Essay on Housewives and Prisioners: Chopin, Colette, Godwin

In “The Story of an Hour” Louise is an oppressed woman living in her husband’s footsteps, when she learns that her husband is on the deceased list at work she feels a sense of newfound freedom and joy. She begins the recognition of selfhood and no longer feels as though she is owned and dominated by a man. After learning of her awakening she states, “Free, free, fee” (124). The women in both of these stories begin to feel free from the dominance and constraints of marriage when they realize their possession of self assertion. By abandoning their

The “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and ‘”The Hand” by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette are similar in theme and setting. Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette and Kate Chopin create the theme of obligatory love and the unhappiness it entails. Both stories illustrate the concealed emotions many women feel in their marriage yet fail to express them. The two stories take place in a sacred room of the house and both transpire in a brief amount of time. The differences between the two stories are seen through the author’s choice of characters in each story. In “The story of an Hour” Kate Chopin involves other characters in Mrs. Mallard’s life, whereas, “The Hand” deals with marriage and togetherness and only involves the husband and wife. Symbolism is

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.

eye on the institution of marriage is very characteristic of her stories (11). In "The Story of an Hour", we do not so much see as intuit Mrs. Mallard's skeptical eye.

Women in history stood best known for a less ascendant sex in the mid-nineteen centuries. Since times have gone by women had fought for their equal rights and freedom. There had been many stereotypes, where the women were considered as a slave to the men’s because the women’s position was to be the homemakers and a mother to their children, while the men’s are out socializing with others. If they were not happy with the marriage, they cannot just walk out or complain because a women role is to endure all these pains without a word coming out of their mouths. Two out of the ordinary short stories, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of An Hour,” mostly focused on a women’s dilemma that they faced near the 19th century. The two main characters in the short stories show some resemblances in some ways, but both characters portrayed them in different ways of how they dealt their sorrows in their marriages.

However the mother’s point of view was contrasting from the daughter it was tradition for the daughter to be a wife and to live with the husband, but because they had to leave her life at an early stage of her life she felt upset to see her grow with her husband without her. Afterwards years had past and the she found a way to keep her promise and end the marriage in the end.

Mallard being a bad husband, the author makes no implications to such a thing. In fact, we are told that he “had never looked save with love upon her,” (CITE) which would imply she had no real ill feelings toward Mr. Mallard. That is, she had no real grounds for her negativity towards him. She even tried to appeal to her own emotions by pointing this reasoning out to herself, but in the end, she put up a poor defense of how she deserved to feel elated over her husband’s death. “What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion…” (CITE) Mrs. Mallard allowed her selfish emotions to take over, “her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her.” (CITE) This possibly even ruined a good thing between her and her husband. Then again, the love in the relationship seemed very one sided as Mrs. Mallard admitted that her love for her husband was not complete. The way she tosses aside a relationship like she did makes it challenging for one to sympathize with Mrs. Mallard's character.

The short stories, “The Story of An Hour”, by Kate Chopin and “The Jury of Her Peers”, by Susan Glaspell compare two married women who live under the shadow of their husbands. Both of these stories were written in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries during the time when women were treated unequally. Women had limited rights. For example, they could not vote, voice their opinion or work outside the home. Glaspell and Chopin were considered feminist writers who focus their writing on the struggle of women during the time when the Women’s Suffrage Movement was beginning; these short stories reflect women’s struggles under the control of men. Married women were responsible for taking care of the household, children and wifely duties while the husbands were responsible for consistently managing the title of “the breadwinner.” Married women were expected to be discreet and obedient to their husbands, which meant that the wives could not express their opinions because of society’s expectations of women. In the short stories, “The Story of An Hour”, by Kate Chopin and “The Jury of Her Peers”, by Susan Glaspell, Mrs. Mallard and Mrs. Wright share a prominent similarity concerning the loss of their individual identity during marriage and realize that the death of their husbands allow them to regain their self-identity.-

Upon hearing the news, Mrs. Mallard is overwhelmed with grief, which swiftly turned into hope. Mrs. Mallard’s reaction upon receiving the news of her husband 's death is considered to be unusually by society’s standards. In the beginning of the story it is revealed that Mrs, Mallard suffers heart problems; however, when it is revealed that her husband is dead her heart is relieved. She was thrilled that she was able to be her own person again. It was revealed through her reflection on her marriage that she “had loved him - sometimes” (16). Mrs. Mallard overcame is quick to overcome her grief after the realization that she has been set free of her horrible marriage. As a married woman, Mrs. Mallard is miserable, but as a widow she feels a sense of relief that she is free of her marital vows. At the end of the story Mrs. Mallard dies of a failing heart which it ironic because typically a woman would be filled with joy to find out

In “The Story of an Hour”, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and “Trifles”, the authors all question the institution of marriage through the emerging theme of the oppression of women. In each of these works, women are shown trapped in confining marriages. While marriage is supposed to be seen as one of the most beautiful and perfect sanctities life has to offer, these authors portray it as more of a bittersweet agony that women are forced to endure. Chopin, Gilman, and Glaspell use a combination of symbolism and perspective in their literature to bring about this theme of female oppression. With this theme, the authors cause the readers to take a more feminist perspective and question the institution of marriage through the eye of the average housewife of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Story of an hour conveys the feelings of many married women who may not be entirely unhappy in their marriage yet feel restricted in some way. They feel that they could have done so much more had they not married, if they had been without all these restrictions. They could spread their wings and fly to their favorite destinations if they had stayed unmarried. Marriage despite all its so-called bliss is still a very restrictive union that clips a woman's wings sometimes because of the children, sometimes because she is constantly reminded of her wifely and motherly duties and sometimes simply because her husband wouldn't approve.

The manner by which his kind came into possession of their mates, was an affront to his dignity as a person. The process was not only bereft of the joy normally associated with such occasions, but designed to be a by the human males to be as degrading and awkward as possible. A wife was required in order to continue his line, therefore, the humiliation would be endured with as much grace as he could manage under the circumstances.

Woman have always been considered inferior to men and forced to accept the rules made by the male members of the society. Actually, these rules are made to keep women under control by their husbands or by their fathers. Before marriage fathers and after marriage husbands control their wives. At any stage of their life they never get freedom whether it’s childhood, youth or old age. In this essay, two stories have been analysed and the comparison of two main women characters has been carried out. Both stories are based on two different women who are from different time but from the same society hence same rules of the society are applicable on them. “The Story of an Hour” is written by Kate Chopin and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner.

This was unexpected to say the least, she thought she might get away with slipping away but all she managed was a few more steps before his hand caught her shoulder forcing her to at last face her new lord. The woman was brazen with her gaze she turned to face him, there was an stern look on her face as she peered back at the man. He most certainly towered over her and she had to tilt her head to peer directly at him. She could not falter now, she would have to make it clear how she expected to be treated but of course the man had his own idea about how he should be treated.

The marriages in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell are similar as both portrayed the traditional gender roles for the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In this time, the wives felt oppressed by the more male dominated society. In “The Story of an Hour”, Minnie was forced to be with her husband who stole all her freedom. In “A Jury of Her Peers,” Louise becomes much happier after hearing the news of her husband’s death. This displays how women were restricted after marriage and did not get the freedom that they desired. In both the stories, the women are looked down upon and are not respected. “It outlines the rich and colorful history of women struggling to publish and define themselves and the complex and tangled tradition of women’s writing in this country” (Roiphe). Both stories undeniably show the battles that women had to face during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.