Gillman/Wharton ::WHAT WOMEN LIKE::

I deeply enjoyed both text because they were both comical to me; Gillman more so than Whaton's. I especially love the women wrote both of these stories because I feel that if a man had wrote them, it would not present the same feeling.

Both text examine the ideals of women as they interact in society. In Gillman's text, the thing that stood out the most was how the narrator simply listened. She was a "nervous patient" simply because John told her. And because he told her, she began to fill that "these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing". This story reminds me of women in horror films. Often times, the women know first and they try to their loved ones, but he never listens. Usually, by the end of the movie, the man has gotten what he deserved (smile), as I feel the same as happened here. And because she final stood up spoke up for herself, the lady freed herself, saying "I've got out at last, in spite of you and Jane!"

Wharton's text, however, examines women in a different light. Here, we have two upper class women whose lives are no longer full-filling due to the passing of their husbands. For Mrs. Slade, "being the Slade widow was a dullish business after that", referring to the passing of her husband. And even though, both of these ladies still had daughters, their lives weren't as interesting as the life of a son would be. This is an idea that is still practiced and believed today. The idea that, the husband is her life and beyond him, there is nothing more because she has nothing of her own. This is what Wharton leads her readers to believe.