A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ARTISTIC SPACE IN NGUYEN QUANG THIEU’S "MUSTARD FLOWERS BY THE RIVER" AND CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN’S "THE YELLOW WALLPAPER"

Abstract

Comparative literature consistently offers multidimensional perspectives when placing works from different cultures into the same frame of reference. Based on the poetics of space, this paper conducts a comparative analysis of Nguyễn Quang Thiều’s short story The Season of Mustard Flowers by the River (Mùa hoa cải bên sông) and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper from the perspective of artistic space. The study aims to highlight the similarities and differences in how each author constructs spatial imagery to reveal the confinement, inner struggle, and yearning for freedom of women within their respective cultural contexts. By decoding symbolic structures, the research delves into the deeply conflicted inner worlds of the female protagonists. In both works, female characters are deprived of autonomy and trapped within invisible “cages” of social norms and moral conventions. Whether represented by a suffocating room or a haunting riverbank, this imprisonment serves as a testament to gender tragedy. However, rising above adversity, despite the differences in time and culture, both Gilman and Thiều share a humanistic vision that celebrates the woman’s desire to live, to love, and to be her authentic self. By interpreting artistic space as a structural and symbolic element, the paper contributes to an intercultural dialogue in modern literary studies and deepens the understanding of gender and freedom in comparative literature.