Similarities and Differences in Two Kate Chopin’s Short Stories

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.

Commonly explored throughout her works, the idea of marriage inhibiting a woman’s freedom is the driving force behind Kate Chopin’s contextual objections to propriety. In particular, The Awakening and “The Story of an Hour” explore the lives of women seeking marital liberation and individuality. Mrs. Chopin, who was raised in a matriarchal household, expresses her opposition to the nineteenth century patriarchal society while using her personal experiences to exemplify her feminist views.

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)

In order to better understand how society's expectations of women are incorporated in “The Storm,” it is important to understand author Kate Chopin's protest. Chopin's writings gave the “potential to unhinge patriarchal discourse” (Cutter) by giving women a voice. Her earlier works focused on passive women who were unheard and oppressed in a patriarchal society. Her later works show contrast by “moving towards a clearer understanding of how women most effectively can resist patriarchal suppression” (Cutter). As Chopin's career progressed, she gave

Written in a time when a woman’s sexual desires were considered unimportant and inappropriate, Kate Chopin writes a story portraying a married woman in the 1890’s who involves herself in an adulterous relationship with her former lover, Alcee. In “The Storm,” Chopin refrains from condemning Calixta’s sexual immorality by drawing parallels between the storm and her passion while ultimately allowing Calixta to move from the traditional housewife to a more liberating feminist role.

“At the ‘Cadian Ball,” the prequel to “The Storm,” is the story of how the couples in “The Storm” decided on their fates. The story opens with Bobinôt, a poor farmer, thinking of the ‘Cadian ball. He decides that he does not want to go, but he will because he knows that Calixta will be going, and so will Alcée. Calixta is a beautiful woman of Spanish ancestry and she will be the belle of the ball. Alcée is a wealthy aristocrat, and Bobinôt is afraid that if he does not go and prevent Alcée from sweeping Calixta off her feet, he will succeed and take Calixta away from Bobinôt. Meanwhile, Alcée is at his plantation where his crops for the year have all died. Although his peers had expected him to feel like a failure, Alcée is unusually quiet and his pseudo-girlfriend Clarisse is worried. One night he rides away unexpectedly, headed for the ‘Cadian ball. Clarisse finds this out from a slave and sets off to follow him there. At the ball, Calixta and Alcée steal away to a quiet corner and start to cuddle and kiss when Clarisse interrupts them, claiming that there is trouble at home. Alcée goes with her, leaving Calixta by herself until Bobinôt shows up and walks her home. On their walk home, Calixta tells Bobinôt that she will accept his marriage offer if he asks her, which causes Bobinôt to

The sequel to "At the 'Cadian Ball" is "The Storm," which was written in December of 1898. Because of its controversial message and the attacks by critics of Chopin's work, "The Storm" was not published until 1969. This story portraying infidelity is almost the opposite of "At the 'Cadian Ball" because it does not comply with conventional writing of that day; it implies that the sin of adultery can be a good thing. Chopin shows the reader the same characters she presented in the 1892 story, but she dares six years later to bring Calixta and Alcée together once again. Their pent-up desires match the intensity of the storm, and they make love. Not only does Chopin dare to discuss infidelity in marriage, but she also shows that Alcée's wife, who is away on a trip, is enjoying "the first free breath since her marriage" (Chopin 348). The two stories show the daring of Chopin's writing. She throws out conventional views, just as

“Love and passion, marriage and independence, freedom and restraint.” These are the themes that are represented and worked with throughout Kate Chopin’s works. Kate Chopin, who was born on February 8, 1851, in St. Louis, was an American acclaimed writer of short stories and novels. She was also a poet, essayist, and a memoirist. Chopin grew up around many women; intellectual women that is. Chopin said herself that she was neither a feminist nor a suffragist; she was simply a woman who took other women intensely seriously. Chopin believed women had the ability to be strong, individual, and free-spirited. She herself reached out, in

A Woman Far Ahead of Her Time, by Ann Bail Howard, discusses the nature of the female characters in Kate Chopin’s novel’s and short stories. Howard suggests that the women in Chopin’s stories are longing for independence and feel torn between the feminine duties of a married woman and the freedom associated with self-reliance. Howard’s view is correct to a point, but Chopin’s female characters can be viewed as more radically feminist than Howard realizes. Rather than simply being torn between independent and dependant versions of her personality, “The Story of an Hour’s” Mrs. Mallard actually rejoices in her newfound freedom, and, in the culmination of the story, the position of the woman

Literature offers to its readers some of the most intriguing texts. Those texts, unlike other textual genders, are filled up with secrets. Etymologically speaking, the word “secret” comes from Latin “secretus” which means “set apart, withdrawn; hidden, concealed, private” and from the past participle of “secernere” that means “to set apart, divide; exclude.” Therefore, when the critics talk about secrets in literature or literary secrecy, they are talking about what is hidden (consciously or unconsciously) in the texts. There are many critics who have devoted his time to write and analyze the secrets, then, I will provide some of the most significant ones.

There is actually a few apparent differences in “The Story of an Hour” is that it literally takes place as a whole in the length of an hour and it is told in a third person point of view; as well as, it is short and to the more to the point. As for “The Yellow Wallpaper”, it is told in the first-person point of view and it takes place as a total in a longer length of time; in addition, this one was longer due to more detail. I personally think “The Story of An Hour” was not the best, the reason being is that it is more to the point. It took to long to describe what was happening in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. However, I do think it provided a clear and descriptive understanding of emotions and individual perspective. The differences affect how

Kate Chopin was an American writer who lived from 1850 to 1904. She is usually best known for her shorter stories and character, but is recognized as one of the best American and women authors. The shorter stories that she wrote when she was younger, were very favorable and admirable to the readers. Her writing greatly improved and gained greater talent as a young writer. Many popular magazines were interested in her marvelous stories and writing, that she was published by some of the most well-known magazines. Sadly, Chopin was forgotten after her death, and nobody read or remembered her work she did. Later, around the 1950’s, scholars rediscovered her work and connected her with literature

Abandoned by friends due to her supposed ‘immoral’ works, Kate Chopin was a mind ahead of her time. Stuck in the strict 1800s, her expressions of loathing marriage and sexual freedom in the lives of women were less than ideal to their modern culture (Chopin, “The Story of an Hour” 2241-2243). Her writings often consisted of marriage being below dreams of music and art, and even love not being able to hold a marriage together (Davis 62). The reality of these ideas compromised Chopin’s short stories and novels; the feeling of repression of women and the crushing restraint of marriage (Anderson et al. 480)

To illustrate a difference in an element of fiction, we commence with plot. We can conclude that Chopin has numerous techniques to implement her notions and effectively carry out disparate plots by comparing her two short stories. In “The Story of an Hour” by Chopin, the main character, Louise Mallard, “died of heart disease” at the end of the story (Chopin 181). What this melancholy ending does for this story is create a tone of dreariness. In spite of this method, in “The Storm” by Chopin, at the end of this fearsome storm, “everyone was happy” (Chopin 123). Chopin’s approach to ending this story was unlike her approach to ending “The Story of an Hour.” The pleasing ending of “The Storm” creates a fulfilled, content tone for the story. Demonstrating that two stories transcribed by the same author end in two utterly divergent

Kate Chopin's short story, "The Story of an Hour" is largely about the forms of repression that women were forced to endure during the epoch in which the story was written (1894) and during much of the time that preceded it. During this time period, women quite frequently had to subjugate themselves to the will of their husbands, or to some other man who had a significant amount of control over their lives. Chopin chooses to address this phenomenon in an indirect manner with this particular short story, although she does so in a thematic manner which, of course, is the ""¦idea that lies behind the story. Every story narrows a broad underlying idea, shapes it in a unique way, and makes the underlying idea concrete" (Clugston 2010, 7.1) The theme that "The Story of an Hour" is based upon is the notion of the liberation of women from the overbearing influence of men. Chopin chooses to illustrate this theme quite dramatically through literary devices of symbolism and metaphor.