip Frog is also similar to a fairy tale in that it is quite unbelievable, and where jump Frogs surroundings are fantasy, the bank clerks surroundings are quite real. in spite of their differences, both of the novels surroundings and atmosphere are symbolic of the elan the central character is feeling or creation treated. For example, gluttony and corruption of the business leader and his ministers surround skitter Frog and Poes darkly vivid descriptions of these reflect the mood of skitter-Frog.The oily ministers and a heavy force sound simply grotesque and fill the referee with a sort of stomach roiled un rest and tension at the treatment of pass over Frog. The corruptness and gluttony is hugely significant as it introduces us the danger and easiness of becoming influenced and eventua lly corrupted by greed and alcohol. The teller of The Yellow Wallpaper has instead a style. It is describes as having barred widows and a nailed f cast aside bed, which give the impression of a prison rather than a place to become well again in. In fact the room actually does become a prison for the narrator, becoming to a greater extent and more than horrible as the story progresses.By the repetitive use of the word, joke in the first off paragraph Poe emphasises the discomfort of Hop Frog as well as achieving a hugely tense atmosphere. This makes the proofreader, who realises that this foreseemingly jovial and harmless behaviour of the king and his courtiers is in fact, a lot more damaging and sinister, feel the tension and discomfort that Hop Frog endures. Like Hop Frog, The Yellow Wallpaper also has a tense atmosphere achieved by the speeded up pace of the story and the very short sentences, which flit from one idea to another. These short sentences show the alertness o f the narrators mind as well as her increasing madness as she is left with no stimulation other than her own thoughts. As the story progresses the narrators madness grows and consequently her surroundings become more and more an extension of her own nightmarish imagination, eventually becoming as fantastical as Hop Frogs.Throughout the story, the wallpaper in the room is a metaphor for the narrators complaint and as her insanity grows, the wallpaper becomes more and more hideous. At the beginning of the story, it is described as horrible wallpaper. Her initial rejection of the wallpaper, shown when the narrator says I dont like our room and asks toilette Let us go downstairs, is indicative of her indispensability to get conk out and her rejection of insanity. The wallpaper is described as having a sickly sulphur tint, representing her illness, and appears to grow, fungus and toadstools bespeaks that her illness is growing, whilst Budding and sprouting suggest the continuity of this growth. Despite the fact that the images of the wallpaper worsen as time goes on, the narrator quickly becomes preoccupy by it, spending hours studying it.The narrator describes how It dwells on my mind so. Eventually, the narrator becomes so mad, that it is as if she is schizophrenic. She begins to see herself in the wallpaper as a woman, stooping down and creeping behind the pattern. As time progresses, the faint woman becomes clearer and stronger as the narrator becomes weaker. This shows her sane self, losing the battle to her insane self. Despite the awful surroundings, away of her barred windows lies the garden. In contrast to the wallpaper, the garden represents the narrators hope of emancipation. The garden is described as delicious and where everything in the wallpaper is bad and infectious, everything in the garden is honourable and healing. However the narrator is locked away with her illness and is unable to reach the garden, which holds the key to her freed om, How I wish he keister would let me go she tells us. This creates dramatic irony, as everyone knows what the narrator needs, including the narrator herself, except the narrators own economise fundament.Just as the wallpaper and the narrators madness increase as the story progresses, the behavior of the king towards Hop Frog worsens. This is shown by Poes descriptions of the king, s pitchingting as our king, turning into a tyrant and becoming finally a monster. By describing the king in this way, the reader is not except made to feel sympathy for Hop Frog by portraying him as a impotent victim of this cruel abuse, but also make us forgive his final act of revenge, which is in fact utterly terrible.The King and his ministers are abusive and exploitative towards Hop Frog and Trippetta. Poe illustrates this particularly by the reference to alcohol, The king takes advantage of Hop Frogs intolerance to wine it excited the poor weaken well-nigh to madness and sadistically he took pleasure in forcing the cripple to drink. Poe describes how Hop Frog was squeeze to be grand as it was the poor dwarfs birthday and he is made to obey the command to drink to absent friends, which strained tears to his eyes. This is incredibly ironic, as Hop Frog is not with his friend be get under ones skin he is a slave in the court of the king.In the yellow wallpaper, the narrators monster is her own husband, John, a physician. He ignorantly suffocates his wife, difference her with no option but to escape into her own madness. He threatens her with Weir Mitchell who was renowned for treating women with this temporary nervousness. The narrator describes how he is like john and my brother, tho more so, showing her wish not to be sent to him. John also keeps the narrator away from human contact, starving her of any stimulation or interaction. Despite his evident love for her he treats her like a possession, this is shown when he fails to regard her as a human being by address ing her as she as if she isnt even there.This also symbolises the fact that he has slowly removed her identity. John regards his wife with scant(p) more intelligence than a child, shown by his constantly patronising tone. He calls her little goose and little girl as well as remarking bless her as if she is little sure-enough(a) than five. John also shows himself to be really rather selfish when he implores her get well for me. Despite everything, we have to believe that John really does love his wife and wants to help her. But it is through John that Gillman makes a very poignant observation of the way in which society treats women, pointing out the real danger of ignorance.The Narrator in The Yellow wallpaper is visualized as an extremely bright creative woman, in spite of the way John regards her. She expresses her thoughts and releases some of the energy that she is so full of through writing. However John forbids that she should write, the narrator tells us I am absolutely f orbidden to work. The narrator herself tells us herself that excitement and change would do me good. Instead of excitement and change the narrator is confined to her bed and made to sleep most of the day I lie down ever so much now, John thinks its good for me.However, it is not good for her and the narrator describes how I dont sleep much at night, showing the disturbance of her mind. This results in the narrator having an colossal amount of pent up energy which, when combined with her inability to express herself creates enormous tension in the story. As the narrator searches frantically for an outlet for her imagination she inevitably becomes mad seeking the much-needed stimulation indoors the wallpaper. The narrators inability to express herself can be compared with Hop Frogs loss of control to the king when he is forced to drink. Hop Frog is described as being driven to madness by the wine, and madness Poe reminds us is no comfortable feeling.In both stories the position of w omen is severely criticized. In Hop Frog, Trippettas position as both a slave and a woman is exploited. Her grace and exquisite beauty is described as being universally admired. Poe describes how she was admired and petted suggesting the shocking abuse she is subject to. Poe describes how the king threw the entire contents of the chalice in her face, suggesting the complete humiliation that she suffered. In The Yellow Wallpaper, we are introduced to Jennie who is the sister of John.She is described as a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper. Typically of a nineteenth century Lady, Jennie is subservient accepting her position willingly and gratefully. Gillman describes how she hopes for no better profession. Jennie represents the women of society who have grown to accept and are either to weak or to scared to rebel against a life that is no better than that of a slaves. The narrators position as a woman is very similar to Hop Frogs. She is treated as a possession by her husband John a nd is seen to have no real opinions or views. She describes how the heads that she sees are strangled by the wallpaper, turns them up side down and turns their eyes white. This is very much inactive of the way both she and the other women of society feel suffocated and oppressed by their position.Both stories are written in first person narrative, which makes them a lot more personal. Hop Frog is told by an anonymous Narrator, an onlooker, whilst The Yellow Wallpaper is written like a journal with the narrator, a woman suffering from post-natal depression being the central character. Semi-Autobiographical, the story is loosely based on Perkins own experiences. The narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper remains nameless meaning that the narrator could be any woman in society. It is also a metaphor for the identity that has been lost through her illness and the ignorance of her husband, John.Both the characters are the victims of ignorance. The Yellow Wallpaper shows the ignorance of societ y about post-natal depression and the fact that no one is prepared to accept what the narrator is suffering from. Her case is not serious we are told. The result of this ignorance is that the narrators presumption is not cured but instead made worse. She is taken for a rest cure and strip of interaction with people and stimulation. Her creativity is crushed when she is forbidden to write. This inability to express herself, had dire consequences instead of get she instead she begins to descend further and further into her own madness. The wallpaper in her room, which gradually becomes more and more disturbing as her madness increases, shows this. This can be compared to Hop Frog who because of his difference in demeanor is treated appallingly.The central characters of each story are portrayed as prisoners the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper is portrayed as a prisoner, trapped by her social position as a woman, by her mental illness and by her own husband. Through her story, Gill man attacks an extremely patriarchal society. She criticises the lack of take note for women and shows her anger towards the inability of women to escape from the position they are oppressed to. The room in which the narrator is put in, in order to rest and recover from her illness is very much symbolic of her imprisonment. It is described as having barred windows and the bedstead as iron, heavy and nailed to the ground representing her being tied down. The fact that the room was a nursery first, is very ironic Firstly because she has no contact with her own baby and secondly because she has literally been reduced to the position of a child.Similarly, Hop Frog and his fiend Trippetta are salves, whom Poe tells us, were forcibly carried off from their deplorable region and sent, as presents to the king. This is reminiscent of the situation of many black slaves who were taken from Africa to the west at this time, in order to further the endeavours of rich, greedy men at as low a cos t a achievable. The reality of what faced them ahead was a harsh, cruel life of constant work with no freedom or rights as a human being. However, it is surely wrong that one person should have freedom whilst another is an enslaved possession because they are different. This injustice is shown in the story by the Kings inability to accept Hop Frog as a person, in appearance he is different and so is treated as an object, a possession. Poe describes him as a monkey and a squirrel and suggest that Hop Frog is begging for provender crumbs from the royal table. The result this is that Hop Frog is shown to be like a begging animal which serves to ease the Kings conscience at mocking Hop Frog, if he is not a person then he does not have feelings.Both Hop Frog and Trippetta are dwarfed and Hop Frog is a cripple and Walks with an interjectional gait, which comes across as quite funny when it is further described as somewhere between a leap and a wriggle. Despite this Hop Frogs value was trebled in the eyes of the king and the king, who live only for joking exploits Hop Frogs physical disabilities. It is therefor ironic that Hop Frog becomes the court fool which is a metaphor for the fact that he is laughed at by the King. The idea of Hop Frog being mocked for the way he walks is shocking and through this Poe shows the unease of society at the treatment of the slaves. The Kings immoral behaviour mirrors that of the slave traders in America and Europe. Hop Frogs physical disability can be compared to the narrators madness.The endings of each story are hugely significant and it is perhaps through the ending that we see the characters in their true light. Throughout The Yellow Wallpaper the narrator has drifted in and out of her sane mind, she tells us once I always lock the door before I creep. Up until this point the narrator has not accepted that it is herself who is creeping, instead lay it down to the woman. But by the end, she is telling us how she is creeping r ound and round and round the room. Both a rope and an axe are mentioned, and John faints when he sees the destruction of the room and of his wife. It is quite possible that either of them are dead, however Gillman leaves the ending ambiguous. As well as amplifying the uncertainty of the woman, this could also be down to the fact that Gillman, notwithstanding her feminist views, was still a woman in the nineteenth century.She did she want to demonize her character by making her murder her husband no could she make to openly utter that the husband was literally overpowered by his wife. Gillman would not want to upset her feminist audience either, who would be outrage if the narrator killed herself due to the fact that she is such a powerful symbol of a woman wanting(p) to rebel against her oppression. For her to commit self-annihilation would dishearten a lot of these women as it would look as if suicide was the only way out. It seems as if this ending was right for the characte r who despite becoming insane, is finally ingenious and tells us with utter satisfaction I got out. Whatever the reason for this ending, there is no doubt that despite the fact that this ending is truly horrific it also comes with a degree of relief. For with the narrators madness comes freedom, and more importantly, the woman finds her identity. Ironically this is not her former self, who is finally named as Jane, but another person her insanity.Whilst The Yellow Wallpaper remains ambiguous, the ending of Hop frog is completely literal. Because eof the fact that Poe is a man, he can afford to take more liberties that perhaps Gillman was unable to take. He can openly humiliate and torture the king and the court, who represent the corrupt monarchy an important part of society, and appear to get away with this. Hop Frog is portrayed as demonic and evil. He achieves his freedom by brutally killing the King and his ministers. Under the feigning of the stupid fool he tricks the king an d his ministers into thinking that they are dressing up and covers them in tar and flax. The fact that Poe uses tar and Flax is of great significance as it is symbolic of humiliation and punishment throughout history. Hop Frog then chained them together to become the eight chained orangutans. Hop frog shows himself to be very intelligent when, at the dwarfs suggestion, the keys had been deposited with him, in contrast with the stupidity of the King. Poe describes how the they are humiliated when the chains cause them to fall and stumble, The King and his Ministers have gone form mocking Hop Frog to being mocked themselves Hop Frog then suspends them from the ceiling at the ball and burns them alive.The fact that throughout the story Hop Frog never had the presence that the evil King had means that we would not immediately suspect Hop frog. When the grating hitch was first introduced, the reader did not think that it could be Hop Frog. However at the end when Hop Frog is perched on the rope with the burning king and ministers below him the grating noise came form the fang like teeth of the dwarf, who ground and gnashed them as he foamed at the mouth. This is an insane a television as that of the narrator. Hop frog rising up against the king is a complete reversal of roles, the oppressed has become the oppressor. However how is it possible that Poe can get away with this ending without his central character looking at like the vengeful murder that he has become? It is perhaps because all-thorough the story, the treatment of Hop Frog as well as his situation has been described as Horrendous, horrific and brutal, evoking incredible sympathy in the reader.As if this isnt reason enough, Poe threw in the added ploy of alcohol, which appears to demonize Hop Frog. Therefor when Hop Frog commits this terrible act, he is immediately forgiven whilst we all revel in the torture that the king and his ministers now incur. In the eyes of the reader justice has been done. P erhaps through his ending, Poe is forecasting what is to come, when the black slaves will rise up against their own white oppressors. It is therefor interesting that n order to truly punish and humiliate them, Hop Frog turns them first black. Like Gillman, Poe does not want to demonize the female character, leaving the question of Trippettas involvement up to the reader to answer.