The Common Law Doctrine of femme convert was prevalent in the 1800’s. Under this common law doctrine, wives were property of their husbands and had no direct legal control over their earnings, children, or belongings. Compare and contrast Mrs. Mallard from Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” to the narrator of Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and how this doctrine would have impacted both of their lives and led to both of their downfails.