The Yellow Wallpaper and the Mark on the Wall - Essay Example

Virginia Woolf was one of the English Women who pioneered the field of modern literature. Woolf is attributed to have written and published a lot of essays, short stories and novels. Woolf’s active years in literature climaxed during the 1920s when she pushed novels such as To the Lighthouse, Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and among others. The two essays were written from the perspectives of two women, who are also the narrators in the stories. This paper provides a compare and contrast analysis of the two essays “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Mark on the Wall”.

The two essays compare in that they have been written in a first person narration. It is evident that both Virginia Woolf and Charlotte Perkins Gilman have written the essays while at the same time narrating their stories. The two authors, also compare since they have centered their theme on addressing social concerns, which women experienced during the time they wrote the essays. The narrators of the two essays seem to be in deep contemplation of the current state of life. The narrators embark on providing details on the immediate environment surrounding them.

The mentioned details are things in their background such as furniture and walls. Additionally, for the narrator in “the yellow wall paper” she gives details on the actual yellow wallpaper she is seeing (Gilman 1), while the narrator in “mark on the wall” describes the mark, which happen to be a snail (Woolf 8). Their contemplations compare since both narrators see their lives as either being suppressed or sidelined. The issue of men dominance, the narrator in “the yellow wall paper”, mentions that “…I am…absolutely forbidden to work…until I am well” (Gilman 1).

However, according to the narrator she disagrees with ideas from the two men who subject her in dominance. The two men are his husband and his brother she asserts that “…congenial work… with excitement… change…would do me good” (Gilman 2). is also common in the two essays because the narrators state. On the other hand, in the essay “the mark on the wall”, the narrator points out men dominance when she states “…Hell and so forth…leaving us…with intoxicating sense of illegitimate freedom…if freedom exists…” (Woolf 7).

The two essays also compare since the narrators focus their minds on an imaginary place whereby their femininity, freedom and creativity are guaranteed. The two women writers, ultimately compare since they successfully address the plight of women through the powerful voice of literature. Another comparison comes from the fact that both narrators have experienced mental problems in there real lives. One of the main contrasts between the essays”The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Mark on the Wall” lies on how they have been narrated.

The narration of the story” The Yellow Wallpaper” is aided by characters close to the narrator his husband, John and brother. She says “John is a physician…my brother is a physician” (Gilman 1). In the, “Mark on the Wall” it is different in that the narrator does not seem to rely on a direct conversation with other characters since the narration is based on ideas coming from her mind (Woolf 3). In the “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator faces conflict between her inner desires, which entail her nature and creativity and her husband’s opinion of her.

She writes “John…has no patience with faith…intense horror of superstition…scoffs openly on …