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Unexpected Couples In Kate Chopin's Short Stories

616 Words3 Pages

Kate Chopin’s stories describe the lives of three married couples in unexpected situations. The main characters in each of her three stories are women. The reason of this coincidence is that, during this time, women do not have positions of prominence in the family situations. They all seem to enjoy a rather normal existence, until fate introduces an unexpected event in each of their lives. The stories, “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, & “Desiree’s Baby” are being used to depict the lives of women during these times of hardship.
In “The Story of an Hour”, Louise Mallard is an independent lady who possesses a weakened heart. Her marriage with Brently Mallard evolves into a more practical situation rather than romance. Even though they …show more content…

The love between Desiree and Armand is extremely unexpected and develops quickly. Her marriage with Armand seems stable, but having a baby improves Armand’s outlook on life for a short amount of time. Race plays a huge role in this story, especially when it comes to the baby’s change in appearance. The change in the appearance of the baby brings about a change in Armand’s attitude, not wanting anything to do with Desiree and the baby. Armand’s love clouds his judgment concerning Desiree’s heritage. The bonfire symbolizes the ending of their marriage and family. A contribution to take from this story is not to judge someone’s appearance based on only what is seen. The three stories revolving around the female characters and their marriages are “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”, & “Desiree’s Baby”. These three stories reflect situations that will be present in Chopin’s lifetime, and can also be experienced today. One common theme of the three stories is that people make mistakes, but they are not always held accountable for their choices. Most people find themselves where they are in life because of the choices they have made or have allowed other people to make for

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