The Yellow Wallpaper is a story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman as has played a central in understanding American feminist literature. The New England Magazine published the story for the first time in 1892. The Yellow Wallpaper describes the story of a depressed woman who is forbidden from working. Her husband, John, encourages her to eat and exercise well to avoid getting into this condition of depression (Trinastic 1). On the other hand, The Tell-Tale Heart was written by Edgar Allan Poe. The story was published for the first time in 1843. In this story, the narrator describes to his audience how he committed a murder of an old man (Poe et al. 2). The murder is calculated in a careful manner. In a bid to cover up his act, the murderer hides the body under the floorboards. This paper gives a comparison of the narrators in the two stories.
Both stories draw some parallels in the character and demeanor of the narrators. In the Yellow Wallpaper, we see a woman who is desperately struggling to come out of her current situation. The narrator is in a state of mental depression. Not only is the narrator lonely, but she is also bored because she is under instruction to remain indoors and do nothing (Trinastic 3). Her husband, John, fails to pay attention to concerns of his wife and often disregards her opinion. The state of mental depression and loneliness also manifests in the Tell-Tale Heart. In this story, paranoia and mental depression leads the narrator into killing an old man who he describes as ‘vulture-eyed’. The story sheds light on the psychological contradictions that characterizes the profile of the murderer. The narrator confesses that he is nervous but refuses to be described as mad (Poe et al. 2). The narrator perceives his hypersensitive nature as an evidence of his sanity but not as a sign of his insanity.
Both stories depict the narrators as composed and calm despite the evidence of mental retardation in them. In the Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator discovers passion in writing a story. Having been confined to loneliness, her imagination increases. The narrator begins to write about the room and its yellow wall paper. Soon, she realizes some strange features in the wall paper which depicts a woman who is struggling to get out from behind a main pattern (Trinastic 6). The unique resemblances between the women in the wall paper and the narrator confirm that the narrator is facing a similar situation as the woman in the wall paper. On the other hand, the narrator in the Tell-Tale Heart appears composed when the police arrives in the house.
Both stories reveal the solitude that both narrators seem to enjoy in their psychological state. The narrator in the Yellow Wallpaper is forced to stop writing when John and Jenny approaches. Moments before killing the old man, the narrator in the Tell-Tale Heart reminds his audience about the fear of the murderer. He wants to kill but he is afraid that the neighbor might hear the loud sound. In both scenarios, the narrators explore the fears of the woman and the man in carrying out their intentions freely.
Despite the similarities in the two stories, there exist few differences. While the Yellow Wallpaper explores the predicaments of a woman in a state of mental depression, the Tell-Tale Heart features a man who has just murdered an old man in a perceived state of mental depression. The Yellow Wallpaper reveals the plight of women when in the hands of callous and insensitive husbands like John. The Tell-Tale Heart reveals the tragedy of human conscience when the murderer surrenders to the police for his despicable act.
I compare myself to the narrator in the Yellow Wallpaper. Her journal is in rich literary images and devices. She describes the grandeur of the house in a way that leaves her audience yearning for more description. I exhibit this way of description because like the narrator, I use romantic terms to capture the imagination of my audience. The narrator intelligently chooses her words to describe her situation. From the yellow wallpaper to the ‘rings and things’ she observes in the bedroom walls, the narrator makes us wonder why this house had not been occupied for long. Her deep creative ability fits the person I am.
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar Allan, Charles Baudelaire, and Albert Anderegg. "The Tell-Tale Heart." (2013).
Print.
Trinastic, Michael K. The Yellow Wallpaper. Diss. Duke University, 2011. Print.
