They fit quite well with "Ironing"
more so than with "Wallpaper".
In
I stand here Ironing, we have the stories of two women, a mother
and a daughter, who went through extremely trying times. The mother had nothing going in
her favor: Her husband left, there was no welfare system to support her if she is not
formally divorced, WWII was looming in close proximity, and the Great Depression had hit
hard into the American psyche more as strongly as it did with its
economy.
The daughter was also a victim of circumstances:
A sickly child, she endured abandonement with her mother, then got sick with chicken pox
and remained scarred from a young age both physically and emotionally. School was no fun
for her, and she clearly was needy of many things her mom simply could not provide for
lack of time. Still both women strongly supported each other, despite of the
frustrations. Emily, the daughter, would perform for her mom skits to make her laugh as
they were alone in the midst of the War. The mother, who had to take night jobs and
extra jobs to support the family, still found a way to be with her daughter during the
day to avoid having to have a babysitter. They managed. That is the key
word.
Hence, the quotes you cited above certainly speak
about women of steel just like Emily and her mother. Women who have been considered like
second class citizens during the most trying of times and yet, they managed to make do
of what they could, confront it, and fight it.
Contrarily,
The Yellow Wallpaper shows an unfortunate situation in which a
woman is actually ostracized, isolated, and left to her own devices. She was a victim of
her husband, her doctor, society, and the rest of her family. She ended up in total
despair, and melted down to circumstances: She could not make it. And it was all
society's fault. So, the phrases you quoted above do not go at all with this latter
character.
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