In the 19th century, the gender role in the American society was extremely different and separate compared to the gender role nowadays. The world of male chauvinism was appreciated on that century, where men believed that the "proper sphere for a woman was the house" (Thomas). Men were able to work in factories, shops, offices, and others, while "wives, daughters and sisters were left at home all day to oversee the domestic duties that were increasingly carried out by servants" (Hughes). In other words, women were not able to do anything but to be excellent housewives for their husband. For that reason, many women have unleashed their literary skills and have written and published stories of fiction and non-fiction to support the woman's right and equality, bringing feminist literature to light. This leads you to The Story of an Hour and The Yellow Wallpaper. These are two famous short stories from different female writers that were written in the late 19th century and that illustrate the gender role at that time. .
The Story of an Hour was written by Kate Chopin and originally published in Vogue on December 16, 1894. This text is one of Kate Chopin's most famous stories and one of the shortest. However, even though the story is one of the shortest and simple, it is definitely complete (Hicks). In this story, Kate Chopin focuses on a late nineteenth- century American woman's striking hour of awakening into individuality, which allows her to live the last moments of her life with a consciousness of life's extensive beauty (Jami 215). Louise Mallard, the protagonist, suffers from a weak heart. She was living her inactive and dull life as a housewife until she receives the news of her husband's death "in broken sentences" and "veiled hints" by her sister Josephine (Mays 476). When Mrs. Mallard receives the news, she "wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment" (Mays 476), but then she comes to see and feel what it would be like to be a widow and free from marriage oppression.
