The Yellow Wallpaper

This story was very confusing to me. I enjoyed reading it because I thought that the ending would explain everything, however; the ending actually left me even more confused.  The story tells of a woman who apparently is mentally ill, her husband is a physician and feels the best way to treat her is to force her to stay in a room.  I don't really agree with his treatment method but we discussed in class that he probably is "hiding" her from society.  While in this room, the woman develops an extreme interest in the wallpaper.  At first, she hates the wallpaper and tells of how discusting it is. As the story progresses, she begins to become attached to the wallpaper and studies it day and night. She decides that the wallpaper illustrates a woman trapped behind bars always trying to escape.  I feel that she is mentally ill and feels that she is trapped with no way out  Therefore, in the end of the story, the woman goes crazy and rips all the wallpaper off the walls.  When her husband comes home, the story explains that he comes in the room and faints.  The story ends with the woman saying she has to "creep over him everytime she leaves the room!" This could be taken in many different ways.  Is the woman dead? Is her husband dead? What caused him to faint? Very confusing yet interesting.

The Chrysanthemums

 I feel that the story we read this week in class was very enjoyable with an interesting twist.  The ending of the story was slightly disappointing, however; once we discussed the story in class and I had a better understanding, it made more sense to me.  There were so many things that I didn't pick up on when I first read the story.  The discussion in class helped me to further understand the plot. The main character Elisa, is a lonely women whom is trapped in her own life. In the story she meets a traveler that interest her, however; she is married.  Her marriage seems to be boring which may be why she is so interested in something different.  Elisa also seems to struggle with knowing and accepting her place as a women. She wants to have the same opportunities as a man.