Kate Chopin: Two Unfortunate Women

With the passing of the storm and the departure of Alcee, Calixta does not revert to her subordinate housewife bonds. Instead, she uses her awakening to discover newfound happiness in her marriage and duties as a wife and mother. When Bobinot and Bibi return, the reader sees a different Calixta than the downtrodden, worried, and selfless Calixta from the beginning of the story. In fact, it is the father and son who must begin ?to relax and enjoy themselves,? not Calixta, who is already joyously preparing dinner (861). At the dinner table, ?they laughed much and so loud that anyone might have heard them? (861). The only other time

The most common element found within both pieces of literature is that both women seem to be greatly selfish. In "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard seems to be overwhelmed with joy because of her husband's death. Instead of mourning in the loss of her husband, she gloats in the thought of joy and freedom. Chopin writes, "spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own." In resemblance to Mrs. Mallard, Calixta is also selfish. Calixta, with very little resistance, fights her temptation to be with Alcée but soon gives in to a sexual affair. Only vaguely do Mrs. Mallard and Calixta show any sympathy for their husbands.

Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour”, uses the death of Mrs. Mallard’s husband to reveal the female oppression that took place in their marriage. Chopin uses a great deal of symbolism, particularly in the open window, to reveal the theme of the oppression of women in this story. Chopin chose to begin the story with “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was conflicted with heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin 555). While the reader assumes that Mrs. Mallard has a medical heart condition, anyone who has done a close read of this story can assume that Chopin chose “heart trouble” to symbolize the conflicting feelings Mrs. Mallard

Slavery was abolished in the year 1864 when Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This was the end of the possibility of human beings owning one another in the United States. Unfortunately this mentality remained in some shape and form, as women were often only considered an extension of their husbands. In 1919 women were granted the right to vote, and in 1960 women decided they wanted to be treated as equals. They subsequently initiated a civil rights movement to fight for workplace equality. Although women became equal to men in the eyes of the law, socially they still struggle for equality to this day. Still in this day and age women face some of the same discriminatory practices that were common place in the nineteenth century. Kate Chopin demonstrates the profound societal weight put on a wife when her faint hearted character’s husband is thought dead. Mrs. Mallard first feels grief for the loss of her husband’s life, then she feels the sweetness of freedom that is now bestowed upon her with the death of her husband. Chopin displays the injustices of society in her short story The Story of An Hour using diction, syntax, and figurative language.

     Relationships seem to be the favorite subject of Kate Chopin’s stories. As Margaret Bauer suggests that Chopin is concerned with exploring the “dynamic interrelation between women and men, women and patriarchy, even women and women” (Bauer 146). In “The Story of an Hour” Chopin deals with the subject of marriage. She illustrates the influence of family alliance on individual freedom. According to Wohlpart,“The Story of an Hour” describes the journey of Mrs. Mallard against the Cult of True Womanhood as she slowly becomes aware of her own desires and thus of a feminine self that has long been suppressed”(Wohlpart 2). The Cult of True Womanhood in the XIX century included “purity” and “domesticity”. The former suggested that women must maintain their virtue. The latter – denied them their intellectual and professional capabilities (Papke 12). Being the victim of this Cult, Louise Mallard was a good example of a wife without “her own desires and feminine self”.

but she behaves immorally. She is a very pretty woman who has a fling with her former lover Alcee while waiting out the storm. Calixta seems to be a good mother and to care for her husband, she just isn’t happy with him. For example, she worries about Bibi and Bobinot’s safety the storm, which proves she cares for them. Yet she finds comfort from her former lover Alcee while worrying about her husband and child. Chopin states “Alcee’s arm encircled her, and for an instant he drew he close and spasmodically to him” (The Storm 2). This proves she must care for her husband, but turns to Alcee when needed comforting.

There is no doubt her husband loves and cares for her but her feelings and passion seemed untouched by Bobinot. Before her marriage, Alcee seemed to satisfy her in a way that Bobinot does not, but since she loves her family she represses those feelings. The story of Calixta is saddening to me but as a mother myself, I can understand why she chooses to repress her feelings. Her husband seems to give her no cause to disrupt family life and leave the marriage and she does not make that decision based on pure selfish reasons. Her choice simply relieved her possible frustrations for a while.

Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour is a great story that conveys an important message about life and how difficult it can be for women, particularly in previous centuries. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when this story was written, women were quite often mistreated and had to live restricted lives that lacked opportunity. Generally, women weren?t liberated during the 19th century. Traditionally, women did all the hard work in the house and had no opportunities to make their own living or pursue their own personal dreams. Kate Chopin does an outstanding job of portraying a woman living in these times. The Story of an Hour is a good depiction of the unspoken repression that women faced in the past. Kate Chopin's major theme of the

The time period, season, location, and surroundings of a character reveal a great deal about them. Kate Chopin's "The Story of An Hour" is an excellent example of how setting affects the reader's perception of the story. There is an enormous amount of symbolism expressed through the element of setting in this short story. So well, in fact, that words are hardly necessary to descriptively tell the story of Mrs. Mallard's hour of freedom. Analyzing the setting for "The Story of An Hour" will give a more complete understanding of the story itself. There are many individual parts that, when explained and pieced together, will both justify Mrs. Mallard's attitude and actions toward her husband's death and provide a visual expression of her

Feminist American author, Kate Chopin, is known for her stories with strong and daring female lead stories. Her common themes display women, femininity, marriage, liberation, oppression, and perseverance. The Louisiana based novelist famous works started the feminist movement. Chopin’s stories The Story of an Hour and The Storm have many similarities and differences as do the majority of her work. The main characters, Calixta and Mrs. Mallard, both portray an odd attitude towards marriage.

The presence of Calixta's sexual desire and its intensity make this story revolutionary in its feminist statement about female sexuality. Chopin uses the conceit of a thunderstorm to describe the development, peak, and ebbing of passion in the encounter between Calixta and Alcee. At first, Calixta is unaware of the approaching storm, just as her sexual desire might be on an unconscious level; yet, as the storm approaches, Calixta grows warm and damp with perspiration. Chopin does the obvious by these two events when she writes that Calixta, "felt very warm . . . she unfastened her white saque at the throat. It began to grow dark and suddenly realizing the situation she got up and hurriedly went about closing windows and doors" (Part 2 Paragraph 1).

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.

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a short yet complex story, describing Mrs Mallard’s feelings. It focuses on the unfolding emotional state of Mrs Mallard after the news of her husbands death, and has overflowing symbolism and imagery. It is an impressive literary piece that touches the readers’ feelings and mind and allows the reader to have a connection to Mrs Mallard’s emotional process. Although the story is short, it is complete with each word carrying deep sense and meaning. It is written in the 19th century, a time that had highly restrictive gender roles that forbade women to live as they saw fit. Mrs Mallard experiences something not everyone during this time has the luck to have; the happiness of freedom that the reader only

     Kate Chopin was one of the greatest and earliest feminist writers in history, whose works have inspired some and drawn much criticism from others. Chopin, through her writings, had shown her struggle for freedom and individuality.

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.