Introduction
The problem of female agency and the constraints that patriarchy has placed on it became particularly prominent in the West in the late 19th-early 20th century. Due to the pressure of sociocultural, as well as socioeconomic and sociopolitical changes, the opportunity for women to add potency, urgency, and convincingness to their voices emerged. Although the women in “A Doll’s House” choose an entirely different approach toward fighting their oppression than the protagonists of “The Story of an Hour,” “The Yellow Wallpaper,” “A Jury of Her Peers,” and “A Rose for Emily,” as well as do not agree on the preferred method themselves, each of the novels in question conveys the necessity for change. Despite the lack of similarity between the characters, each of the novels suggests a similar theme and examines the characters’ reactions toward it, demonstrating the desperate struggle for agency and independence.
Nora and Mrs. Lind
While being seemingly the exact opposite of each other, Nora and Mrs. Linde, in fact, share quite a number of similarities in their marriage, the lack of agency in decision-making due to being fully dependent on their husbands being the primary cause of their tragedy. Despite the fact that the trajectories of their lives are as far from each other as they can get, Mrs. Linde being unhappy yet finally reaching her goals, and Nora bin initially content yet realizing her misery eventually, the two share several crucial characteristics. Namely, even though Mrs. Linde appears to be significantly more confident and being seemingly in charge of her own life, she also reveals to be dependent on her husband: “Nora: ‘How relieved you must feel.’ Mrs. Linde: ‘No, Nora. Just unspeakably empty. No one to live for any more’” (Ibsen). Therefore, although Nora appears to be less eager to address the power imbalance and take charge of her own life compared to much more deceive Mrs. Linde, both have been clearly affected by the absence of the opportunity to make choices for themselves and be independent in their decision-making.
Through the Prism of Other Novels
With the rise in the first-wave feminism movement, the number of perspectives of the desperate situation in which most women in the West found themselves due to the absence of independence and any modicum of freedom and civil rights, other works addressing the specified issue started to emerge. Although these literary works varied in tine, style, and genre, all of them shared the common idea of the urgency to give women a resounding voice in their community. Specifically, one might want to consider The Story of an Hour,” “The Yellow Wallpaper,” “A Jury of Her Peers,” and “A Rose for Emily” as the examples of the analysis of challenges that women have been facing in their endeavors at making their voices count.
Enter Louise Mallard
The lack of choice that makes Nora’s life unbearable is quite close to the experience of the protagonist of “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. Indeed, both women have been experiencing the suffocating environment of their husbands taking complete control over their lives and making decisions for them. Furthermore, both characters come to the realization of their predicament gradually, discovering the lack of their agency step by step: “What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” (Chopin). However, the endings separate both pieces quite drastically, “The Doll House” being triumphant in Nora leaving her overbearing and suffocating husband, whereas Louisa dies, failing to accept the harsh reality of her husband returning.
Narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Compared to the rest of the stories, which prefer to be rather subtle about the problem of sexism and the toll that it takes on women’s agency, “The Yellow Wallpaper” paints a disturbingly vivid picture of a graphic and inevitable descent into madness as a result of continuous subjugation. The restrictions that the protagonists faces when attempting to make decisions on her own are significantly more noticeable than those faced by Nora and Mrs. Lynd, as well as Louise, Martha, and Emily. The very fact that the protagonist remains nameless throughout the story also indicates that the author is willing to paint the dire effects of sexism in much darker colors. Thus, the slow descent into madness as the direct effect of losing personal agency and control over one’s own freedom is depicted perfectly in the novel: “John says if I don’t pick up faster, he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall” (Gilman). The limited choices that the narrator has are emphasized by the absence of her name in the story, creating the sense of a faceless woman who is slowly being stripped of the remnants of her identity. Being one of the more frightening stories of the ones under discussion, “The Yellow Wallpaper” approaches the problem of the absence of choice as an absolute, creating a disturbing scenario to demonstrate the need to introduce an immediate social change.
Martha Hall’s Detective Club
Compared to “The Yellow Wallpaper,” “A Jury of Her Peers” represents a slight shift in tone and a tremendous change in the outlook on the perspectives for female agency. Although the plot incorporates several admittedly dark elements, the murder being the first one, followed by the dramatic reveal of the criminal, the women in the novel enjoy significantly greater agency. Specifically, the author describes the meticulous analysis that the lead character conducts: “She thought of the flour in her kitchen at home—half sifted, half not sifted. She had been interrupted, and had left things half done” (Glaspell). Although the female leads are still not considered as equal or even important by their male counterparts, their agency is significantly higher. Specifically, by making the final decision in secrecy from the sheriff and letting Mrs. Wright escape her punishment, the women in the story show not only solidarity with the oppressed antagonist but also their ability to make choices when it comes to supporting their sisters and voicing their concerns regarding social issues.
Additionally, the novel renders the issue of abuse against women in a slightly different manner than the rest of the novels under analysis. While in the other stories, the abusers escape mostly unscathed, in “A Jury of Her Peers,” Martha Hall’s husband is at the very beginning of the story, with the idea of his death being the direct implication of his abusive behavior vein heavily implied.
Emily
Unfortunately, “The Rose for Emily” reverts the narrative back to the desperate and suffocating environment of the lost agency in decision-making. On the surface, the novel appears to show a rather promising character arch from the feminist perspective. Having matured into a woman well respected and even slightly feared by the townsfolk, she exerts quite impressive influence and exudes confidence: “See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson” (Faulkner 2). However, as she dies, she is discovered to have kept the body of her deceased loved one: “The man himself lay in the bed” (Faulkner 7). Thus, the character is immediately devolved from a confident and self-reliant woman to the one that desperately needs the support and approval of a man. Furthermore, on a more general note, the short story leads the reader to conclude that, no matter what one might accomplish in one’s lifetime, death is the only inevitable outcome. Although it is hard to deny the specified statement, focusing an excessive amount of attention on the specified unfortunate yet inescapable outcome does not seem to be healthy; however, “The Rose for Emily” does so anyway.
Conclusion
Although Nora and Mrs. Lynd, as well as the protagonists of “The Story of an Hour,” “The Yellow Wallpaper,” “A Jury of Her Peers,” and “A Rose for Emily,” have entirely different character arcs, all of them share the common predicament of not being able to take charge of their lives. Whether being bound by social constraints or lacking the initiative as a result of their upbringing and further socialization, each of the characters in question is tragic in her own right due to social injustice and the ways in which they have been affected by it. Specifically, all of the characters show impaired ability to make decisions, whether due to social conditioning or the societal factors that curb their initiative and silence them. Thus, each of the characters in the stories in question represents a certain facet of societal limitations. Thus, despite the differences in the plotlines and character development, each of the stories shares the same hint of tragedy that haunts women deprived of the chance at liberation.
References
Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. VCU.edu, 1894. Web.
Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. CJE.ids, 1930. Web.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. Project Gutenberg, 1892. Web.
Glaspell, Susan. A Jury of Her Peers. Project Gutenberg, 1917. Web.
Ibsen, Henrik. The Doll’s House. Project Gutenberg, 1879. Web.