When We Think About Marriage, We Think It Is Filled With

The book has a section entitled, “Marriage is traditional” and in that particular section it mentioned about how “marriage has changed over time.” When examined current day marriage trends show that people are looking for partnership or soul mates, not for the most traditional reasons of the past. The idea that one person is supposed to be with one person for the rest of their life is no longer relevant. It is possible to have many happy years with one person, but that does not mean that these people will die together. People can have a falling out. Situations change—people do grow. If people stayed stagnant their whole lives, where would society be? With the way

Lets say Brently had died that day what was Louise going to do? Its not like she can get a job and take care of her self and theirs two reasons why. One! She was a woman and they didn’t have any rights in those times. Black men were able to vote first than white women. That tells you a lot of how things were back then. The second reason is Louise had a heart condition and one had to be very careful with her. So I guessing she couldn’t do any hard labor or be stress. That’s why I don’t understand her. It might because I am male and I cant really see it from a female point of view. Maybe that’s why I can’t really see why Louise is full of joy because of her husband death. Also another thing I wonder was if she had heart attack because she was happy or sad that Brently was alive? I also wonder if Kate wrote this because she was going through personally?

Marriage unites two people for better or worse, in sickness and health, until death they do part. In earlier times, some people might say wedding vows were taken more seriously; other say divorce was different back in the day. Looking at Katie Chopin and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who both exemplify martial vows in their short stories, “The Story of an Hour” and “The Birthmark.” It is clear in one instance, it was because divorce was different but then on the other hand the stories demonstrate the seriousness of the wedding vows. However, these stories express a husband-dominated relationship, in which the men possess ideals such as possession, perfection, and being all knowing.

Mary begins the story as a doting housewife going through her daily routine with her husband. She is content to sit in his company silently until he begins a conversation. Everything is going as usual until he goes “ slowly to get himself another drink” while telling Mary to “sit down” (Dahl 1). This shocks Mary as she is used to getting things for him. After downing his second drink, her husband coldly informs her that he is leaving her and the child. This brutal news prompts the first change in Mary, from loving wife to emotionless and detached from everything.

In the article “What if Marriage is Bad for Us?” Laurie Essig and Lynn Owens summarize the things that

In “The Story of an Hour”, although it doesn’t state that Louise is unhappy in her marriage, you can tell by her reaction to the news of her husband’s death, that she has longed for freedom. As soon as she receives the news, she

Mary Hutchinson was by far the most glorious and loving person through-out the novel, and loved by all that knew her, “We all loved one another but somehow every one of us had a special work with Polly. She was so bright and cheery and brave” (Pg.7). She was a young seamstress who lived a simple life, making an honest living and was very close to her loving family. She had been pursued by her co-worker the young Jack Wilson, who fall in love with her (or so she thought), but it was normal for people to be attracted to her beautiful nature. After years of courting they had finally gotten married and had children of their own, although the second would not be born until the “father” I say vaguely had left the country. This once highly sought after woman would now be left to care for two young children while her husband moved countries to find work (not to mention flee embarrassment). This was the moment that would change her life for the worst, only she hadn’t known it yet.

Marriage is an important stage in people lives, for this is when someone has found someone to live the rest of their life with and to love. This is a general idea of marriage, for a study was done to see what University Students think the meaning of marriage and stated “Marriage, which includes the coupling of two people possessing different interests, desires and needs, is a special association given shape by social rules and laws and significantly affects individuals’ development and self-realizations … meeting both individuals’ biological, social, psychological and motivational needs, bringing new generations to world, gaining a place in society, the feelings of being safe and protected, the sense of cooperation, being confident about the future, feeling proud of each other” (Özyiğit 680). This shows what a group of people thinks about marriage, and the problem with the group that taken the survey were generally young people who have no idea what marriage is for they may not be married. Kate Chopin knowing how serious people take marriage poked fun at it with many of the stories she wrote during her time. Chopin’s stories would be about what people see as forbidden during a marriage such as the wife having an affair with someone and the wife truly not loving her husband. The short story “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin story demonstrates the tyranny within some marriages which relates to current day marriages.

This newfound freedom is in effect a new motivation for Louise. Before experiencing such freedom, Louise was petrified of the thought of life being long; now however, she felt herself wishing, even praying for life to be long. This is evidenced with the following quote, "She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long." (15). This depicts an ever embracing Louise, finally liberated of the powerful institution of marriage. What is more, this quote serves to further support the idea that Louise indeed felt trapped, she was unhappy and yet, the thought of her husband dying hadn't crossed her mind, only the relief from her own passing was her wish.

Mary did not have the children, she did not have her loving husband, or her wonderful life. The poor woman was just working at a library to get by. If George had not met Mary, she would not have lived the beautiful life she was given when she was with him.

In 1801, William got married to Mary Jane Clairmont, who also had two kids. After they got married, they had a kid together. Mary did not like Clairmont. This was because Clairmont sent off Mary’s half sister, Jane, to a school, but felt that she didn’t need to educate Shelley at all. Despite this, Mary sought to educate herself, and made use of her father’s large library, reading an exuberant number of books.

Conversely, most people perceive marriage as a sanctuary, satisfying the needs of both partners involved. It is one of the most important institutions affecting people’s health and well-being. Firstly, a strong marriage has a dramatic effect on the partners’

The beginning of the story sets the theme for the whole story. We are told about the heart condition that inflicts Louise. This is significant throughout the story. The heart condition is a symbolic way of describing her thoughts of oppression she felt about her marriage. She was trapped and isolated by the marriage. She felt the need to hide these feelings. Women of her era were supposed to be home and under their husbands command. The story has her going through this journey privately. That is significant in the fact that now in her husband’s passing, she will be alone. She will need to work through things by herself. She will be able to go through the whole process on her own, without being judged and persuaded to feel differently.

By the repetition of the words as a reader we come to understand the meaning behind the story and how Louise actually felt towards her husband. The theme of the story is mainly the forbidden joy of independence. Due to that the story was written years ago where women were very dependent to their husbands Louise actual feelings of joy and happiness towards her husband death was forbidden by society during this

The phrase you listen to right before you get married “for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part” is a clear demonstration of how marriages aren’t meant to be “successful”. As the phrase points out two extremes “in the sickness and in health”. In this case the sickness part emphasizes that the person who is not sick, has the obligation to be there taking care of the one who is. Hoping for a better day to come. “To love and to cherish”, despite all the mistakes and the bad decisions, one shall always give their unconditional love to their partner, and value them among others. The final statement, “till death do us do part” shows that no matter what problem “life” brings you, nothing will set you a part; but death alone.