Compare the ways in which Charlotte Perkins Gilman's - Essay Example

The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Turn of the Screw” “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Turn of the Screw” Ever since thefifteenth century the literary world has proved to be a great source for people to learn and strive accordingly. Different topics have been put forward by the authors of literature so that the people can understand the basics of different topics. Authors have previously used literature as a tool to put forward their thoughts regarding the culture prevailing in the society. It was at such a time that two authors tried to put forward their thoughts regarding the situation of females in the world. Charlotte Perkins Gillman and Henry James have both used their literary works to portray female protagonists as individuals who are suffering at the hands of the society. Both these literary works were published in a time when the feminist movement was about to start. In one way or the other the authors have portrayed a downfall of the female protagonists in both the literary works with regard to their downfall in the real life. This essay would further compare the ways in which these female protagonists have been portrayed within the works (Henry 2008; Gilman 1973). The Yellow Wallpaper is a story written by Gillman that revolves around a female who is having some psychological problem after her marriage and delivery. She is the wife of a physician who believes that she is struck into a neurological disorder after giving birth to a child. Due to her neurologic stress she has been advised to be bed ridden without doing any sort of work. However this stress gets up to her and she starts writing about the things that are around her. She notices this yellow wallpaper in her room and begins to get menacing thoughts about it. It is here that female protagonist in this work is about to go down. Noticing the wallpaper has brought a change in the life of the female protagonist as she keeps wondering about it. Her husband tries to intervene in the process and resolve her problems but all his tries are in vain. It is after this that the protagonist starts viewing the wallpaper as an imagination that has a whole world inside it. She eventually sees different things from the wallpaper and visions a woman who is trapped inside. In the end she tears off the whole wallpaper of the room and starts running inside the room in circles. It is here that her husband enters to find her in this condition and gets unconscious soon after (Gilman 1973; Thrailkill 2002). Similarly The Turn of the Screw is written by Henry James which revolves around a female protagonist serving as a governess for two children Flora and Miles. While she is serving these two children she witnesses some kind of evil forces acting against these children but does not try to remove them. She sees the ghosts of the previous governess who used to work in the same house and a valet. When she witnesses these ghosts for the first time the downfall of the character can be clearly witnessed in the story. In the end she does not try to avoid these ghosts and rather ends up in getting Miles physically damaged by these ghosts (Henry 2008). It can be clearly seen that both the protagonists in the story are somehow mentally ill as they can see things which are not present at the moment. In the Yellow Wallpaper the protagonist visions a woman inside the wallpaper even though she is not even present in there. She envisions herself in the wallpaper as she thinks that she is being trapped by the world of the worldly pleasures. Similarly the protagonist in The Turn of the Screw also witnesses these ghosts which are denied by other people. She is losing her vision about reality as she is getting into her own world. In the Yellow Wallpaper the female protagonist envisions different things about the wallpaper which do not exist. She tries to scratch the wallpaper because of the different shapes that it transforms into. Although the wallpaper remains same in the story she believes that the wallpaper keeps changing under different conditions. She denies the feelings of her husband and believes that he is also trapping her inside. Similarly the protagonist in The Turn of the Screw also denies the versions put forward by the children regarding the ghosts. It can be clearly seen that both the protagonists are denying the facts because of their mental state (Thraikill 2002; Toibin 2009). Moreover it can also be analyzed that both the females have given up their lives because of unknown reasons. It can be seen that both the women tend to move away from the rules of the reality and fall into their own world. This can be compared to the real life situation of females as they were moving into a new world where the females would lead. Imagination of both the protagonists was almost the same as both of them wanted to remain free in a world full of conflicts. The authors have put forward through these characters that the females should have a part in the world too or they would end up in a mental asylum (Toibin 2009; Thrailkill 2002). Although both these protagonists were mentally ill they cannot be said to be defeated in both the stories. In the Yellow Wallpaper the protagonist succeeded in wiping off the wallpaper from the room and letting go off the woman that was trapped inside. In the end she was a free woman in the reality that she had formed within herself. It clearly shows that she wanted freedom and did not want to remain in a world which had so many problems. Similarly the protagonist in The Turn of the Screw also turned out to be triumphant in her claim as she did not give up against the ghosts. She fought till the end and had a firm belief in her views. She tried saving Miles in the end too but the physical harm could not have been avoided by her alone. Although she did make some mistakes by not contacting the necessary people regarding the problem but she still fought for something in which she firmly believed. References Top of Form GILMAN, C. P. (1973). The yellow wallpaper. [New York], Feminist Press.Bottom of FormTop of Form JAMES, HENRY. (2008). The Turn of the Screw. Paw Prints.Top of Form TÓIBÍN, C. (2009). Pure Evil: "The Turn of the Screw".The Henry James Review. 30, 237-240.Top of Form THRAILKILL, J. F. (2002). Doctoring "The Yellow Wallpaper". ELH. 69, 525-566. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More