The oppression of women in Chopin's Story of an Hour and Gilman's Yellow Wallpaper"The Story of an Hour ” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman shares the same view of the subordinate position of women in the late 1800s. Both stories demonstrate the devastating effects on the mind and body that result from an intelligent person living with and accepts the will imposed by another. This essay will attempt to make their themes evident by examining a brief summary of their stories and connecting them to their personal stories. It will further reveal this theme through analyzing the setting, visual and conceptual symbolism, and exploring the relationships between the characters in each story. In "The Story of an Hour," we are told that Louise has a bad heart problem. A family friend discovered that there was a bad accident at her husband's work and he is on the list of deceased. Louise's sister carefully tells her this distressing news; However, instead of falling apart, Louise finds herself feeling like she has a new lease on life because she will finally be able to live for herself. Suddenly, her husband comes through the door and, shocked, Louise dies of a heart attack. The doctor says it came from "a joy that kills" (341-342). In "The Yellow Wallpaper", the main character is trying to recover from a nervous disorder. Her doctor prescribes the "rest cure" which allows her to do nothing: no household chores, no writing and no visits to family or friends. She can't even play with her baby. Her husband insists that she stay in an upstairs room and she eventually goes mad. Both Chopin and Gilman borrow from real events in their lives when writing these stories. Kat...... in the center of the paper......V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc. Simon Schuster/ A Viacom Company, 1998. 542-553. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "Why did I write? The yellow background?" Ed. Caterina Lavanda; The College of Staten Island of the City University of New York, Fall Semester, October 1997. (January 25, 1999) http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/whyyw.htmlMcChristie, Pat . “Women Need to Work” Copyright: 1998. Cyberwoman (January 30, 1999) http://www.cyberparent.com/women/needwork.htm Wyatt, Neal “Kate Chopin Biography” English 384: Women Writers. Ed. Ann M. Woodlief Copyright: 1998, Virginia Commonwealth University. (January 26, 1999) http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/katebio.htm"Why do women leave marriage in droves?" Marriage. Copyright: 1998. Cyberwoman (January 30, 1999) http://www.cyberparent.com/women/marriage1.htm