Compare and Contrast - Story of an Hour and Astronomer's Wife

Chopin’s “Story of an Hour”, the author goes through the story explaining how Mrs. Mallard was feeling about her husband’s death. The author states, how Mrs. Mallard at one point you could hear her whisper “free, free, free” (353). He states the point of how some people would perceive that she is a cold, calculating hard woman. The readers could be led to believe that she doesn’t love her husband. Mrs. Mallard has several different emotions about the news, she is heartfelt, but at the same time relieved from the confinement that she experiences with Mr. Mallard. The author chose to describe in his writings, how the emotions that Mrs. Mallard was feeling was close to rape. She had no self-dignity or self-esteem regarding the events in her life. She doesn’t disclose how he treated her nor does she name him specifically. But in her words and feeling’s that are expressed

Kate Chopin's “The Story of an Hour” and Gail Godwin’s “A Sorrowful Woman” are similar pieces of literary work. Both stories offer a revealing glimpse of extremely unhappy marriages due to being forced into stereotypical roles. Both stories portray women, who are trapped in their marriages and trapped in their socially expected matriarchal characters. They are identified by their role as a wife and mother.

I n the Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin gives us the feeling that Mrs. Mallard is unhappy in the by telling us “she was presses down by physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (227). We learn right off that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition and should be treated tenderly. When she heard the news of her husbands death, she was at first upset and distraught. She did not begin to feel better until she had time to sit and think, with “the delicious breath of rain was in the air” (227). Mrs. Mallard felt lonely and did not know what to do with herself anymore. She realized that there would no longer be someone there with her to be there when her life expired. She often had the feeling that life was too long and that the end would never come for her. That was a sign that Mrs. Mallard was a lonely and isolated woman. She was sitting there in the chair when it came to her in a sudden rush. That she is “Free! Body and soul free” (228). Mrs. Mallard knew then that life was not short after all. Life was short and she should live it to the fullest. She is now free to do as she pleases. Mrs. Mallard has a feeling of freedom, freedom form the loneliness and isolation that she has felt for a very long time. She is now free to be herself

In the past many decades the definition of what a marriage means changed dramatically in some areas. For the author of both stories, Kate Chopin, she wanted the reader to get something out of the story. She likes to explore all types of themes in her stories such as, racism, the roles of women, and adultery. With these themes and messages she struggled to have most of her stories published. In many of her stories she passed along these messages through the manner of a marriage. In her short stories “The Story of an Hour” and “Desiree 's Baby” she showed just how different marriages could be as well as how similar they can be. Chopin portrays the lives of the main characters, Louise Mallard from “The Story of An Hour” and Desiree Aubigny

Mrs. Mallard in "The Story of an Hour" had to deal with a sort of burden. Her husband had control over her "body and soul". She felt that he lived her life for her and did "not believe that anyone had the right to impose a private will on a fellow creature" (Chopin). This control caused her to long for freedom from her husband's harsh behavior. Mrs. Mallard

During the 1800’s it was very rare for women to marry for love. Most marriages were arranged for financial gain. When in a marriage during this time period, the husbands were given most of the control over the household, the children and their wives. According to the article “Histories: Women in the 1800’s,” It stated that all of a women’s possession’s belonged to her husband, this included earnings (if she worked) and her property. It wasn’t uncommon for women to be unhappy within their marriages because with a lack of voice in a marriage can lead anyone to a mental breakdown. In Kate Chopin’s “The story of an hour” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” both women felt trapped in their marriages. They both strived for freedom and independence.

The story of an hour by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to her husband’s death. In this short story, Chopin portrays the complexity of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as she is saddened yet joyful of her loss. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” argues that an individual discover their self-identity only after being freed from confinement. The story also argues that freedom is a very powerful force that affects mental or emotional state of a person. The story finally argues that only through death can one be finally freed.

"'Free! Body and soul free!'", Mrs. Mallard kept whispering. One person's ultimate freedom may be seen as a tragedy to another. Kate Chopin illustrates this idea in "The Story of an Hour." The story is set in the nineteenth century. Chopin uses the death of Mr. Mallard to show the reader Mrs. Mallard's deep feelings. In the story, Josephine and Mrs. Mallard are sisters. Although the women come from the same background, live in the same city, and outwardly appear to be satisfied with their lives, their attitudes are very different. Chopin uses these two women as foil characters in the story. The differences in the women are seen in their reactions to

In the short story, “The Story of an Hour,” author Kate Chopin presents the character of Mrs. Louis Mallard. She is an unhappy woman trapped in her discontented marriage. Unable to assert herself or extricate herself from the relationship, she endures it. The news of the presumed death of her husband comes as a great relief to her, and for a brief moment she experiences the joys of a liberated life from the repressed relationship with her husband. The relief, however, is short lived. The shock of seeing him alive is too much for her bear and she dies. The meaning of life and death take on opposite meaning for Mrs. Mallard in her marriage because she lacked the courage to stand up for herself.

“The Story of an hour” a complex piece of literature by Kate Chopin, has various interpretations to it. This story has, one definite interpretation, which is the following: life has to go on no matter what is happened in the past. In this story, Chopin implies Ms. Mallard’s husband has been very cruel to her in her lifetime. However, she never lets her husband get in the way, finally he dies, and, she thinks she is free although she really is not.

In "The story of an Hour," Kate Chopin reveals the complex character, Mrs. Mallard, In a most unusual manner. THe reader is led to believe that her husband has been killed in a railway accident. The other characters in the story are worried about how to break the news to her; they know whe suffers from a heart condition, and they fear for her health. On the surface, the story appears to be about how Mrs. Mallard deals with the news of the death of her husband. On a deeper level, however, the story is about the feeling of intense joy that Mrs. Mallard experiences when she realizes that she is free from the influences of her husband and the consequences of

Kate Chopin's `The Story of an Hour' is a short yet complex piece describing the feelings of Mrs Mallard. This story is overflowing with symbolism and imagery. The most prominent theme here is the longing for freedom. Chopin focuses on unfolding the emotional state of Mrs Mallard which can be separated into three stages: quickly moving to grief, through a sense of newfound freedom, and finally into the despair of the loss of that freedom.

In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard is not allowed to demonstrate her feelings and is caught in a cold marriage, held around a pledge that traps her in a marriage of accommodation, than of affection. Imagery is utilized to show how Mrs. Mallard felt in her marriage. This happens when Mrs. Mallard learns of her significant other's demise and as opposed to lamenting, she makes the most of her opportunity. Chopin composes, "When she surrendered herself somewhat whispered word got away from her marginally separated lips". She said it again and again under her breath: "free, free, free!" (Chopin

Mrs. Mallard suffers from a heart condition; thus, her sister Josephine gently and carefully breaks the news of Mr. Mallard’s death. Richards, a close friend of Mr. Mallard, is the first to discover the news of Mr. Mallard’s railroad tragedy. When hearing the news, Mrs. Mallard collapses in grief into her sister’s arms and retreats upstairs into her room. While her sister begs Mrs. Mallard to open the door, Mrs. Mallard reflects on her feelings. She sinks into an armchair facing an open window noticing the “new spring life, the delicious breath of rain in the air, the peddler in the street crying his ware, the notes of a distant song which someone was singing and countless sparrows twittering in the eaves” (Chopin 556). This signifies a new blossoming life: a life that she would live for herself. Although her husband is loving, and she knows that she will weep again when she sees his dead body, she realizes how confined marriage is for her. Robert Evans, author of “Literary Contexts in Short Stories: Kate Chopin's “‘The Story of an Hour,’” claims that Mrs. Mallard looks forward to a bright future rather than a dreadful life. She becomes aware that she must live alone rather than being imprisoned by marriage. As these thoughts circulate in her mind, she keeps whispering, “Free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin 557).By conveying the story through Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts, Chopin portrays how women actually feel compared to what they present in society. While Josephine and society expect Mrs. Mallard to be grieving, Mrs. Mallard is actually looking forward to the days ahead of her: “Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own” (Chopin 557). When Mrs. Mallard discovers that the news of her husband’s death was inaccurate, Mrs. Mallard dies from a heart attack after seeing her husband alive. The

“The Story of an Hour” is a very short text, so the author does not have room to develop a complex plot. In the exposition, the reader learn that Mrs. Mallard has a heart problem, so the other characters wanted to be delicate while sharing the news of her husband’s death. The rising action is when Mrs. Mallard’s sister shares the news and Mrs. Mallard responds by weeping and going to her room. The climax occurs when Mrs. Mallard learns that she will be free from the restrictions the “civil law” forces on women at that time. According to the text, “When she abandoned herself a little whisper escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her