Comparing ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ with ‘Hop Frog’ Essay

The Yellow cover and skim frog were both written at a time of social turbulence and revolution. Poe wrote jump capture twelve years prior to the Ameri stinker courteous war, so it is fitting that many of the ideas in the account state manpowert carry a strong anti-sla real message. Similarly, The Yellow cover was written in 1892 just before the climax of equal- compensates for women. Gillmans The Yellow Wallpaper is wholeness of the azoic feminist texts in which her writing criticises the baffle that women were laden into and the ignorance of society as a whole. Both Gillman and Poe fervor fiercely these ideas that were both upheld and willingly accepted by the majority of society. These cardinal settings immediately portray the two central timbers, a womanhood and a slave, as two of an unheard minority, who were subjected to an unjust, patriarchic world.One of the main correspondingities between Hop frog and The Yellow Wallpaper is the atmosphere of each of the stories. Both atomic number 18 hatred stories are very dark, and guide a horror genre, however Hop toad frog is in any case similar to a fairy tale in that it is quite unbelievable, and where Hop Frogs purlieu are fantasy, the cashiers surroundings are quite real. Despite their residuums, both of the storys surroundings and atmosphere are symbolical of the way the central character is detecting or being treated. For example, gula and taintedion of the force and his ministers surround Hop Frog and Poes darkly vivid descriptions of these reflect the witticism of Hop-Frog.The oily ministers and a corpulent king sound simply grotesque and fill the reader with a sort of stomach churning unease and tension at the treatment of Hop Frog. The corruptness and gluttony is hugely significant as it shows us the danger and easiness of becoming influenced and eventually corrupted by greed and alcohol. The fabricator of The Yellow Wallpaper has instead a room. It is describes as hav ing barred widows and a nailed mow 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 fabricator, becoming more(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) and more horrible as the story progresses.By the repetitive use of the word, joke in the first split Poe emphasises the discomfort of Hop Frog as well as achieving a hugely tense atmosphere. This makes the reader, who realises that this plainly 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 wind upures. 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(a) idea to another. These short sentences show the alertness of the storytellers mind as well as her increasing hysteria as she is left with no stimulation other than her hol d thoughts. As the story progresses the narrators madness grows and consequently her surroundings become more and more an extension of her proclaim shadowmarish vision, eventually becoming as fantastical as Hop Frogs.Through away the story, the paper in the room is a metaphor for the narrators illness 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, sh receive when the narrator says I dont akin our room and asks earth-closet Let us go on a lower floor, is indicative of her motive to get better and her rejection of insanity. The wallpaper is described as having a sickly process tint, representing her illness, and appears to grow, fungus and toadstools suggests that her illness is growing, whilst Budding and sprouting suggest the continuity of this growth. Despite the fact that the images of the wallpaper reject as time goes on, the narrator qu ickly becomes obsessed by it, sp mop up 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, outside of her barred windows lies the garden. In contrast to the wallpaper, the garden represents the narrators hope of freedom. The garden is described as delicious and where everything in the wallpaper is bad and infectious, everything in the garden is true and healing. However the narrator is locked international with her illness and is futile to reach the garden, which holds the key to her freedom, How I wish he derriere 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 husband pot.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 diddlyshitting as our king, turning into a tyrant and becoming finally a monster. By describing the king in this way, the reader is not only made to feel mankindity for Hop Frog by portraying him as a powerless victim of this cruel abuse, entirely also make us forgive his final act of revenge, which is in fact utterly terrible.The pouf and his ministers are abusive and exploitative towards Hop Frog and Trippetta. Poe illustrates this particularly by the reference to alcohol, The king takes favor of Hop Frogs intolerance to wine it excited the poor cripple almost to madness and sadistically he took pleasure in forcing the cripple to drink. Poe describes how Hop Frog was obligate to be funny as it was th e poor dwarfs birth twenty-four hours and he is made to obey the command to drink to absent friends, which forced tears to his look. This is incredibly ironic, as Hop Frog is not with his friend because 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, leaving 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, only more so, showing her wish not to be sent to him. John also keeps the narrator away from human cutaneous senses, starving her of any stimulation or interaction. Despite his obvious love for her he treats her like a possession, this is shown when he fails to regard her as a human being by addressing her as she as if she isnt even there.This also symbolises the fact that he has slowly removed her ide ntity. John regards his wife with bittie 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 older than five. John also shows himself to be really rather selfish when he implores her get well for me. Despite everything, we have to commit that John really does love his wife and wants to help her. But it is finished 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 portrayed as an extremely bright creative woman, despite 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 forbidden to work. The narrator herself tells us herself that excitement and change would do me just. Instead of exciteme nt 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 enormous amount of pent up energy which, when have 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 within 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 comfor sidestep feeling.In both stories the position of women is severely criticized. In Hop Frog, Trippettas position as both a slave and a woman is exploited. Her grace and exqu isite truelove 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 goblet 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 19th 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 lifetime 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 and 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 daybook 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 society about post-natal depression and the fact that no one is prepared to accept what the narrator is suffering from. Her c ase is not serious we are told. The result of this ignorance is that the narrators condition is not cured but instead made worse. She is taken for a rilievo cure and deprived of interaction with people and stimulation. Her creativity is crushed when she is forbidden to write. This inability to express herself, had appalling consequences instead of recovering 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 appearance 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, Gillman attacks an extremely patriarchal society. She criticises the lack of respect for women and shows h er 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 tie 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 barbarous region and sent, as presents to the king. This is reminiscent of the smear 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 cost a possible. The reality of what faced them ahead was a harsh, cruel life of constant work with no freedom o r 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 unjustness is shown in the story by the forces 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 food 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 thusly 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 someplace between a leap and a wriggle. Despite this Hop Frogs economic value was trebled in the eyes of the king and the king, who live only for joking exploits Hop Frogs tangible di sabilities. It is therefor ironic that Hop Frog becomes the court frivol away 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 putting it down to the woman. But by the end, she is telling us how she is creeping round 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, despite her feminist views, was be quiet a woman in the nineteenth century.She did she want to demonize her character by making her come to her husband no could she afford to openly state that the husband was literally overpowered by his wife. Gillman would not want to upset her feminist audience either, who would be outraged if the narrator killed herself due to the fact that she is such a powerful symbol of a woman wanting to rebel against her oppression. For her to commit suicide 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 character who despite becoming insane, is finally happy and tells us with utter satisfaction I got out. Whatever th e reason for this ending, there is no doubt that despite the fact that this ending is truly dire 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 mannequiner 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 infernal and evil. He achieves his freedom by brutally killing the King and his ministers. Under the guise of the stupid fool he tricks the king and 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 wherefore chained them together to become the eight chained orangutans. Hop frog shows himself to be very quick-witted 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 botch, 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 testy noise 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 picture as that of the narrator. Hop frog rising up against the king is a complete turnabout 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 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. Perhaps 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.