Introduction to The Garden Party and The Yellow Wallpaper
Both major characters of the stories “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Katherine Mansfield and Charlotte Perkins Gilman respectively seem poles apart from each other. Nothing seems common between Laura, a compassionate young girl, and the anonymous wife of John, a doctor. However, being females, both have some common character traits that make them prominent in their respective social settings. Laura and John’s wife of “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” respectively are similar in being imaginative and compassionate and different in their mental conditions, relationships toward their surroundings, and toward their near and dear ones.
Laura and John’s Wife in “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Laure and John’s wife in both “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are similar in that both use their imaginations and think beyond their settings, demonstrating compassion for others. John’s wife, when he brought her to the mansion, starts writing about the situation she is placed. She does not agree with her husband about the house as she thinks “there is something queer about it (Gilman 52) or “Else, why it should be let so cheaply” (52). She sees some “ghastliness” (53) despite its being the most “beautiful” (53), having a “delicious garden” (59) and everything else that makes it fit for a person like her but she says “I disagree with their ideas” (60). She is not fit in her settings.
Similarities of Female Characters in “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
On the other hand, though Laura is enjoying the party, when she hears the news of a death in the vicinity she does not agree with Jose and even with her mother who supports Jose’ idea that it does not matter. She is of the view “But we can’t possibly have a garden-party with a man dead” (Mansfield 54). She is not in sync with other family members thinking “what the band would sound like to that poor woman” (55). When she argues with her mother saying it would seem “terribly heartless of us” (58), she gets the same response as she gets from Jose. However, she, then, joins the party and enjoys making her family members happy and so is with John’s wife that she is doing everything to make her husband happy, as she says “I would not be so silly as to make him [John, her husband] uncomfortable just for a whim” (Gilman 60). She knows that her husband is aware of her “imaginative power” (60) and Laure when reasoned by Mrs. Sheridan thinks when alone “she had another glimpse of that poor woman and those little children” (Mansfield 58) – a evidence of her imaginative power, which is according to her mother “an absurd idea” (59). Both Laura and John’s wife in “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”share these two qualities of being imaginative and compassionate and seem unfit in their social surroundings.
Mental Condition of Female Characters in “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
However, both are different in their mental conditions, their relations with their respective surroundings, and their family members in “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Laura is a mentally stable girl; the proof of this is that her mother, Mrs. Sheridan, hands over the entire party to her and her other siblings. “Forget I am your mother. Treat me as an honored guest” (Mansfield 58), she says. Sheridan shows her full confidence in her mental maturity. She does not believe in that “absurd class distinction” (59), “despised stupid conventions” (60), and does not like the way the men were working in the lawn. She does not reason when Jose and her mother confront her ideas of not partying when a man is dead in the neighborhood, but she deals with it in a reasonable manner and realizes during her visit to that family that it was “her mistake” (65) to have come as she felt distraught at the end. However, John’s wife is suffering from some kind of depression, but still, she is not certainly insane. She knows what she is doing and knows that John is treating her and bringing her to this house to make her have “self-control” (Gilman 64) that she does not have, unlike Laura. She takes “pains to control” (57) herself and the yellow wallpaper drives her crazy in that she gets obsessed with it. She is mentally so weak that she knows “I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes” (59) which has marred her relations with her family, though everybody takes care of her. Yet she does not trust them as she deceives Jennie that she is going to sleep. She leaves her alone saying “I must not let her find me writing” (63). She does not tell anybody what she is feeling about the wallpaper though she knows by sharing it would be a “relief” (65). It was because there was some estrangement between her and her husband and her sister-in-law. However, contrary to it, Laura does not reason much when she sees that two, Jose and Mrs. Sheridan are against her. Moreover, she is quite comfortable at home, while John’s wife does not feel comfortable due to the yellow wallpaper that ultimately drives her mad. Even their material situation is not the same as Laura belongs to an elite family, while John’s wife is from a middle-class family which sets apart their thinking. Therefore, both female characters of “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are different.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that a similarity exists between Laura and John’s wife in being imaginative and compassionate toward other members and human beings around them and it is that almost all female characters share these traits. However, there is a hell of a difference in their self-control in both stories “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The same is the case of their relations with other members of their families, the outside world, and also with their surroundings. Therefore, every character is taken in his/her immediate context to understand real motives, and here Laura and John’s wife have very little in common between them but have a lot of differences.
Works Cited
- Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Stories. Oxford University Press, USA, 1998. 51-76.
- Mansfield, Katherine. The Garden Party and Other Stories. Penguin, 1997. 53-68.
Three Relevant Questions about “The Garden Party” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Laura and John’s Wife
- How do the characters of Laura in “The Garden Party” and John’s wife in “The Yellow Wallpaper” challenge societal norms and expectations of women’s roles in their respective stories, and what are the consequences of their challenges?
- Both Laura and John’s wife undergo significant transformations over the course of their respective narratives. How do their initial perspectives and worldviews differ from their final states, and what events or factors drive these transformations?
- The settings in both stories, the garden party in “The Garden Party” and the isolated room in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” play pivotal roles in the character development and narratives. How do these settings influence the characters’ experiences and perceptions, and how are they symbolic of larger themes within each story?
