Marriage a.k.a. True Bondage
Right now try to imagine watching a friend get married to someone who they don’t love and maybe not even like. Now imagine having to cook, clean for them and take care of your kids all day every day until you die. In "The Story of an Hour", Chopin introduced, to the world, Mrs. Mallard. To her, her life is terrible but she is constantly portrayed as a heartless woman who seems to be overjoyed by her husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard although viewed as inhumane, is actually more humane than most people would want to believe. While her actions seem questionable or even maybe harsh; but they are far from what is perceived. What readers need to think about is what it was like for women during those times. “The story itself presents a valid argument in favor of Louise as she is portrayed as the oppressed wife finally set free after her husband's death.” (Marquand) In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, she uses the feeling of bondage and true freedom through Mrs. Mallard, to show how women can be trapped in a restrictive relationship because of society's beliefs.
In the beginning of "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard is viewed as a normal wife. It’s not until she hears about her husband's death that she is referred to as Louise. Now she is an individual and isn’t dominated by her husband. Society in the 1900s, women didn’t have rights and were expected to get married and have kids and if not they weren’t considered as women. All women were stereotyped as housewives, “married women whose main occupation is caring for her family, managing household affairs, and doing housework”(Webster Dictionary). Women were just married off like they weren’t humans who had dreams or their own identity. When these wom...
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...may be the sole means of holding on to one's identity and receiving true freedom.
Works Cited
"Discussion, "Story of an Hour"" Discussion, "Story of an Hour" N.p., n.d. Web. Apr.-May 2014
Marquand, Jane Le. "Kate Chopin as Feminist: Subverting the French Androcentric Influence." University of Otago. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Seyersted, Per. Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State Univ. Press, 1969. Print.
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Walker, Nancy A. Kate Chopin: A Literary Life. Houndmills, New York: Palgrave, 2001. Print.
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Cambridge UP, 1988. Papke, Mary E. Verging on the Abyss: The Social Fiction of Kate Chopin and Edith Wharton. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1990. Seyersted, Per. Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography.
Both stories transpire in a brief period of time. The events in the ‘Story of an Hour” develop in just one hour from beginning to end. Mrs. Mal...
...ing, but "The Story of an Hour" is more sudden. It is not shocking, however, that all three stories successfully impact the reader. Works Cited Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 308-14. Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 158-9. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 230-42
Kate Chopin was born February 8, 1850 in St. Louis. She was raised by a single woman; this impacted her views in the family at an early age. She began her own family at a young age; Kate had a different method compare too many women in her time. As time progressed, she developed a bad habit of dressing inappropriately. Soon she started to publish stories about the experiences and stories of her interests such as women’s individuality and miserable
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” tries to shed light on the conflict between women and a society that assigns gender roles using a patriarchal approach. Specifically, Margaret Bauer highlights, that most of Chopin’s works revolve around exploring the “dynamic interrelation between women and men, women and patriarchy, even women and women” (146). Similarly, in “The Story of an Hour” Chopin depicts a society that oppresses women mostly through the institution of marriage, as women are expected to remain submissive regardless of whether they derive any happiness. The question of divorce is not welcome, and it is tragic that freedom for women can only be realized through death. According to Bauer, the society depicted in Chopin’s story judged women harshly as it expected women to play their domestic roles without question, while on the other hand men were free to follow their dreams and impose their will on their wives (149).
Allen, Priscilla. "Old Critics and New: The Treatment of Chopin's The Awakening." In The Authority of Experience: Essays in Feminist Criticism, ed. Arlyn Diamond and Lee R. Edwards. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1977, 224-238.
Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour”. The Seagull Reader: Stories. Ed. Joseph Kelly. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2001. 65 – 67.
Boren, Lynda S., and Sara DeSaussure Davis, eds. Kate Chopin Reconsidered: Beyond the Bayou. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1999. Print.
Davis, Sara de Saussure. "Kate Chopin." Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 12 pp. 59-71. Literature Resource Center. Gale Group Databases. Central Lib. Fort Worth, TX. 11 Feb. 2003
In the beginning of "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard is just a typical wife. It is not until she hears of her husband's death that she then simply becomes Louise, now an individual, no longer overshadowed by her husband. Following her husband's death, Louise feels she will no longer suffer a "powerful will bending her" (14), thus indicating she had lacked a voice in the marriage. Chopin clearly indicates this lack of freedom and individuality in Louise's marriage stating, "[. . .] that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature." (14). This statement reflects how men and women oppress each other, denying one another freedom and a sense of identity. This is in line with the common view that women lost their individuality because their, "legal existence had been extinguished by the status of marriage." (Robson). Next, we learn that Louise actually begins to accept, even enjoy the notion of a life by herself, as Chopin writes the years "that would belong to her absolutely [. . .] she would live for herself." (14). Louise woul...
“The Story of an Hour” was a story set in a time dominated by men. During this time women were dependent on men, but they always dreamed of freedom. Most people still think that men should be dominant and in control. They think that without men, women can’t do anything and that they can’t be happy. Well this story has a twist.
Bryfonski, Dedria, ed. Women's Issues in Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2012. Print.
Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Perrine's Literature: Structure Sound & Sense. 11th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2010. 541. Print.
Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Eds. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 3rd ed. New York: Pearson, 2010. 261-263. Print.
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. “Kate Chopin.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, Sep2013. Academic Research Database. 1 Nov. 2013