In Editha's stories, The Story of an Hour and The Yellow Wallpaper the technique of realism in writing is demonstrated by the omission of fixed, idealistic endings to stories that are not realistic. Authors incorporate their characters' lack of freedom and tragic endings into these stories, which in turn leads readers to experience a realistic conclusion rather than an idealistic one. Editha, written by William Dean Howells, is a short story of a young woman's naive opinions. about war and heroic love. Editha foolishly wants her fiancé George to prove his love for her and believes that going to war would be "the completion of her ideal of him" (p 372). For her, love is an act that must be established by a heroic act, as the author states, "if he could do something worthy of having conquered her - be a hero, her hero - it would be even better than if he had done it before ". asking her; it would be grander” (p 372). George's view on the war is very different from Editha's; he knows that war causes a lot of pain and suffering as his father lost an arm during the civil war. When Editha cleverly convinces George to enlist, he loses his freedom as he states, “I know you always have the highest idea. When I disagree with you, I should doubt myself” (p 373). At this point George has given up the freedom to follow his own beliefs, he further states: “There's a kind of charm in it. I suppose that in his heart of hearts every man would sometimes like to test his courage; to see how he would behave” (p 373). As the story unfolds, George goes to war only to meet his untimely death during his first skirmish. The ending of this story is one of realism as opposed to idealism. The ideal ending would have been one in which Georg... at the center of the sheet of paper... peration while finding comfort in the yellow wallpaper. The story ends with the narrator going completely mad. Her husband opens the bedroom door only to find her crawling into a room full of torn yellow wallpaper and faints. The ending of this story is also realistic and not idealistic. The ideal ending would have been if John had been wise enough to seek help for his wife instead of ignoring her condition due to the fact that he could not recognize his inability to help her. In conclusion, these stories show the lack of freedom of three characters. forced by human nature to have the right to impose their ideals on others. The tragic endings of these stories demonstrate realistic endings of that time period. One can only assume that the endings of these stories would be more idealistic in these contemporary times.