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Comparing Desiree's Baby And The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin

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Kate Chopin is an American writer known for her deception of impacts, the restricted view of the nineteenth-century society, had on women. At that time, people were very restrictive about the perspective of a women’s place in the society. Women did not have a voice of their own. They were trained to believe that the goal of their life is to serve their husband. In the stories “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Story of an Hour” Chopin has portrayed how this condition of the society affected women and their view about marriage and life.
In the story “Desiree’s Baby,” Kate vividly shows how the racial and class-based prejudice prevalent in the society affects the protagonist, Desiree. As noted by Howard, Desiree is in a society where “Marriage was the goal of every woman’s life, service to her husband and her children her duties, passionless submission she assumed virtues, selflessness her daily practice, self-sacrifice her pleasure.” Desiree is shown to have no desire and identity of her own. She views life as being a good wife and serving her husband. She depends on her husband, Armand, for almost …show more content…

In the story, the protagonist Louise Mallard suffers from a heart problem which to an extent shows how much she is oppressed in her marriage. Unlike Desiree, her heart is not in the marriage. She takes marriage as a confinement and a battle of will between husband and wife. She is not satisfied with the limitations that are imposed upon her being a wife. She thinks that the end of the obligations of marriage will free her and she can follow her own desires. Hence, when she hears the news of her husband’s demise, she senses a moment of rapturous delight at the prospects of freedom in her remaining life. “She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely” (Chopin.

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In Kate Chopin 's novel The Awakening and the short story “The Story of An Hour” feminist beliefs overshadow the value in moral and societal expectations during the turn of the century. Due to Louise Mallard and Edna Pontellier Victorian life style they both see separating from their husband as the beginning of their freedom. Being free from that culture allows them to invest in their personal interest instead of being limited to what 's expected of them. Chopin 's sacrifices her own dignity for the ideal of society’s expectations. Chopin 's sad, mysterious tone seems to support how in their era, there was a significant lack of women 's rights and freedom of expression.

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632 Words | 3 Pages

Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” is set in the late 1800s – a time when women were considered inferior to men. Women had traditional roles as wives and mothers. In this 19th century patriarchal society, Chopin shows us Louise Mallard, the main character, who does not comply with the female gender norms of the Victorian period. When Louise learns about the death of her husband, her reaction and the reaction of her sister and the doctor tell us a great deal about gender stereotyping during this time. Louise Mallard is described to us as “firm” and “fair.

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An analysis of Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby” shows the ways in which gender inequality, class and race play a large theme in mid-nineteenth century Southern culture. The gender inequality Chopin insinuates in her story is one that women still battle today. By buying Desiree corbeille gifts and fine clothes, she is treated as a possession by Armand. He seems to believe that by gifting these items to her, he can buy her – and her love.

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1061 Words | 5 Pages

Kate Chopin is best known for her ability to express her feelings of the time and is well known feminist of her time. She has wrote many inspiring novels about women having little to no voice in the Antebellum era. Kate hated being a mother and a wife because she felt like she had no power . Thus, she wrote one of her greatest novels Desiree’s Baby. In Kate Chopin’s Desiree's Baby she introduces a theme of male supremacy by her execution of literary devices such as symbolism and irony to prove that it is more important to be male than white in the Antebellum era.

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1046 Words | 5 Pages

Chopin uses women such as Calixta and Clarisse as examples of women gaining their freedom back within marriage. Calixta finds her freedom by having an affair with a man who isn’t her husband, while Clarisse takes a long vacation away from her husband to experience her freedom again. This allows for them to be less pressured from marriage. These women are breaking the boundaries of an ideal marriage, which allows them to no longer feel like their imprisoning themselves and to be open to more opportunities. Women of the nineteenth century have many expectations they live by.

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568 Words | 3 Pages

During the time that this story took place married women were highly dependant on their husbands. The problem that is encountered with Mrs. Mallard is that she lacks the joy of Independence. At the beginning of the story freedom to Mrs. Mallard seems like an awful idea because she has been restricted in multiple ways such as the house, her marriage etc. Despite the love that is shared between a husband and a wife Mr. Mallard’s death seems to come as a release from oppression to Louise. As stated by Chopin “ There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself.

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999 Words | 4 Pages

In Desiree’s Baby, by Kate Chopin, the story deals with race issues and what a difference it makes in the lives of the characters. Although a person has no choice in what color their skin is, it makes a huge difference in their social class and how others treat them. Women had very little if any say so in their lives in even the smallest of matters. Women were at the mercy of the men in their families to make almost every decision for them and there were dire results if the men did not have their best interests at heart. The slaves had it the hardest of all because they had even less control over their lives and were even more venerable to the plantation owners and any free person.

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Growing up as a woman has been quite difficult in this generation, however, growing up around thirty years ago must have been more difficult. Back in the 1900’s, women had different social norms to deal with in society. Women had to stay at home, be housewives, do the laundry, and cook while men went out and worked to obtain money for their family. In Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, she tells the struggles that women went through back in the 1990 's and the social norms that women had to go through. Chopin addresses many instances of symbolism to portray the feeling Mrs. Mallard has about her own thoughts and experiences with or without a man in her life.

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Louise’s victory in accepting her husband’s death is a feeling that she now cannot live without. The ultimate death of Louise Mallard is one that represents physical and emotional defeat. In this dramatic short story, Chopin uses imagery to sew together a tapestry of emotions all encompassed in an ill-stricken widow. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.”

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Kate Chopin reveals how language, institutions, and expected behavior restrain the natural desires and aspirations of women in patriarchal societies. In 1894, when this story was formed, culture had its own structure on marriage and the conduct towards women. Gender roles play a major role throughout our history. They would decide whether a woman in colonial times would be allowed to join the labor

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Kate Chopin wrote a story about Mrs. Mallard, a married woman who suffers from heart problems and also has to cope with her husband recent passing. Mrs.Mallard, she showed sincere grief about her husband passing. However, looking back at how controlling her husband Mr.Mallard were in their marriage, Mrs.Mallard felt a sudden joy when processing her husband death After her sudden emotional change, Mrs Mallard felt liberated when she started thinking about what her life would be like without Mr.Mallard, but regardless of the happiness she feels, she knows that once she sees her husband in corpse that sadness will return. Through her writing, author Chopin readers/ audience would be women who feel trapped and controlled in their marriage. Anger, loneliness and heartbroken are feelings that women who're coping with the death of their loved one feel.

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1469 Words | 6 Pages

Women in the 1890s were expected to work at home to keep their husbands comfortable and bear him children. Kate Chopin wrote most of her short stories during this time period. Her stories “A Respectable Woman” and “A Story of an Hour” show a female protagonist who want their freedom and control over their own lives. Her characters pushed the bounds of the roles that society gave them and showed the brutal reality of how women were treated in the 1890s. In “A Respectable Woman” the female protagonist Mrs. Baroda is married and lives on a plantation with her husband, who invites a friend to spend a week or two with them.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

Although it is a short story, it has lot of elements making it a successful story. Chopin’s story has many prevalent themes that are showcased. The idea of forbidden happiness was one major theme present. When Brently Mallard dies, Mrs. Mallard comes to the realization that she is now an independent woman. Although she has to keep this joy private, she tries her best to hide this contentment, Her resistance to her true feelings show how forbidden her emotions are and that society would never accept Louise’s true emotions.

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770 Words | 4 Pages

The story also argues that freedom is a very powerful force that affects the mental or emotional state of a person. Chopin argues that only through death can one be finally freed. The author makes strong, yet subtle statements towards humanity and women’s rights. Through subtle symbolism, Kate Chopin demonstrates how marriage is more like a confining role of servitude rather than a

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1124 Words | 5 Pages

Universidad de Costa Rica Carlos Contreras Flores B01884 Literary Criticism The Story of an Hour Divided in Two Millenniums Throughout human history, literature has giving people an insight of what the role of women were in different time periods. In most scenarios, literature has served to establish or spot the role of women as secondary, where they were mere subjects or objects of chauvinism. Although the role changes from time to time, it has one particular characteristic, which is the restraining of their liberty or right to choose. In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin illustrates throughout the character’s fate the only way to escape from the gender role that women were meant to have at 19th century. She achieves

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