Dispelling The Romantic Myth : A Study Of A Farewell To Arms

     There is great power in being an author; you can make things happen which do not necessarily occur in real life. Hemingway felt throughout his life, powerless, and so to escape this, he created alternative lives by writing stories. Hemingway, who fell in love with Agnes, an American nurse, seven years older than he, while wounded in Milan, was deeply hurt after she didn't return his affections. While the beginning of A Farewell to Arms, up until this point is similar, this is where the story changes. In the book, Frederic and Catherine are both in love with each other. Hemingway continued his affair with Agnes through Frederic and Catherine. He put his dreams of what his faded love affair would have been like in the love scenes between Catherine and Frederic:

His decision to "desert [..] the army" exhibits how the atrocities he faces during war makes him want to leave it behind so that he can be fully devoted to Catherine (Hemingway 251). As a result, the war, with all its melancholy, brings the couple close together. The importance of the title of book, A Farewell to Arms, is demonstrated when Henry willingly gives up fighting in the army so that he can be with Catherine all his life. He faces many terrors in the war such as getting injured, being sent back to the front, and most importantly almost getting arrested. As a result, Henry and Catherine distract each other from these brutal things in the world by living in their own world away from people. Henry, rashly, regards Catherine as an escape from the hopeless war. However, Henry's dependence on Catherine to take his mind away from the war makes him vulnerable at the end of the novel when she dies, demonstrating that relying on someone excessively can be harmful. In the midst of the horrors in the world, love is a shining light of hope that both Henry and Catherine turn to in order to get through the hard

Kate Chopin is an experienced short story writer from the beginning of the 1900s, who was ahead of her time due to her amazing ability to take such complex characters that are easy to identify with and create amazing short stories in such a small amount of space. Marriage is a common theme in her stories, because a "wife" was a defining role in women's lives back then. The only thing is, marriage is not always shown to be flowery and romantic like writings before her. She looked at the painfully real side of how marriage can be good and bad, notably in The Story of an Hour and The Storm. Kate Chopin's attitude towards marriage is primarily negative because it can become dull and it can repress women, yet at the same time her

In my research paper I want to discuss the concept of freedom for a woman in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, and how the wrong news can make the happiest person in the world and then cause her death.

In Chopin’s short story, she demonstrates how men in the late ninetieth and early twentieth century treated their wives more as possessions than individuals, thus when the protagonist Mrs. Mallard learns her husband Brently Mallard just unexpectedly died, she feels “free, free, free!” (15). Since, Chopin published this short story in 1894; women often got married while they were quite young and typically to men much older. Likewise, divorce was never usually an option for unhappy marriages. Subsequently, Mrs. Mallard appears unhappy in her marriage, after learning about her husband’s death, she pictures how much better her life is going to be, “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that persistence with which men and women believe they have the right to impose a private will upon a

For the wife, Louise Mallard, this was an awakening of a new life. This new life is cut short as the information that led her to believe this news turns our false. Kate Chopin reveals that even the desire for love is trumped by the need for freedom and independence, through her use of precise diction and syntax, and symbolism. (rewrite)

Kate Chopin’s short stories testify to display to the readers her viewpoints about love, sex and marriage that one is not usually aware of. These three topics all tied together. Typically, it’s easy to think that when you love someone you get married to them. You only commit yourself to them and no one else. Of course not all marriages work out but that’s life. In two particular short stories though, it establishes the struggle for woman around the 1800’s. Kate Chopin’s “The story of an Hour” and “The Storm” demonstrates the dark side of love, sex, and marriage.

Throughout history, people have been intrigued by love and lust which is shown by art, literature, and word of mouth. One author that had this curiosity of affection was Kate Chopin. In “Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard died after finding out the shocking truth of her love one. In “The Storm”, Calixta’s Affair when a storm blow through her town causes some conflict in her mind. Chopin has a recurring theme of love in these two stories, but are shown in different ways by events that take place, the character’s idea of love and how the character’s actions affect the outcome.

Whereas Frederic is passionate about the love of his life, even declaring Catherine as his religion, Catherine never truly commits to the idea of marriage, stalwartly defending her independence. Henry views a formal marriage as a necessary action to solidify his relationship with Catherine, although she believes that they are already personally married. Catherine claims that “there’s no way to be married except by church or state” (Hemingway 115). Catherine is unreligious, so her refusal to married by state is justified. However, her refusal to be married by state showcases her true intentions. After Henry continues to pester her with the idea of marriage, her attitude towards him turns hostile, as she accuses Henry of being jealous of her past marriage with another man. This dramatic change displays Catherine’s willingness to challenge obstacles, such as Henry, that are a threat to her autonomy.

During the second book in the novel, Catherine and Frederic are talking about being married legally through the church. Catherine responds to Frederic stating how he would go on leave to be formally married by saying, "You can 't get to Scotland and back on a leave. Besides I won 't leave you. What good would it do to marry now? We 're really married. I couldn 't be any more married," (Hemingway 99). This quote shows the sanctity of their relationship because it 's just like a marriage. They are so close together, and since they 're always together, they are like an old married couple.

The symbolism in “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway is vivid and dynamic, and in the novel the rain and other factors, symbolize despair. The symbols all are presented in varying forms. The other symbolic factors include; lakes, rivers, snow, ice, mountains, plains, night, seasons, weather, Catherine’s hair, Frederic’s beard, officer stars, riding crop, the painted horse and the silhouette cutter. The symbolic concepts are; the baby, war, love, wounds, and the enemy. The different symbols have an effect on each character in the novel, in a special way. When a reader opens up the novel from the first page to the last page some of the symbols are made obvious, while some symbols are insightful.

In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin describes the series of emotions a married woman with a heart condition, Mrs. Mallard, endures after hearing about the death of her husband, Mr. Mallard. She assumes that she will be a mournful widow, but she ends up silently rejoicing. It turns out that she was not happily married and the thought of freedom from her attachments of marriage gave her

The narrator says,” He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss” (Chopin). They cannot control the passion for each other. The feelings that they have for each other is irresistible and uncontrollable but, there is nothing they can do about it. . They must put their emotions to the side and do what is considered “right” at the time. To keep down commotion, they will have to keep the affair to themselves, because it is the only way to express their feelings, physically. Rosenblum writes, “When the storm subsides, they know they must separate, at least temporarily” (1). They do not feel guilty for the affair. Although, it is normally wrong, the affair makes them happy. Unlike their marriages, their love for each other is not arranged.

In the early 19th century the men of society were dominant, they were considered the caregivers and are responsible for the actions of their women. When a woman would get into trouble they would be sent to their husband or father to be punished. Kate Chopin unlike many women did not have a male figure in her life. As an author she still had to prove herself to society that she was a good writer. Most female writers of that century wrote under a male name so they could be published, Kate Chopin wanted to be known for her work. Mrs. Mallard searches for freedom within her life. She feels trapped in her marriage, and her husband's death is her ticket to freedom. Kate Chopin shows Mrs. Mallard’s desire for freedom through the use of irony.

Frederic's education is enhanced by his relationship with the English nurse, Catherine Barkley, as well. Originally, Catherine is nothing more than an object of sensual desire, but as the novel progresses, Catherine becomes symbolic of Frederic's final resolution. At first Frederic views Catherine as a replacement for the boring prostitutes that he is accustomed to visiting. He takes advantage of her situation; Catherine's fiancé has been killed in the war.