ipl-logo

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

Show More
Related
1367 Words | 6 Pages

Are Women Truly Property? Throughout two short stories, “Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin and “The Birth-Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, both the women protagonists and the male protagonists are married and live with one another within their own homes. The spouses, Armand and Désirée, from “Désirée’s Baby,” live during the time of slavery, and in a farm like area with open fields all around them. When Désirée gave birth to their son, they realized that their son was not fully white. Because of this horrific news, Armand sent Désirée and their child away due to the fact that he believed Désirée was black and this lead them straight to their deaths.

Read More
784 Words | 4 Pages

Signifying that Armand had calmed and settled down once he meet her, he was so in love with Desiree. After a while and 3 months had passed y of the baby’s birth Armand’s attitude had changed she didn’t want to ask but it made her unhappy. Armand didn’t want his family legacy to be ruined because the baby wasn’t white which he believes Desiree wasn’t white either which isn’t the women he fell in love with. This can conclude the fact that people weren’t supportive of interracial relationships and how because of the baby’s skin color Armand’s attitude changed just cause he didn’t want his reputation to be ruined.

Read More
1267 Words | 6 Pages

Surely, only an opposing, selfish, and insensitive person could send their wife and child away upon realizing that they both were mixed race. In Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby”, however, protagonist, Desiree, is altered over just a few days as she goes from being thankful from the happiness of her husband and baby into saddened and betrayed by her lover. The story eventfully shows how racism and denial both play a part in the way the future may turn out. From the time that the story begins, one can see that the love between Armand and Desiree is what they say to be a dream come true. It’s the love that everyone asks for.

Read More
1210 Words | 5 Pages

They end up having a kid but the boy turns out to be not white. Armand angry and upset kicks out both Desiree and her baby because of her mixed race. That night, Armand burns all of Desiree’s possessions. While doing this, he finds a letter that his mother wrote to his

Read More
616 Words | 3 Pages

What common themes bond together the literary works of the 1800’s? Frederick Douglass and Kate Chopin both realized that people were not being treated fairly and thus it influenced their writing. Through personal experiences and observations Frederick Douglass conveyed how African Americans in My Bondage and My Freedom were treated unfairly. Kate Chopin used the plot to show how women were treated unfairly in “The Story of an Hour”. My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass tells of some of the experiences he went through as a slave.

Read More
1012 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
940 Words | 4 Pages

In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” demonstrates the personal growth of the dynamic protagonist Louise Mallard, after hearing news of her husband’s death. The third-person narrator telling the story uses deep insight into Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts and emotions as she sorts through her feelings after her sister informs her of her husband’s death. During a Character analysis of Louise Mallard, a reader will understand that the delicate Mrs. Mallard transforms her grief into excitement over her newly discovered freedom that leads to her death. As Mrs. Mallard sorts through her grief she realizes the importance of this freedom and the strength that she will be able to do it alone.

Read More
568 Words | 3 Pages

In “ Desiree’s Baby” and “ The Story of An Hour” written by Kate Chopin the audience analyzes the themes of love and marriage presented by the author in a unique style that is different from other authors during this time period. The similarities that the two short stories address include both of the women who happen to be young wives living under a male dominated culture as well as being under the control of their husbands whom they loved. However, the themes of the two stories are different. In “Desiree’s Baby” the theme portrays cruelty that is expressed through racial prejudice as well as being “blinded” by the ones you love, as compared to “ The Story of An Hour” which gives the reader a chance to explore the issue of forbidden joy in independence, and oppressiveness in marriage.

Read More
1414 Words | 6 Pages

In the short story, “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, Desiree a young lady, who was abandoned as a child was found and taken in by the Valmonde’s, grew up and met a man by the name of Armand Aubigny. Mr. Aubigny came from a family of great fortune. He was a harsh, but hard working man, who also had slaves working for him. As time went on Desiree and Armand ended falling in love for each other and decided to get married. Shortly after they gave birth to a newborn, whose Desiree 's mother, Madame Valmonde, was coming to see for the first time.

Read More
913 Words | 4 Pages

Literary Analysis “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to the sudden death of her husband. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as sad, yet happy that her husband has been killed. Kate Chopin’s “ The Story of an Hour” argues that when a person is controlled and made to live under another person their mental state of mind is affected. The story also argues that when that person is freed from the controlling person their true self can finally be achieved. Kate Chopin portrays these themes by the use of character development; plot control, and irony throughout the story.

Read More
791 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
1043 Words | 5 Pages

One element being demonstrated in the story is the theme. The theme is important for setting an ambience within the story. An analysis on Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” demonstrates the theme of freedom, happiness, and adultery. The first theme Chopin demonstrates is the freedom of women in the nineteenth century. Many women

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

Child’s Play, written by Higuchi Ichiyo, is a short novel centred around the growth of children, particularly those associated with the pleasure quarters. The story takes place over a few days, nevertheless, we are given an idea on the backgrounds of the three main characters, Shōta, Midori, and Nobu, and watch them gradually lose their childlike innocence. Although not explicitly stated, the last three paragraphs suggest that all three protagonists have followed the footsteps of their parents and in Midori’s case, her older sister. This essay discusses the impending tragic future of children who are destined to take after the occupations of their family.

Read More
1469 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
1124 Words | 5 Pages

Universidad de Costa Rica Carlos Contreras Flores B01884 Literary Criticism The Story of an Hour Divided in Two Millenniums Throughout human history, literature has giving people an insight of what the role of women were in different time periods. In most scenarios, literature has served to establish or spot the role of women as secondary, where they were mere subjects or objects of chauvinism. Although the role changes from time to time, it has one particular characteristic, which is the restraining of their liberty or right to choose. In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin illustrates throughout the character’s fate the only way to escape from the gender role that women were meant to have at 19th century. She achieves

Read More

More about Unexpected Couples In Kate Chopin's Short Stories

Related Topics

Open Document