The Yellow Wallpaper And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Women have a profound role in not only the society, but in all facets of culture. Their impact can be seen/felt in music, fashion, and even literature. After reading the short stories from the last few weeks, it has become more apparent that women truly encompass a definite role as well in gothic fiction. As a result, this paper will seek to analyze and define the roles of women in two (2) prominent gothic fiction pieces: â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Edgar Allen Poe’s â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher.† Many women in gothic fiction suffer from suppression primarily from men either those in their lives, or at the hands of dominant men in the society, who typically hold the power. Perkins-Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow†¦show more content†¦Though the narrator hopes for a life absent of solitude, she seems to acquiesce her position and take her current sentence of servitude as her lot in life. She does, however, wish for a more exciting, appealing life. She questions herself several times within the story almost rhetorically asking, And what can one do? ,What is one to do?, and But what is one to do? She knows what she wants to do, but knows that it will never be possible for her to do. Though written by a male author, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† also represents an important role for women, which in many ways contrasts that of the women in the aforementioned story, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper.† In Edgar Allen Poe’s work, there seems to be a dawning of the day/evolving role of women from that of servitude and oppression to one of liberation and enlightenment. Madeline Usher, sister to the main character, Roderick Usher, serves as the face of the evolving role of women. Instead of sitting back and allowing the men of the society, as well as her brother push her around, Madeline uses her power to seemingly give herself a seat at the table of control. She even forces Roderick to seemingly have to depend on her! Ultimately, Madeline brings down Roderick, the house of Usher, and ends the Usher bloodline. This opposing view of women is quite different from other gothic fiction short stories. She seems to reject the stereotypical role of womenS how MoreRelatedThe Fall Of The House Of Usher And The Yellow Wallpaper1908 Words   |  8 Pagesthis. In the short stories, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† by Edgar Allen Poe, and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Gilman, both represent Poe and Gilman’s mental illnesses within themselves. The two authors’ mental illnesses impacted their main characters and made them as if they were that person playing the part. Both Poe and Gilman suffered from two different types of depressions throughout their life. In the â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher,† Roderick Usher and his family suffer from an evilRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper And The Fall Of The House Of Usher1328 Words   |  6 Pagesare still women in the world that believe in the â€Å"traditional way† and prefer to still wait on their husbands. Even make them some sandwiches! Some texts that specifically analyze women’s roles are â€Å"A Rose for Emily†,  "The Yellow Wallpaper†, and â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher.† Throughout these texts, someone can easily argue the role of women during that time. The role of women in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† are very different from the role of men due to their actions and what they believe in. When theRead Moreâ€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†: A Comparison Introduction2266 Words   |  10 Pages â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†: A Comparison Introduction Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† has received wide praise for its accurate depiction of madness and the symptoms attributed to mental breakdowns (Shumaker 1985).  Ã‚   While these symptoms may seem obvious from today’s psychological perspective, Gilman was writing at the close of the 19th century when the discipline of psychology was still emerging out of a rudimentary psychiatric approach to treatingRead MorePerception of Events in The Yellow Wallpaper and The Fall of the House of Usher934 Words   |  4 PagesPerception of Events in The Yellow Wallpaper and The Fall of the House of Usher When literature first began to take flight in America, many of the stories written were of the Gothic variety. American society, at the time, seemed to connect with fantasy and reality, therefore many early writers wrote in the Gothic style. Most of these Gothic stories feature characters whose perceptions of themselves and the world around them are abnormal due to drug use, being in a dream state, or simply justRead MoreWomen During The 18th Century1247 Words   |  5 Pagesnot always have equal rights. In the 18th century women were mainly defined by their family and household roles. The woman did not really have legal identity apart from their husbands. Women were look at as slaves because all they did was be at the house and satisfy their husbands in what they wanted. Men would have total control over his wife’s property. The woman also did not have the right to vote unlike men. Some things that women did not have the right of was to vote, own property, could not sitRe ad MoreStories2682 Words   |  11 PagesUNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH FOR EXAMINATION IN JUNE AND NOVEMBER 2010, 2011 AND 2012 CONTENTS Introduction: How to use these notes 1. The Signalman Charles Dickens 2. The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman 3. How It Happened Arthur Conan Doyle 4. There Will Come Soft Rains Ray Bradbury 5. Meteor John Wyndham 6. The Lemon Orchard Alex la Guma 7. Secrets Bernard MacLaverty 8. The Taste of Watermelon Borden DealRead MoreAs English Short Stories Summary2723 Words   |  11 PagesSTUDY FROM STORIES OF OURSELVES: THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH FOR EXAMINATION IN JUNE AND NOVEMBER 2010, 2011 AND 2012 CONTENTS Introduction: How to use these notes 1. The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allen Poe 2. The Open Boat Stephen Crane 3. The Door in the Wall HG Wells 4. The People Before Maurice Shadbolt 5. A Horse and Two Goats RK Narayan 6. Journey Patricia Grace 7. To Da-Duh, In Memoriam Paule Marshall 8. Of White HairsRead MoreAnalysis of â€Å"Dark Shadows† as a Gothic Masterpiece2169 Words   |  9 Pagesas murder, groans, blood, or even an apparition. Even today, there are video games that have these Gothic tropes. According to Kirkland, games such as Silent Hill have â€Å"gloomy settings with a sense of forthcoming violence, spaces such as a haunted house, tombs and prisons, the contaminating influence of family curses, and revenge-driven ghosts† (107). These tropes have endured across time due to their effect on the human mind. And this can be seen no more than in Burton’s film, the 2012 version, DarkRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesmanipulate their settings as a means of arousing the reader’s expectations and establishing an appropriate state of mind for events to come. No author is more adept in this respect that Edgar Allan Poe. In the following passage from The Fall of the House of Usher, the narra tor first enters Roderick Usher’s room. Notice how Poe not only provides the details of setting, but tells the reader just how to respond to them: The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty. The windows were long