...free time with socializing, instead of taking care of family related things. In the lights of these circumstances, the feminist approach has revealed itself in literature. One of the good examples of feminist literature is Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour”, which exposes the lack of freedom of women in the 1800s. In her story, Chopin estimates the situation of women in marriage and she looks at the life from a female perspective. Mrs. Mallard, the heroine of the story, is a cardiac patient, who had been told what to do by her husband and could not make choices for herself. In a way, Chopin portrays what it is like to be a woman in the late nineteenth century through an ill protagonist. In the story Mrs. Mallard is told that her husband is dead, even though she is emotional at first, she leaps for joy with the recognition of freedom. However, when Mrs. Mallard learns her husband is alive, which means she will lose her moment of freedom all over again, she dies. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills.” (Chopin 3) Analyzing of “The Story of an Hour” through the historical and feminist lenses, it can interpreted as an illustrating of a woman’s lack of freedom in a male-dominated society. “The Story of an Hour” was written in the Victorian Era, when a wife was responsible for all household chores without...
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...A major social issue in our society is feminism because in the late 1800s women had no rights and were property. Kate Chopin believed that women should have more freedom and rights. In her short-story “The Story of an Hour”, feminism plays a major role in the story’s purpose which is Mrs. Mallard getting “an hour” of freedom. The short-story must have the element of feminism because the purpose of the story would change. Mrs. Mallard was a woman who had an illness of heart problems and felt trapped by her husband which is a typical woman during this time period. She talks about being “free, free, free!” (Chopin180). Mrs. Mallard feels suffocated and wants “freed from a constricting marriage” (Foote85). When Chopin uses words like “free”, the...
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...In the short story “The Story of an Hour,” written by Kate Chopin is a story of a woman who is troubled with heart issues. When her husband was thought to have been killed in a railroad accident. She is distraught in the loss of her husband. As the story continues the reader finds that the main character has an epiphany of a better, more free life without her husband. The diagnosis of heart trouble does not seem very prevalent until the reader reaches the end of the story when the truth is revealed that the husband has not been killed and the wife meets her demise. The reader experiences every emotion with the main character as the story continues and sees her change throughout time. There are multiple characters who play a role in the...
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...“Story of an Hour” In class while reading Kate Chopin’s short story “Story of an Hour” it helps to understand how the world was in the antebellum time period. What some of the do’s and don’ts were. A major one was how Kate wrote her stories, it was not appropriate for women to write things such as this or many other of her stories. In this story she uses contrast and irony to show the difference in gender, race, and class. Starting with gender, like stated before this was written during the antebellum time period, which means before the civil war. At this time the women have no rights and are just considered property of their husbands. Mrs. Mallards has a history of “heart trouble” (pg 57) so when telling her that of her husband’s death,...
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...In Kate Chopins' "The Story of an Hour", there is a lot of information about the setting missing from the story and I think it helps it overall, being an already condensed story with very little action or dialogue between any of the characters; this seems to help by saving the space for describing in great details Mrs. Mallard and her feelings and how she reacted to the news of her husband’s death “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sisters arms” (Chopin 115). Mrs. Mallard is battling a great conflict from the worst of all sources of such; inside herself. She is fighting and denying the facts that she feels relieved and even joyous at the realization that her husband is dead “She was beginning to recognize a this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will – as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been” (Chopin 115-116). A greater feeling even than that of the grief she initially felt at hearing the news of his death a few short moments earlier. She is her own antagonist! Then just when she has convinced herself that she is not wrong for feeling this way; happy, free, alive “Free! Body and soul free!” ( Chopin 116), “There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory” (Chopin 117), in walks her husband alive and well “It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip sack and umbrella” (Chopin 117)...
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...Analysis of “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin The story under analysis is written by Kate Chopin. Kate Chopin was an American author of short stories and novels. She wrote for both children and adults. She is considered as a forerunner of feminist author. Unlike many of the feminist writers of her time who were mainly interested in improving the social conditions of women, she looked for an understanding of personal freedom. She put much concentration on women’s lives and their continual struggles to create an identity of their own personality. Her stories were not accepted by the public of that period. Through her stories Kate wrote her own autobiography and documented her surroundings. She is the author of such works as “The Awakening”, “A Night in Arcadie”, “Désirée’s Baby”, “At Fault” and “The story of an Hour”. The action of the “The story of an Hour” takes place in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard, in the middle of 19 century. In a bourgeois family. I’d like to remark that at that time the situation was different from the current state of things in modern world. Women were supposed to obey their husbands, devoting themselves fully to raising a baby and taking care of their house. No time for their personal needs, hobbies, interests and work. Women lived all their lives in the shadow of their husbands. “The story of an Hour” begins with sad news. Mrs. Mallard’s sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richards try to inform her husband’s death. During the...
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...Every time that I’m hearing the word “Freedom”, I’m seeing a lot of things going on with it. If someone has it, he or she could do a lot of things in the world because they have a power to do things to make themselves better. There are three short stories, which the protagonist of the stories had the freedom. One of the stories, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin that talks about Mrs. Mallard saw a freedom for herself after having a thought that her husband is dead, but she felt it in just a moment. Second, the “A&P” by John Updike, which talks about Sammy who discovered freedom after he saw himself having more and better opportunities after he quits his job. The last is the story of Tillie Olsen “I Stand Here Ironing”, which talked about...
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...Kate Chopin Essay In the story of an hour, Kate Chopin uses imagery and symbolism to help the reader to better understand the emotion of state of Mrs. Mallard. By Mrs. Mallard having "heart trouble", it made it easier for her to dismiss the concept of love with the grand statement, "what did it matter!" Even if Mrs. Mallard wasn't sick, she'd still have "heart trouble" of the emotional kind. Imagery was a big part of the story, when it gives those big hints, the author wants the reader to picture what is really happening. The timing of when all this happened was most likely spring time, because there were several reasons that describe what would happen in spring time. Spring time represents a new life which is what Mrs. Mallard thought she...
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...Found in Kate Chopin's Short Stories Kimberley J. Dorsey Stevenson University English 152, Writing About Literature 152-OME1 Charlotte Wulf November 14, 2010 Abstract Many of Kate Chopin’s short stories share the common themes of female oppression. The females in her stories are trying to find a way to escape their oppression and have a sense freedom and individuality. They either commit adultery or fantasize about it as a way to explore their feminine sexuality and obtain a sense of freedom. Common Themes Found in Kate Chopin's Short Stories Kate Chopin, an American novelist and short story writer. Born in 1851 and died in 1904 (cerebral hemorrhage). Chopin lived in Louisiana during her marriage to a Louisiana businessman and began writing after her husband’s death; being left to raise six children alone. Many of her stories are based on her knowledge of Creole and Cajun life during the time she lived there. She is best known for her novel “The Awakening,” considered Chopin’s masterpiece was subject to harsh criticism at the time criticism for its frank approach to sexual themes (Toth, 1988-1999, p. 1). Her attitude seen throughout her writing’s are about a woman’s place as being in the home and her purpose in life is to nurture her husband and children. Being against oppression Chopin chose to write about these issues through fiction, expressing real women. Kate Chopin is considered...
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...Kate Chopin had many obstacles to overcome throughout her lifetime. She lived a very traumatizing and detrimental life. By spending her childhood in St. Louis, Missouri in the late 1850’s, Kate Chopin knew what it felt like to be discriminated against. St. Louis was a city widely recognized as a prejudice state during the late nineteenth century (Chopin 651). The city was also known for being the sight of the Dread Scott trial. Kate Chopin experienced “many acts of injustice at an early age and she was conformed into being a stereotype of the structure” (Chopin 654). Another impediment that Kate Chopin overcame was not having a male figure in the household. She lost her father at the age of six in a train accident and her brother George died after being imprisoned (Chopin 646). Instead of looking at her past as being harmful, she used the negativity and channeled the energy into writing award- winning novels and stories. By being a feminist writer, Chopin uses realism and writes stories that characterize her childhood and life experiences. Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour” explores the negative views of marriage injustices by being under a man’s control during the latter-part of the nineteenth century in America. The historical context of Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour” really describes why this story is written. Chopin constructed this piece of literature during the late Romantic Period, which encompasses the years of 1850-1890. Throughout this time, the United States...
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...Analytic Review of “Story of an Hour” ENG125: Introduction to Literature Instructor: Rozlyn Truss-Linder 12/3/2012 2 When reading “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin, I found myself very intrigued by both the author and the story. This short story is full of instances and characters the mirror Kate’s own life and tell volumes about the kind of woman she was. There was also quite a bit of the character development that really pointed to the historical movements of the time. I am impressed that the imagery is so complete and clear that the story really seems to come alive as you read. After careful consideration I decided that the best method to analyze this story and all of its components is through a Biographical/Historical approach. The Story of An Hour is a short story that describes a scene involving a woman whose sister has informed her that her husband was killed in a railroad accident. In this story, the young woman who suffers from a heart condition, immediately goes into hysterical weeping and retires to her bedroom where after a short time she comes to a realization that she is free to live her own life and that this could be a positive turning point for her and emerges a new woman, strong and ready to face whatever awaits her. It is only a short time later that she leaves her room and goes out to experience this new existence when to her surprise her husband shows up at the door unharmed and she falls dead. In the beginning of the story we meet a character...
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...In “The Story of an Hour” published in Vogue in 1894 author Kate Chopin wrote about a woman named Mrs. Mallard who is given bad news that her husband has been killed in a railroad disaster. In a second story by Kate Chopin “The Storm” published in Louisiana State University, in 1969 Chopin writes about a woman named ‘Calixte’ who had an affair on her husband with a past lover during a storm. The last story by Kate Chopin “Desiree Baby’s” is about an orphan who got married and had a baby by a well-known and respected man whose attitude towards her changed due to the skin color of their son. These three stories have many similarities and differences in the type of male dominated oppression and relieve each woman felt in their marriage. For instance,...
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...influence of Charles Darwin’s theory of sexual selection in Kate Chopin works. She describes the sexual attraction use by Chopin in her works according to Darwin’s theory. Holtman, Janet. "Failing Fictions: The Conflicting and Shifting Social Emphases Of Kate Chopin's "Local Color" Stories." Southern Quarterly 42.2 (2004): 73-88. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Apr. 2013 The presents work analyses the concept of skin color used by Kate Chopin her works. It discuss the way Southern discourses of race and class influences Chopin novels “Bayou Folk” and “A night in Acadie”. "Kate Chopin: Her Novels and Stories." Kate Chopin: The Awakening, The Storm, Stories, Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. The website provides information about the all the novels and stories wrote by Kate Chopin. It also has her biography and a list of books, articles and essays about Kate Chopin and her works. In addition, the website has series of questions about Kate Chopin personal life and her reputation as a feminist reformer. Tolentino, Jasdomin, "Kate Chopin's Life and Personal Influence" (2008).Excellence in Research Awards.Paper 2 In this paper, Tolentino discuss Kate Chopin life and her personal influence. He explain how the relations with the members of her family, the environment in which she lives and the close people who died in her life affected her of writing her short stories “The Storm” and “ The Story of an Hour”. Bradley, Patricia L. "The Birth Of Tragedy" And "The Awakening":...
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...March 8th,2016 A very dull and boring story can be made into a great story simply by adding in something that is unexpected to happen. When the unexpected is used in literature it is known as irony. An author uses irony to shock the reader by adding a twist to the story. In “The Story of an Hour” and “The Storm” both by Kate Chopin and her use of irony in the story is incredibly done more than once. Kate Chopin does a great job in placing irony into this short story and makes the reader understand that the unexpected happens in life. Kate's story is based on the idea that marriage in the late 19th century was viewed as oppressive. This was based on the fact that in the late 19th century woman had few rights in the public eye and their duties revolved around household chores and raising children. Feminism was not the only theme Kate used in this short story to entertain her readers, she also strategically placed literary ironies to keep the readers interest. In Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour,” there is so much irony. Louise Mallard is about to be told about the death of her husband, Brently Mallard. This is for sure to take a toll on an old woman with a bad heart condition. One can start to feel the irony right after she is told of her husband’s death. She retreats to her room alone where she sits in a comfortable chair and stares out the window. It is what she sees out the window that shows some irony of the story. Through the window, Louise sees “the tops...
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...The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin analysis In the following I will analyse the short story “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin. The short story is written on April 19 1894. In the short story we are introduced to 4 characters: Louise Mallard, Josephine, Richard and Brently Mallard. Louise Mallard is the main character in the story. Louise Mallard is married to Brently Mallard. She was afflicted with a heart trouble. Louise lived in an unhappy marriage. “And yet she had loved him- sometimes. Often she had not”. At first when she hears that her husband has been killed in a railroad accident she is miserable, but then she turns out fine. She becomes happy and feels free. “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.” She has a dull stare in her eyes. Josephine is Louise Mallards sister. Her husband is Richard. She is the one telling her sister about Brently’s death. Richard is a friend of Brently Mallard and he is also married to Josephine. He is the one seeing Brently’s name leading the list of killed persons in the railroad accident. Brently Mallard is Louise Mallards husband. First he is assumed dead but in the end of the story it reveals that the news about his death was a mistake. The story is set in the home of Louise and Brently Mallard. When Louise is informed about her husband’s death she went into her own room to be alone where she sits down in a comfortable roomy armchair facing the window...
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