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Feminism In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

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Recommended: Kate chopin the story of an hour literary analysis

Feminism
- We women and man are equal

ABSTRACT: We have lived in a male dominated society for more than 200 years since the early of 19th century. During these 200 years, we female have never ever stopped fighting for our own rights, no matter it’s the voting right or the working right. Kate Chopin – the forerunner of the feminist authors, started her fight for female’s rights from the early in the 20th century. In an era when most of the people don’t even have the idea of gender equality. “The story of an hour” is one of her most famous feminist works. The author find some of the evidences of Kate Chopin’s feminism thoughts in “the story of an hour” by analyzing the inner spirits of this novel.

Introduction During Kate Chopin’s 20 years of writing life she wrote many works to reflect the social reality that the women were dominated by the society, or more specifically, the man. They couldn’t vote; couldn’t do anything without their husband’s permissions. What’s worse, they don’t even have the ability to speak for themselves in this male dominated society. After seeing these unfair phenomenon Kate Chopin decided to fight for those women, also for herself, by using the most powerful weapon – pen. In …show more content…

She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’ s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.” (Para 3). This is the foreshadowing for the later “awakening” of the heroine, Louise Mallard. From this part we can find that women seem determined to be fragile and hopeless when facing some desperate situations, and women couldn’t live without their husband since their fate is in their husband’s hand. Although Mrs. Mallard do have some of the common reactions with the “other women”, she still have something more precious – her independence and strong in her inner

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In the 19th century, a group of people launched the suffrage movement, and they cared about women’s political rights, their property and their body liberty. Born in that age, Kate Chopin was aware of the importance of setting an example for those who were taken in by the reality and poor women to be an inspiration. So we call her a forerunner of the feminist author for every effort she put in advocating women’s sexuality, their self-identity and women’s own strength. When people were ashamed of talking about sexuality, Kate Chopin stood out and call for women’s sexual autonomy.

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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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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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Mrs. Mallard’s actions cause the readers to contemplate a hidden meaning woven into the story line. Mr. Mallard is assumed to die in a railroad accident, leaving Mrs. Mallard devastated. Instead of feeling sadness or grief, Mrs. Mallard actually feels free. "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Page 499).

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In “ Desiree’s Baby” and “ The Story of An Hour” written by Kate Chopin the audience analyzes the themes of love and marriage presented by the author in a unique style that is different from other authors during this time period. The similarities that the two short stories address include both of the women who happen to be young wives living under a male dominated culture as well as being under the control of their husbands whom they loved. However, the themes of the two stories are different. In “Desiree’s Baby” the theme portrays cruelty that is expressed through racial prejudice as well as being “blinded” by the ones you love, as compared to “ The Story of An Hour” which gives the reader a chance to explore the issue of forbidden joy in independence, and oppressiveness in marriage.

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Literary Analysis “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to the sudden death of her husband. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as sad, yet happy that her husband has been killed. Kate Chopin’s “ The Story of an Hour” argues that when a person is controlled and made to live under another person their mental state of mind is affected. The story also argues that when that person is freed from the controlling person their true self can finally be achieved. Kate Chopin portrays these themes by the use of character development; plot control, and irony throughout the story.

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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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