Constraint is present in Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper and James Joyces The Boarding House. In both short stories, society has placed the main characters and their lives under its evil grip. All the characters live under a blanket of limitations that society has placed upon them and the short stories show their battle to break away from societys constraints. Societal constraint is explored by both authors in order to convey along to the reader a message. This common theme for both short stories is used to show the grip society really has on us and how it affects different people. Society has always had an influence on the way people think and act. Many beliefs and actions viewed as unique are many times shunned upon by members of society. This constraint on being an individual is explored in Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper and Joyces The Boarding House. Both authors show how societys constraints put stress on individuals lives. In some cases this stress is good for the characters, but for some characters societys constraints are too much. Gilman uses The Yellow Wallpaper to illustrate the control man has over women in modern day society. The wife in The Yellow Wallpaper goes through a nervous depression during the short story. Gilman never really comes out and states the reasons behind the wifes mental condition, but throughout the short story she constantly makes references to the womans sense of inferiority to her husband, John. In The Yellow Wallpaper, John is used to represent all men and their feelings toward women. Although men do not consciously take control over females live, they still do. It has always been mans nature to take charge and be the dominant gender. The wife always wants to please the husband and listen to his word as though it was law. She never wants to displease her husband or go against any of his advice. This is apparent when the wife quits writing, which calms her down, just bec...
