For many years, women have been seen as less powerful than men. They cannot be stronger than men, nor work as hard as men; sometimes people believe that women can't depend on themselves without a man. In Donald Hall's Literary and Cultural Theory, Hall demonstrates the different ways in which feminist analysis has developed in society. The main point stated in his theory is that society has developed with the idea that patriarchs disempower women in society. “The key to all feminist analysis is the recognition of the different degrees of social power granted and exercised by women and men” (Hall 199). In many cases, men are seen as the strongest power in human society because women may not be as intelligent as men. Hall's theory is proven correct in the novel The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, followed by “The Story of an Hour,” also by Chopin, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman. The women in these stories create an idea of ​​nineteenth-century women being treated with less respect than men treat each other. One of the women could no longer bear any more drama in her life and decides to disappear for the rest of her life. Another woman dies of joy when she discovers that she will finally be free with the death of her husband, and the final woman is judged to be a psychopath after discovering small details of a wallpaper in a room in which she has been kept for several months. The treatment and behavior of women could have been avoided if men and women were seen in the same perspective. Hall's theory states that women are denied social power simply because it follows stereotypes in society that men have more social power in comparison. to women. In many cases, married women... middle of paper... live by stereotypes that men have more power than women, which leads to women living under their husband's orders and women becoming emotional. on simple things. The women in the stories don't end with peace. Edna ends up committing suicide because she cannot continue to live with the same emotional cycle in her life that seems to never end. Mrs. Mallard dies of a rare disease of joy because she is overwhelmed by the news that her husband will no longer treat her unfairly. The narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" becomes a true psychopath after being imprisoned in that room for several months. Women's behavior leading to the end of their lives could have been avoided if both men and women were seen as having equal power in human society, instead of living according to common stereotypes.