The compositions left a profound trace in the literature of the XX century. Even though the stories are short, they contain significant ideas. The narratives are modernist since they describe the individual’s thoughts, not the social environment. The paper below represents a brief overview of the narrations. It also explains the belonging of two texts to either realism or naturalism.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a story about a woman locked in a room with yellow wallpaper that became her obsession. It is amusing that the wallpaper symbolizes the protagonist’s thinking and illustrates the changes in her mind. The background information about the writers lives clarifies the meaning of the writing. Gilman shows that the usage of medicines and the lack of exemplary attention oppresses women. The most memorable quote is: “But I MUST say what I feel and think in some way — it is such a relief! But the effort is getting to be greater than the relief” (Gilman 510). It reminds us that the inability to do what a person wants could cause insanity. It is a naturalistic narrative as it shows the main character’s life as determined.
“Mrs. Spring Fragrance” is a story about the culture clash between the customs of the protagonist’s country of origin and those of the adopted one. The author herself had witnessed a similar experience since her father is an Englishmen, and her mother is Chinese. Mrs. Spring Fragrance believes that she has become so Americanized that “there are no more American words for her learning” (Far 549). It is curious to notice that the main character’s last name is a hidden justification of her Americanization. Chinese names consist of two characters that have exact meanings. Mrs. Spring Fragrance Americanized her name instead of transliterating it. American neighbors could not catch the proper sense of Mrs. Spring Fragrance’s words since they are not aware of the Chinese understanding of love. This misunderstanding illustrates the cultural conflict caused by different backgrounds. This story belongs to realism since it depicts things as they are.
To conclude, both stories are awe-inspiring since they depict situations to which people generally do not pay attention. The former narrative uses symbols to describe the inner world of the protagonist. On the contrary, the latter is more straightforward and does not contain such a significant subtext. Both stories focus attention on the behavior of individuals and thus could be easily compared with our daily life.
Works Cited
Far, Sui Sin. Mrs. Spring Fragrance. Broadview Press, 2011.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The yellow wallpaper. Project Gutenberg, 1999.