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Living Up To Societal Expectations Essay

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Cheyenne Battle Mrs. Gore English III 3 May 2023 Living Up To Societal Expectations Can Be Harmful Living up to societal expectations can kill, both psychologically and physically. The main thing that societal standards may kill is happiness. The authors of “ We wear the mask” and “ The story of an hour” include living up to societal expectations in their stories that take a closer look to catch. Dunbar writes on the emotions of former slaves living up to expectations of the slave owners and white society; Chopin discusses the expectations of women in the 1800s. Similar to these stories about how societal standards destroyed the happiness of the individuals, in the story “ Richard Cory” by Edwin Robinson, his society actually killed him. …show more content…

Society back then expected former slaves to show no other emotion besides happiness. “ We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,This debt we pay to human guile”(Dunbar 654) . This means that former slaves wore masks that pleased the white society, they were unhappy but deceiving to others. If former slaves showed any other emotion they were punished, punished by being burned or lynched, which were left unsolved. “ We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries, To thee from tortured souls arise ''(Dunbar 654). Dunbar uses another diction choice, to say that although they may look happy, they are actually suffering from the cruelty and unkindness they experienced as slaves. Dunbar explains in a poem about how former slaves were suffering from living up to the expectations of society by wearing a mask that hid their true …show more content…

In the short story by Kate Chopin she uses irony which shows the expectations men had of women in the 1800s. Society back then expected women to be happy and okay with living their lives under their husbands. Most women did not like this, but some were okay with it. In the 1800s women could not have jobs, vote, or own property, and if they did own property, it belonged to their husbands’ (Women’s Roles and Rights in the 1800s). In this story, Mrs Mallard, a woman with heart issues, learned that her husband had passed away. After hearing this information, Mrs. Mallard spent some time alone in her room, soaking up the feeling of finally being set free from him. Instead of crying she was happy at the chance of a new start (Chopin 644-645). It appeared to her sister and Richard that she was upset about her husband’s death but ironically she was happy. She finally had the chance to be free from her husband as well as the expectations of society in the 1800s. She felt free for only an hour, until her supposedly deceased husband returned home, Mrs Mallard passed away from a heart attack. She did not die because she was happy to see her husband, she died because her heart could not handle knowing her freedom had only lasted her an hour (Chopin 646). Chopin explains ironically in this short story about how women suffered the standards men set for women in the

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