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Kate Chopin's Women

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In The Awakening and Story of An Hour, Author Kate Chopin shows how forcing social obligations on a woman will ultimately lead to her destruction. Throughout both stories we examine two women tied down by their obligations as women in the late 1800’s. The women we see portrayed in these two stories were not necessarily held down by their husbands, as many other of their time were, but instead they we held back by the life society chose for them. As each of the stories progress both Edna and Mrs. Mallard become fixated by a life without the obligations of a husband. Their obsession with the independence that they cannot have is what ultimately leads to the death of both Edna and Mrs. Mallard.

Throughout the Awakening by Kate Chopin we see the …show more content…

In Story of an Hour author Kate Chopin paints a different picture of a woman in the late 1800’s with the same outcome as Edna, death. We don 't know much about the main character, Mrs.Mallard other than that she suffers from a severe heart problem. Through Mrs.Mallard’s heart problem, Chopin tells the story of a woman held back by her obligations as a wife. When the news of her husband 's death was first brought to Mrs. Mallard that her husband died, her sister chose to be cautious so that she did not cause her to have a heart attack. “It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing.” (pg.1 paragraph. 2). According to Chopin, Josephine is very cautious of the way she reveals the death of her husband to her sister. Like most other women in this time Josephine felt that she needed to hide the news when telling Mrs. Mallard, because Josephine believed that she would take the news poorly. When Mrs. Mallard was informed of the news she was initially saddened, but Mrs. Mallard did not respond as expected as illustrated by the author; “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance.” (pg.1 paragraph.3). This shows that Mrs.Mallard is different from most women during the 1800’s, after hearing the news she doesn 't react dramatically instead she accepts her husband 's death and begins the think of her newly found freedom. Since Mrs. Mallard wasn 't

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In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, we follow the journey of Edna Pontellier, a woman who struggles to find peace. The upper-middle-class wife to Leonce Pontellier and mother of two children face many challenges on her journey of self-discovery. She has two affairs, yet she can’t seem to find what brings her true happiness. She searches for a role model to help her figure out what to do. In The Awakening, the women Enda Pontellier interacts with are representations of how she is conflicted between following social norms and being free.

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Mallard, and the girlfriend want to communicate how they feel and do not want to be constrained. Chopin was a feminist which encouraged her to write The Story of an Hour. Women do not want to feel possessed and want to be self-asserted (Chopin, 2004). Women are told to respect their marriages and must abide to society. Mrs. Mallard feels free of duties when she understands that her husband has deceased.

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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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Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is a piece of fiction written in the nineteenth century. The protagonist Edna is a controversial character, Edna rebels against many nineteenth - century traditions, but her close friend Adele was a perfect example in terms of a role of a woman, mother and wife at that time. Chopin uses contrast characters to highlight the difference between Adele and Edna. Although they are both married women in the nineteenth century, they also exhibit many different views about what a mother role should be.

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Every person has the right to be and feel free. They have the right to be independent and live happily. Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour,” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences a revelation about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive.

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When Richard’s heard the news of her husband’s death, he assumed Mrs. Mallard would be devastated. While everyone knew Mrs. Mallard was “afflicted with heart trouble” (57), him and her sister, Josephine, wanted to give her the news with “great care” (57). Josephine broke the news to Mrs. Mallard in “broken sentences”

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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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This shows a balance between gender roles, as well as the embracing progressive changes within culture and society. In the story “The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, a third-person omniscient narrator, relates how Mrs. Louise Mallard, the protagonist, experiences the euphoria of freedom rather than the grief of loneliness after hearing about her husband’s death. Later, when Mrs. Mallard discovers that her husband, Mr. Brently Mallard, still lives, she realizes that all her aspiration for freedom has gone. The shock and disappointment kills Mrs. Mallard.

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In the story “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin demonstrates the role of marriage in defining the individual by contrasting and highlighting the value individuals place on the marriage and love that they consider theirs. "The Story of an Hour" is a short story the author,Kate Chopin, presents a dreadful often unheard of view of marriage. Chopin 's main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, experiences the happiness of freedom rather than the desolation of loneliness after she learns of her husband 's death. Later

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" she kept whispering. The diction that is being used by Mrs.Mallard shows how she is actually feeling about the death of her husband. Mrs. Mallard feels as if she will be free now, freer than she was before since her husband’s death. This provides evidence of male dominance in a patriarchy through diction by Mrs.Mallard stating that she is ready to start a new life right after her husband passes away and the fact she states her body and soul are

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Mallard, has just been informed that her Husband, Mr. Mallard has passed away. Though Mrs. Mallard feels sorrow, she soon discovers the bright future she will lead with the absence of her antagonizing husband. She begins to think of all the things she will be able to do, that she was restrained from by her husband for so long. It's almost as if at that very moment, a burden was taken from her, and she could finally move on with her life. In the end, her husband returns and the shock of losing her precious future vanishes, causing Mrs. Mallard to have a stroke, and ultimately dying.

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1610 Words | 7 Pages

The topic I chose to conduct my research on is the short story “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin. While reading this story the deeper meaning may not be initially apparent, but after some careful analyzation it is clear what led to Mrs. Mallard’s demise. I have chosen to conduct my research on “The Story of an Hour” because I previously studied it in my Intro to Fiction course last semester and it’s impactful message stood out. The deeper message being communicated through “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is how oppression by patriarchal forces hinders female independence.

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The action of self-discovery is one filled with many different obstacles and tough choices in the way. In Kate Chopín’s The Awakening, Edna faces difficulties in which she must face alone, due to the fact that she is considered different. The novel takes place during the 1890s when women were expected to just be housewives. All women, including Edna are expected to cook, clean, and take care of the children and house. But, they are also subjected to idolizing their husbands and the luxuries that they provide them with.

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The Short Story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin explores the emotions of Louise Mallard a woman with a heart disease. In the hour that the story is told, it ranges from showing Mrs. Mallard different reactions to learning of her husbands death to him surprisingly showing up alive and eventually her untimely death from a heart disease. Although only a brief period of time is shown, many emotions are revealed through the third person omniscient point of view. This point of view shows more than just the protagonists thoughts and is not limited to one person. It allows the readers to know something about Mrs. Mallard that she does not as the story ends after Mrs. Mallard has already died.

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