REVIEW

of all FIVE Short Stories (the similarities)

Plot

Open Plot (the story doesn’t have an ending): “The Standard of Living”, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Cat in the Rain”.

Closed Plot (the story has an ending): “The Looking Glass” and “The Story of an Hour”

Characters

All five stories speak about unhappy women:

In “The Standard of Living” and “The Looking Glass”, all three women want something they do not have. Annabel and Midge want money. Nellie wants marriage.

In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “Cat in the Rain” and “The Story of an Hour”, all three women are trapped in their marriages. But their reactions are different. Jane becomes crazy in the end; while the American wife acts like a child. Louise dies once she discovers her husband is alive.

Themes

Dreams: In “The Standard of Living” and “The Looking Glass”, the women live in dreams more than in reality.

Helplessness: In “The Looking Glass”, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “Cat in the Rain” and “The Story of an Hour”, all women cannot save neither themselves or others. Nellie cannot rescue her sick husband. Jane is locked in a room. The American wife couldn’t save the cat from the rain; and Louise died when freedom was taken away from her.

Freedom: In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “Cat in the Rain” and “The Story of an Hour”, all three women want to be free of their entrapment. Jane wants to leave the room; the American wife wants a better life and Louise is overjoyed when her husband dies.

Narration

First Person: “The Yellow Wallpaper”

Third Person: “The Standard of Living” and “Cat in the Rain”

Third Person Omniscient: “The Looking Glass” and the Story of an Hour”

Talk about the theme of dreams in “The Standard of Living” and “The Looking Glass”

In “The Standard of Living” and “The Looking Glass”, Annabel, Midge and Nellie live in dreams more than in reality. Annabel and Midge play the game of winning a million dollars and they take it so seriously. They think about what to spend the money on. They argue if one of them chose the wrong item. In “The Looking Glass”, Nellie dreams of having a sick husband whom she desperately tries to save. She also dreams of them having financial problems and sick children. Nellie goes further on and dreams of her husband’s funeral!

Annabel, Midge and Sylvia

Jane in “The Yellow Wallpaper”

The American wife and George