How Does The Napoleonic Code Affect The Power Of Women In Society

Since the beginning of time, women have been treated as second class citizens. Therefore, women were forced to face many problems. Because of this women were repressed. At that time, the Napoleonic Code stated that women were controlled by their husbands and cannot freely do their own will without the authority of their husband. This paper shows how this is evident in the "Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and " A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. In both stories, the use of literary elements such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and significant meaning of the titles are essential in bringing the reader to an unexpected and ironic conclusion.

Kate Chopin is known for being criticized for empowering the subject of female sexuality and independence. In Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, it is placed in a time where men were known as being the head of the household while women were only in charge of raising the children and caring for the home. In the 1890s, women didn’t have so much power to themselves compared to today’s society where female empowerment is frequently encouraged. Chopin’s story narrates a sequence of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions that goes within the motion of the story. As she overcomes the sudden death of her husband, her emotion of grief soon turns into the sudden feeling of freedom, later on emerging into a strong independent woman.

Historically, women have been treated as second class citizens. The Napoleonic Code stated that women were controlled by their husbands and cannot freely do their own will without the authority of their husband. This paper shows how this is evident in the "Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and " A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. In both stories, the use of literary elements such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and significant meaning of the titles are essential in bringing the reader to an unexpected and ironic conclusion.

When the notorious topic of women’s role in society comes to mind writers like Kate Chopin and Mary Wilkins Freeman break the norms of how women in America were imagined to be through different cultures and regions. In both Kate Chopin’s and Mary Wilkins Freeman’s time period women are portrayed as an ample servant to their husbands. Together the texts show how the controlled understanding of the nineteenth century society, had on women. At that time of these writers, people were restrictive about the viewpoint of women’s place in society. Women could not really do much without their Husband or another male figure in their life , they really didn’t have a voice of their own. In the stories A New England Nun , Desiree’s Baby, The Story of an Hour, and The Storm, Mary and Kate have represented how this situation of the society affected women and their viewpoints about life and marriage.

The 1800s served as a turning point for the role of women in society. Nearing the end of the century, the idea that women should not work outside the home began to be challenged, and women started to hold jobs of their own (Fischer et al., 2000). Great opportunity was given to unmarried women, as they gained independence in living apart from their families (Fischer et al., 2000). Women began to fight for their independence, opposing the idea of only being known as a housewife. Kate Chopin was among the individuals who challenged what the role of women in society was during the late 1800s. Chopin shares her perspective in her two short stories, “The Story of an Hour” and “The Storm.” In “The Story of an Hour,” the main

In a male dominated society, women were believed to be fragile weaklings that depended on men in order to survive and find happiness. In fact, they were seen as nothing more than selfless wives and mothers. The seemingly “perfect wife” then, was characterized by her dutifulness and obedient demeanor. This notion of male supremacy was undoubtedly the predominant basis of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Rendered unable to voice their own opinions, women then turned to pen and paper as a way to communicate their thoughts. From this, arose the following pieces: Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour,” Emily Dickinson’s poem “She rose to His Requirement - dropt,” Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles, and Zora Neale Hurston’s novel

Many stories back then consisted of women being dominated over their husbands just because they are female and are considered the ones responsible to maintain the housework. The men who were considered dominant in this era, had the ability to control everything in terms of what the woman could and could not do. Along with that, it was expected that women were to be submissive to their husbands, or male figures in charge of their lives at the time. But in these three different stories, the outcomes of the woman all result in a significant impact to their lives in rather negative ways. In A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, The Story of an Hour, and Desiree’s Baby both by Kate Chopin, the reader experiences the reinforced and subvert gender norms present in the women with male figures who are dominant and have control over their lives.

Women's struggle for equality in the 1800’s was a long and hard-fought battle. Women were the continual victims of discrimination in this era of time. The ideal woman was submissive; her job was to be a meek, obedient, loving wife who was totally subservient to the men around her. Mrs. Mallard is a woman who has been held the standard of an eighteenth-century wife with little to no freedom. In the short story, “Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin the woman gets set free from her husband, she realizes how she has been locked up from the free world.

The sense of being “free” and “independent” were nothing more than imaginations. They could have hoped to be things of such, but society has limited them to be caring wives and mothers instead. Mrs. Mallard has been compelled to follow the life course that society has set for her. In a society where holding a specific position in a household is the “norm,” one may tend to live in a hypocritical world full of lies in order to be segregated from society. Louise struggles to endure the confines of society in the 19th century that has limited her individuality. In the story, her sister, Josephine, took great care to tell Louise of her husband’s death. Josephine “veiled hints that revealed in half concealing,” which exemplifies that women were seen as fragile and sentimental in this time period. Furthermore, when Mrs. Mallard isolates herself in a room to deal with her inner emotions, her sister pleads her to come out, insisting that she will make herself ill if she refuses too. The way Josephine presents herself as worrisome and thoughtful portrays that women were

Traditionally, women have been known as the less dominant sex. They have been stereotyped as being only housewives and bearers of the children. Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men. This tension is derived from men; society, in general; and within a woman herself. Kate Chopin‘s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, focus on a woman’s dilemma near the turn of the 19th century. Contradicting the “normal” or sad assumption of death, “The Story of an Hour” illustrates the significance of death representing freedom. The Story narrates about an hour of Louise Mallard’s life, as she tries to understand, and deal with her feelings of her husbands death.

The nineteenth century was a hard time for woman as a gender. The oppression of woman was evident in the everyday life of a woman living in the 19th century. As the 19th century progressed, men increasingly committed to their place of work – the factory, shop or office. Wives, daughters and sisters were left at home all day to oversee the domestic duties that were increasingly carried out by servants. This kind of treat towards woman can be seen in the following three writings, “The story of an Hour”, “Desiree’s Baby”, and “The Storm”.

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” was published in 1894 in Vogue, during a time when women do not have any legal rights. They have low education level and have no opportunity to work; what they can do is stay at home and manage the family. All their lives, they rely on their husband. Women at that time do not think about why they should be treated this way; they were being silenced by society. Kate Chopin uses the character Mrs. Mallard as the representative of all women who wants freedom at that time, and she criticizes the way society treats them, yet the difference of Mrs. Mallard’s values compared to society’s makes her become egotistic and her death end up not changing people’s mind of how to treat women properly.

In the 1900s, women were restricted to home and family duties, living a life with low expectations and no encouragement to pursue an education or careers. Women were also deprived of their individual and social life. The short story published in 1894 “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin demonstrates oppression, which can be defined as “the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner. Ms.Mallard (the main character) is overwhelmed by a sense of freedom after finding out of a railroad accident, with her husband being one of the victims. Throughout the plot, the feeling of oppression and repression are subtle, as Louise Mallard has a short glance of independence before her heart gets the best of her.

Though America has gotten very far into the movement of women’s rights and there have been many changes towards freedom that an individual has, these cages that Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” present still somewhat exists in the modern society. Though individuals have

Women in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries seemed to be isolated. In the three stories: “The Story of an Hour,” “Hills like White Elephants,” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” there seems to be a theme of a need for freedom. The women in these stories experienced unfavorable things such as disappointment, grief and detachment from reality, peer pressure, and loneliness. No woman or man deserves to go through these things, but it is evident that it remained a sociological norm back in these times.