What specific qualities in a character from a story enables them to be seen as sympathetic opposed to unsympathetic? In the short stories “The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, and “The Lady with the Dog,” by Anton Chekhov, it becomes controversial whether or not it is acceptable for the characters to viewed as sympathetic, due to their unhappiness and decisions they make regarding one of the most sacred things on earth, holy matrimony. In “The Story of an hour,” the reader is introduced to Mrs. Mallard, a woman who receives the news regarding her husband’s death by her sister. Although she is at first devastated, she soon unveils that she finally feels free from her husband, but her freedom is soon hindered when the actual truth becomes revealed. …show more content…
He then meets the lady with the dog, Anna, who is also not happy with her marriage and they decide to have relations, while still being married. This can be seen as one of the biggest sins of society. However, the compelling question about these stories is whether or not it is acceptable for these characters to be viewed as unsympathetic for their lack of faithfulness or support in their marriages. Both of these stories take place during the late nineteenth century, in a time period where traditional values were a commonality throughout society. During this time period, unfaithfulness and unhappiness within a marriage were seen as morally wrong and most believed that since they vowed to be with each other until death when they part, that it was morally wrong to either divorce or cheat on your spouse. Through the common theme of marriage and unhappiness, it becomes evident that are reasons for each character that make them both sympathetic and unsympathetic from the eyes of the
Marriage is an important part of life of many modern societies. The institution of marriage was formed many centuries ago. While some of its aspects vary based on specific country or community, but the core is often the same – by contracting a marriage, both sides undertake specific commitments. Specifically, they promise to care about children that already exist or will appear in the family; or to be faithful to the partner. There is a serious problem with the second issue. Adultery is an event that was often mentioned by popular literature sources including the Bible. The poetry is not an exception. James Dickey and Anne Sexton focused on the topic in their poems “Adultery” and “For My Lover, Returning to His Wife” respectively. Authors described the theme from different points of view. Dickey highlights the considerable age of the practice and treats it as an inevitable evil. The adultery existed, exist and will continue to exist in the community. Sexton looks at the problem from the female point of view; her poem is written from the
It is human nature to have issues of balance within any relationship. For example, the knight, desperate in need, found an old woman who knew the answer to save his life. In order for him to receive vindication, he had to pledge his life to her. The old woman at last revealed the answer, that all women want sovereignty over their husbands and lovers (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 170-71). In contrast, Walter forces Griselda to be submissive at all times as he tests her loyalty and obedience by pretending to kill both of her children and asking for a phony divorce. One tale appears to suggest that the male should be inferior to his wife as the other tale promotes that the woman should be at least steadfast in adversity and obedient to her significant other. The issue of an unbalance relationship is still a part of modern society because the majority of people are familiar with the saying, “Who wears the pants in the relationship?” That joke derives from the struggle of dominance in a relationship. Yet the characters’ opinions of where they believe a woman belongs in a relationship are slightly polar; both stories are constructed around the theme of struggle in a relationship (“The Clerk’s Tale” 217-24).
In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “The short happy life of Francis Macomber”, we are presented to problems some couples face. One of them being infidelity, although the one guilty of infidelity does not face the consequences you normally would face if you were unfaithful to your spouse. Another problem or theme in this short story is gender roles, the wife wants a husband who is rich, strong and brave. The husband on the other hand just wants a beautiful wife, and maybe also a faithful one too. Initially you get the impression that they are really living up to the expectations, but if you read on you will find out that everything just isn’t like it should be.
While reading this story there needs to be a certain mind set we have to keep. In this time period having more than one partner you were an outcast. By today's
The character Mrs. Mallard from Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” can be considered both sympathetic and unsympathetic for various reasons. She could be seen as a sympathetic character because of the times Mrs. Mallard’s character came from. On the other hand, she could be seen as unsympathetic for how her character is very self-centered. We see this in how she is constantly rationalizing with herself that her feelings of joy at her husband’s death were well founded. There are also several other variables that must be taken into consideration when deciding if Mrs. Mallard is a sympathetic character, or not.
The strife between monogamy and the lust for another is often the cause of a marriage ending before "death do us part." The challenges of infidelity in these situations often shape the individual enduring them in mostly negative ways. The novel Ethan Frome presents a main character facing an internal battle about responsibility versus his innate immoral nature, and the author exposes this extended metaphor as a struggle to warn that the conflict between moral standards and impulsive desires may have dire consequences.
A sympathetic character, is a character that the writer expects the reader (in this case watcher) to identify with and care about. In Shakespeare's play King Lear, the characters Gloucester and King Lear both start out not being liked by the reader because they come off as mean and cold. By the end of the play, the reader does sympathize for both of these characters because of how they have been betrayed by their children. Both King Lear and Gloucester turn out to be prime examples of a sympathetic character by the end of the play.
Characterization is an important component in short story writing. In the short story "Lamb to the Slaughter" written by Roald Dahl, we are introduced to Mary Maloney, a pregnant housewife who recently found out that her husband is going to leave her. Mary develops into a very complex character as the events of the short story unfold. Mary is a typical housewife, waiting on her husband hand and foot. She loves him dearly, but as the short story unfolds, we see that he does not share the same feelings. Mary, unable to handle the rejection, lashes out and kills her husband. We then see Mary’s character transform before our eyes and the once loving, dutiful housewife becomes a very devious, manipulative and cold hearted character. She manages
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
The women in this story are dominated by their husbands. They are forced to complete arduous and bland house work all day. In this story the women’s lifestyle after marriage is portrayed as insipid and bleak in comparison to their once vibrant lives. The main theme that ties these tales together is marital oppression.
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
Modern literature is known for questioning society and its various conventions. One question that these works often ask is, “What is real?” Some modern authors explore this question by placing their characters within self-constructed illusions that are later shattered by the introduction of reality. Marriages are frequently at the center of this theme, with one spouse crafting an illusory impression of the other. Modern literature demonstrates that a marriage built upon illusion will falter when exposed to reality.
The relationships that some of the characters in the short stories have with their significant others is something that I had a hard time grasping when reading them. Perhaps it is because parents who were raised in the era of mutual trust and belonging in a spousal relationship raised me, but I also think I believe this because it is simply the normal standard for today’s society. This standard is, of course, mutual respect for the spouse. The characters in the short stories “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving and “The Storm” by Kate Chopin do not sit well with me because they portray the types of relationships that I was not brought up to believe in. However, given the circumstances of the short stories, I can see why the female
The story that is A Sorrowful Woman seems to be a story told from the point of view of a narrator who focuses only slightly on the inner conflict of one of the main charters in the story. The character of which I am speaking is never referred to by name, instead is called she, the woman, mommy, and wife throughout the entire story which lends credence to the conclusion of the viewpoint as being told from the outside. The first indication that the focus of the story will be not of a warm and loving nature is the line “The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them again”(1). This is where a hypothesis can begin to be formed as to who the antagonist of the story is, bearing the statement above in
Marriage has many different meanings and the most traditional is religious. Theologically, it is a sacred union and equal partnership of a man and a woman that is given to us by God. For non-believers, it 's just a legal or formal recognized union between partners that are in a relationship. Lady with the Pet Dog, written by Anton Chekhov is a short story that focuses on two people that find themselves in love. They are not in love to the person that they are married to, but with each other. Dmitri is a professional banker who is nearly forty, has three kids, dislikes his wife, dislikes women in general, and carries on a number of affairs with neither regret nor much emotion. He has a low standard of women, and does not seem them as equals. Anna a young woman who is vacationing in Yalta without her husband is not satisfied with him, and the relationship she is in. Both partners seem to be unhappy with their life as a married spouse and decide to part take in an affair. Their motivation is driven by feeling discontent with the life they are currently living in with both their spouses. They both see the affair as a one night stand that happened, but little do they know that they will fall in love with each other. Many might argue that this is not real love, but an immoral adulterous relationship. My thoughts are a bit different, because I believe that love is found on what their heart desires. It is hard to predict when one will fall in love or with whom. A person can fall in