Throughout this essay I will be looking at two common themes between the short stories we have read. I will be looking at control as my first choice, and explain how this is portrayed throughout. My second choice is mental health, and how both narrators seem to suffer from a mental illness, how they think and feel towards the people around them and also the people within their lives that have a detrimental effect on them.

Control throughout the yellow wallpaper is very evident from the start of the story. The husband is controlling her right from the start of her journey to the colonial mansion, where she feels there is something quite queer about the house. When entering the house he chooses the room at the top of the house, where there are bars on the window (was originally the nursery), was this to keep her in? Or people out? Apparently it was to benefit her by been kept away from family and friends to ensure that she had her rest period. From the start of her journey and time in the house the husband/doctor controlled her daily routine, she states that “I have a schedule prescription for each hour in the day, he takes all care from me and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more” cite author………….. . With this kind of control, he knew exactly what she would be doing at any given time through the day while he was away on the trips. The narrator also wanted to be down stairs in a prettier room, but he was not having that and wanted her kept in the attic room. Writing wasn’t allowed within the times of staying at the house, had she had to hide the little note pad and pencil she had within her clothes she wore to ensure this wasn’t found. This I mainly because he would feel the loss of control over her as she would still be having her own thoughts of her surrounding areas and state how she feels.

The Tell Tale Heart shows that the time is the contributing factor to the control of the narrator. “He states that it took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed” cite author……………. Every night for 7 long nights he tried to gain access into the bedroom, but wasn’t till the 8th night that he finally managed to get in there to commit the murder. Even then he was still controlled by time, as he had to sit in the room for over an hour before he could manage to get the old man.

With the doctor/husband in the Yellow Wallpaper, he holds the key to the narrators mind and thought process across the 3