ENGL 1001 Literature and Composition: Short Story Analysis Essay

This essay provides a comparative analysis of Alice Munro's "Royal Beatings" and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper." The essay examines the shared experiences of the characters Rose and the unnamed protagonist, highlighting their struggles with cruelty, selfishness, and survival. It explores how these characters navigate difficult relationships with stepmothers and husbands, respectively, and how these relationships contribute to their feelings of isolation and suffering. The essay delves into the significance of specific quotes and plot points from both stories, illustrating the characters' coping mechanisms and the unique aspects of each narrative. The analysis also considers the historical context of the stories, particularly the societal constraints faced by women in the 18th and 19th centuries, and concludes by emphasizing the characters' ability to adapt to challenging circumstances.

Running head: ENGL 1001 LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
ENGL 1001 LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENGL 1001 LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
Stories: Alice Munro: “Royal Beatings”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman: “The yellow wallpaper.”
The essay is on two most renowned short stories, “Royal Beatings” by Alice Munro, and “The
Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, exemplifying the similarity the character of
Rose in Royal beatings, and the protagonist Charlotte Perkins Gilman herself in “The Yellow
Wallpaper” possess . Therefore, mainly focusing on the cruelty and selfishness surrounding the
characters, and their way of survival in life through those rough patches and struggles. So, the
thesis of the study is understanding the degree of selfishness the characters survived throughout
their life span. Relevant quotes is taken directly from the short stories as evidence to relate the
characters significance and their similarity in dealing with selfishness. Flo the stepmother
exploited the character of Rose her stepdaughter, and Charlotte, the writer, was isolated and
mocked by her then-husband even after suffering severe postpartum psychosis. However, to
conclude a thorough analysis will be done so that factors are highlighted, which make both the
stories unique and one of the renowned short stories in 18th and 19th century respectively.
Alice Munro “Royal Beatings” has been published in 1977, in the “New Yorker,” which
is a bestseller magazine of the 19th century. The story depicts struggle of Rose in adjusting with
her stepmother Flo, after her mother’s death. The most used sentence that is used by Flo to Rose
while slashing and beating her, quoted as “Who do you think you are?” which represents the
antagonist behavior of her stepmother towards Rose (docs.google.com). In case of “ The Yellow
wallpaper”, the line “John is a physician, and perhaps -(I would not say it to a living soul, of
course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind, perhaps that is one reason I do not
get well faster” (Nlm.Nih.Gov). This is an example where she is explaining the strenuous relation

2ENGL 1001 LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
with her husband, which makes her mentally unfit, and unable to recover. So, concluding that
both character are dwelling with cruelty, negligence and sufferings, which make their struggle of
surviving within their house, magnified.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman in her short story “The yellow wallpaper” is depicting her journey
while she went on a summer vacation with her husband. Her husband made a booking in an old,
big and uncanny house, which is uncomfortable and suffocating for her to stay alone according
to the protagonist. Her health deteriorated after the birth of her child, probably coping through
postpartum depression, which is constantly ignored and mocked by her husband considering her
actions to be psychic and hysterical. On the other hand, Rose is trying numerous times to
reconcile with her mother, but she is repeatedly thwarted and rejected. This depicts the cruelty
and selfishness both the characters faced inside their home itself.
The plot of “Royal beatings” showed the continuous antagonism between Rose stepmother,
which reflected the struggles between humanity and cruelty. The behavior of Flo, the stepmother
representing her continuous portrayal of authoritative attitude, putting her in a superior position
than Rose, which is similar in case of the author in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, where the
husband's authoritative attitude and neglect is deteriorating the health of the author.
The most captivating part in “Royal Beatings” is the change of destiny, when after some years;
Rose is admitting her mother in an old age home. Even then, her mother is refusing to reconcile,
putting the story in a turning point where Rose is in the authoritative state, and the situation is
precisely reversed. However, struggle of Mrs. Charlotte Gilman ending was not depicted in the
story, her condition deteriorated, and she is seen to be continuously neglected. In the book of
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, her life story is reflected the controlling and disrespectful behavior
every woman used to get in the 19th century by her husbands. The author is allowed to pursue

3ENGL 1001 LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
writing and working as they were considered to be pressurizing factor, in deteriorating her
health(Weeks, Jeffrey).Moreover, concluding with the moral of the story in determining the
change of circumstances where anyone can come to an authoritative position, therefore taking
advantage of people is not quite considerate.
Therefore, to conclude both the characters, Rose and Charlotte characters have depicted
their character in a way, which many women can relate to in real life. Rose was a smart and
honest child from childhood, which helped her in fighting the cruelty for a long run. In the case
of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, she depicting her struggle going through postpartum psychosis after
childbirth, is continuously mocked showed her husband’s tremendous negligence and cruelty ,
she was devoid of pursuing her interests, which made it clear of living in a sadistic situation as
Rose lived.
References
"Royal Beatings.Pdf". Docs.Google.Com, 2020, https://docs.google.com/viewer?
a=v&pid=sites&srcid=bWljaGFlbG1vbGVuYWFyLmNvbXx3d3d8Z3g6MjYxMWQzM2Q1ZT
gyZmU1OA.
Nlm.Nih.Gov, 2020,
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/theliteratureofprescription/exhibitionAssets/digitalDocs/
The-Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf.
Weeks, Jeffrey. Sex, politics and society: The regulation of sexuality since 1800. Routledge,
2017.