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The Kiss By Kate Chopin

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The female role in today’s society, is drastically different than the female role that took place in the 1800’s. The short story “The Kiss” by Kate Chopin gives an introspective look at a women in that time period deciding between wealth and lust. The two men in the story represent two extreme stereotypes, however their relationship with Nathalie is not quite so typical. How Nathalie interacts with the men in the story, as well as Nathalie’s thought process with each man, hints the reader to notice how Nathalie was a feminist in the beginning stages.
Unlike a majority of Chopin 's stories, the main character Nathalie, is a strong willed women that possess no feelings of uncertainty or true mental conflict. Nathalie knows what she wants from …show more content…

The character of Brantain is a rich man, that is visually displeasing and has an uninteresting nature. That juxtaposed with Harvy’s charming, dashing nature and levels of intelligence make it appear to the reader as a clear choice as to which man would preferred by Nathalie. In the very beginning of the short story Chopin tells the reader “It was still quite light out of doors, but inside with the curtains drawn and the smouldering fire sending out a dim, uncertain glow, the room was full of deep shadows”(lines 1-3), in many ways this line acts as foreshadowing to later in the story and mirrors Brantain and Nathalie’s relationship. Just as the room has been darkened by the drawn curtains, Brantain also remains in the dark when it comes to Nathalie’s affair with Harvy. The fact that Chopin describes the glow from the fire as being “uncertain” also appears to mirror the uncertainty that Brantain has when it comes to Nathalie’s relationship with Harvy. When Chopin describes the room as being “full of deep shadows”, it appears to be mirroring Brantain and Nathalie’s relationship, all is not as it would seem. However Nathalie does not see that as a problem whatsoever. This perspective was quite uncommon for women in this era. The idea of having more than one man for one women seems quite taboo and inappropriate. Women in the 1800’s did not have an open choice as to who they wanted to marry, when approached with the actual marriage, the women would never even think to continue more than one relationship. However Nathalie did not mind whether or not what she was doing was

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Dialectal Journal; The Awakening (Kate Chopin) Motif- The Sea Quote Literary/Style Elements Commentary Additional Ideas “There was no sound abroad except the hooting of an old owl in the top of a water-oak, and the everlasting voice of the sea, that was not uplifted at that soft hour.” (7) Personification Chopin’s use of personification demonstrates how the sea provides a feeling of comfort. The soft hour helps to communicate the feeling of comfort as Chopin tries to show how the setting of the sea is calming.

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In every relationship there is always an unequal relationship with the significant other. In the short story The Chaser by John Collier, Alan Austen who’s the main character in the short story goes to an old man to buy a love potion so this girl named Diana would fall in love with him. The basic principle states that men and women have a relationship that is unequal or oppressive. In the short story “The Chaser”, it shows feminist criticism by feeling unconfident, buying a love potion, and Diana’s treatment of Mr. Austen. My first main point of the story that touched on feminism was when Mr. Austen feeling unconfident.

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It is common for people in everyday society to conform to society’s expectations while also questioning their true desires. In the novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess, "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In other words, Edna outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Kate Chopin, uses this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning to build the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period. Edna outwardly conforms to society’s expectations by marriage.

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Armand was supposedly having an affair with La Blanche, one of the family’s slaves. This is form of racism because having an affair is unacceptable in the first place, but if anyone knew that Armand was having an affair with a black woman, it would have been the end. Armand wanted to keep everything under wrap and under his complete control. Whether this is a form of misleading the reader to think this or not, Chopin hinted that there was some cracks in the marriage of Armand and Desiree. Irony and foreshadowing and maybe even examples of misleading the reader are used to show how racist Armand can be and the way this racism causes him to act in general and towards

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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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Chopin’s novel and short story provides awareness of the lack of independence and individuality that women are granted in that era. Chopin’s voices how Louise and Enda becomes accustom to living according to what the man of the house desires. “Then would be no power will bending hers in that blind persistence” (The Story of An hour). With Louise husband being gone, he would no longer interfere with her actions or even overrule what she has to say. Louise would be completely free from his authority.

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During the era in which this short story was written, southern authors had a major influence on the way the culture was going to grow with racism, and also the way people loved each other. Kate Chopin, a traditional author who believed in southern ways, exemplifies how race and the characteristics of conditional love played a role in her story. In “Desiree’s Baby,” the author, Kate Chopin, provides an illustration of conditional love exemplified by the character, Armand, towards his wife and child; furthermore, Chopin provides instances of irony, elements of surprise, foreshadowing, and symbolism to prove that Armand’s love for both of them was not the unconditional love typically felt and portrayed by women, such as Desiree, during this era. Throughout the story, the readers notice different times where Chopin uses elements of surprise. One major surprise is when Armand opens the letter from his mother and finds out that he has African American in his bloodline.

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Chopin empowers female sexuality by showing an woman who expresses sexual desire and lacks guilt and a legitimate excuse for the society, like men have been

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In the mid to late 1800’s women are viewed as homemakers, “Men demonstrate their dominance over women by generally confining them to the devalued registers of the home and the kitchen” (Brightwell 37). This is an era of raging patriarchy, if a woman is devoting time to something other than raising a family, she is looked down upon. Chopin emphasizes this through the social contrast between

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Those sentiments show that her husband was not a cruel man but a kind one. With that information, it is still noted that “she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not” (Chopin) which could mean her marriage was of convenience and not a choice. Even though this relationship may have been amicable Louise still struggles with this new emotion, that of

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Chopin makes her strong statement in this quote from the story. Mrs. Mallard has no one to answer to but herself, and she feels liberated that her husband can no longer control her. During the late nineteenth century, women quite frequently had to suppress themselves to the will of their husbands, or to some other man who had a significant amount of control over their lives. Chopin successfully uses vivid imagery, point of view, and irony that gives a different view of marriage that is not typical of today.

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Chopin also describes Mrs. Mallard as “young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength”. At the beginning Mrs. Mallard is thought of as being controlled, and weak. In the 19th Century, when this story was written, husbands controlled their wives. Perhaps Mrs. Mallard wasn’t like most women of her time. After she hears of her husband’s death she morns for what feels like only a moment.

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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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However, because she modifies her statement with the suggestion that she will be “very nice” to him on his next visit, she may indicate that after overcoming her distrusts and her mental restrictions, she has decided to fill her desires in choosing of having an affair. Chopin deliberately leaves the meaning of this statement uncertain, but knowing what we know about her

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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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