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Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

992 Words4 Pages

In the Victorian era, women were confined by societal standards that were created mostly through marriage. The modern concepts of single women, how they support themselves with their own wages, and gain their independence, in this era, are nonexistent unless a woman was to become a nun or wishes to be shunned from society. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” all discuss these restrictions through their protagonists’ personal conflicts. These struggles can be expressed as internal, as with Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of an Hour” and the unnamed narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” or more external such as Delia’s continuous fights with her husband in “Sweat.” All three women, …show more content…

After weeks of continuous fighting with her husband, “Two of three times Delia had attempted a timid friendliness, but she was repulsed each time” (Hurston 108). Despite the fighting, it is Delia who is the one to attempt to fix the damaged relationship but is ignored by her husband. As her husband is the one pushing her away because of the fights that do not confine her to her gender specific domestic role. While fighting with her husband as he mocks her work, “[s]he seized the iron skillet from the stove and struck a defensive pose, which act surprised him greatly coming from her” (Hurston 107). The skillet, a tool used for cooking, made of iron, a strong and heavy metal used for armor and construction, represents Delia’s pride in her femininity but also her drive for strength in these domestic chores. This trait of femininity, better expressed towards her husband, allows her to fit into society’s standards however she also is a strong woman who can defend herself. As she can defend herself, Delia does not need the traditional nineteenth century ideas to protect her as she is perfectly capable of supporting in herself. Even though Delia wants to lead a good domestic life, her husband’s antics make her reconsider the possibility of her individual needs being separated from her

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