The Hours: A Story of Three Women Trapped in the Roles of Society
Many books have been written about women and their problems in life. "The Hours" is not just about women, It is a novel about life. It is about contemporary American society. "The Hours is about passion, depression, obsession and especially the ways women are shaped ,hindered and occasionally even inspired by masculine structures and expectations that engulf them"(1) It is a story that tells us how the behavior of mother can affect the life of a child. Three lives are intertwined through time and space to create a dynamic story.
The book shows Laura depicting aspects of Woolf"s personality. They were both suffering from depression. Woolf committed suicide while Laura contemplated suicide. The effects of masculine structures and expectations from women pervade throughout the story. Virginia Woolf remains in Richmond because her husband is obeying the doctors even though she obviously dislikes Richmond. Laura was so devastated because she could not make the perfect cake for her husband. She was trying to play the role of the perfect mother and wife even though she was very unhappy. Clarrisan Vaughan spent so much time planning for a party that Richard did not want to attend. It is obvious that the women will keep themselves unhappy just to satisfy the needs of the men they are involved with. The only person who went against the grain was Laura Brown when she left her son . According to Ebert, Roger "Virginia and Leonard Woolf loved each other, Clarrisan treasures both of her lovers. But for the two in the movie who cannot love, The price is devastating"(3).The effect is shown in how Richie, the little boy became Richard, the man that finally committed suicide to save himself from aids. Perhaps, If the mother had shown more love and had connected more to him, his life would have ended differently.
"It is our great sadness and defeat when we can't connect because of madness or sadness of the soul or because of selfishness"(Vognar 2). This is depicted in both Virginia and Laura's life.
The effect was suicide in Virginia's case and Laura abandoning her home. This ultimately led to Richard's death. It is interesting to note that only Laura survived in the family.
Women have traditionally been known as the less dominant sex. Through history women have fought for equal rights and freedom. They have been stereotyped as being housewives, and bearers and nurturers of the children. Only recently with the push of the Equal Rights Amendment have women had a strong hold on the workplace alongside men. Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men. This tension is derived from men; society, in general; and within a woman herself. Two interesting short stories, “The Yellow Wall-paper and “The Story of an Hour, “ focus on a woman’s plight near the turn of the 19th century. This era is especially interesting because it is a time in modern society when women were still treated as second class citizens. The two main characters in these stories show similarities, but they are also remarkably different in the ways they deal with their problems and life in general. These two characters will be examined to note the commonalities and differences. Although the two characters are similar in some ways, it will be shown that the woman in the “The Story of an Hour” is a stronger character based on the two important criteria of rationality and freedom.
Reischauer, Edwin O., and Albert M. Craig. Japan, Tradition & Transformation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978. Print.
During the time of its publication “The Story of an Hour” was not received with open arms. In fact, the topic itself was strange to many as it spoke of “a woman rejoicing in the death of her husband” (Hicks). And it
The same holds true for the women in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. These stories delve into the life of two different, but similar nineteenth century women. Through the women 's differing relationships with their husbands and the suppression presented by their husbands, internal conflicts emerge. The two leading females experience repression from their husbands in their daily routines. Throughout her life, Mrs. Louise Mallard, from “The Story of an Hour,” had continually bent her will to that of her husband’s. In the past, she had no choice in what she did, so she found her husband’s death liberating. However, her joy did not last
Dystopia- A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control, Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about, when given the definition of a dystopia famous literary works such as 1984 or A Brave New World seem to flutter the mind, but we don’t think of popular books of today that can make just as big of a dystopian impact. Chuck Palahniuk’s gruesomely truthful novel, Fight Club, gives readers a raw look on just how miserable and monotonous the “American Dream” can become. In the generic definition of dystopia it is stated that a dystopia is a futuristic universe, Fight Club is not a futuristic universe, it is a mirror on how society is today. Dystopian authors usually are writing their novel as a warning on how society is going to become, but Palahniuk didn’t write any predictions, he wrote a novel on how society exactly was when he wrote the novel. The narrator of this aggressive tale is trapped in his own life and trying to find absolutely anything to fill the hole of self petty that he created himself because he chose to follow the “American Dream” which ultimately makes his life even more horrible than it was before. Fight Club is based off of real life events that actually happened to Palahniuk himself. In an interview with DVD talk the question, “How much of this was based on real things?” is asked and Palahniuk answers with the startling answer “Everything except for the clubs themselves.” By making the novel almost 100 percent accurate, Palahniuk is showing readers that this is exactly how society is, the world is actually this bad and it is on...
Chapin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter et al. Concise ed. Boston: Houghton, 2004 1524. Print
Tsuzuki, Chushichi. The Pursuit of Power in Modern Japan, 1825-1995. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Questia. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.
Keene, Donald. Anthology of Japanese literature, from the earliest era to the mid-nineteenth century. New York: Grove P, 1955.
The Tokugawa period, also known as Edo period (1603-1867), was the final period of traditional Japan that lasted for more than 250 years (britannica.com,2013). The period was a time of internal peace, political stability, and economic growth under the Shogunate founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The Tokugawa Shoguns maintained strict control over the structure of society by keeping a firm control over what they were allowed to do and what they were not allowed to do.
Denison. B. (2002, January 1). A Basic Overview of Japanese Culture . . Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.mizukan.org/articles/culture.htm
Shirane Haruo. et al. Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology 1600-1900. New York: Colombia University Press, 2002. Print.
...t the end of the story shows that liberation of women in a society ruled by a patriarchal mindset is doomed to fail (Wan 169). According to Wan, the story of an hour is a true depiction of representation of women in the nineteenth century when movements against oppression of women began to emerge (170). Although the outcomes were not as tragic as depicted in the story, it was obviously a journey filled with many challenges, and the fact that a viable resolve is yet to be achieved to date shows the issue of gender equality is grim.
I read a story, after I finished reading it my mind was still reeling over what I had just read. Stories like this are quite impressive magnificent; they draw the reader into the story and leave them with a strong impact. How we interpret a text is in itself impressive, as every person is different, every interpretation is too. As I read “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, I could not help but notice that Kate Chopin uses the window to symbolize the future that Mrs. Mallard has been pinning for all her life. Chopin also uses Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition as a symbol of Mrs. Mallard’s marriage. The short story is consequentially the story of an oppressed woman who had to confine herself to the social norms of marriage. Through Formalism Criticism, we will explore the various symbols that Chopin uses to describe how Mrs. Mallard yearns for freedom, and through the Feminist Criticism, we will explore how the institution of marriage oppresses our heroin.
When someone thinks about the definition of a father, he or she thinks about the support, care, love, and knowledge a father gives to his offspring. Most people automatically believe that biological fathers, along with the mothers, raise their children. However, that is not always the case. There are many children across the world who are raised without their father. These children lack a father figure. People do not realize how detrimental the lack of a father figure can be to the child, both mentally and emotionally. Enrolling boys between the ages of 5 to 16 without father figures in programs, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, that involve building a relationship with someone who can serve as a role model is essential to prevent males from depression, difficulty in expressing emotions, and other consequences of having an absent father figure.
Deal, William E. 2006. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Facts on File, Inc., 2006. eBook