Who Is Chopin's Fight For Women?

In my research paper I want to discuss the concept of freedom for a woman in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, and how the wrong news can make the happiest person in the world and then cause her death.

In Chopin’s short story, she demonstrates how men in the late ninetieth and early twentieth century treated their wives more as possessions than individuals, thus when the protagonist Mrs. Mallard learns her husband Brently Mallard just unexpectedly died, she feels “free, free, free!” (15). Since, Chopin published this short story in 1894; women often got married while they were quite young and typically to men much older. Likewise, divorce was never usually an option for unhappy marriages. Subsequently, Mrs. Mallard appears unhappy in her marriage, after learning about her husband’s death, she pictures how much better her life is going to be, “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that persistence with which men and women believe they have the right to impose a private will upon a

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.

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.

Angelyn Mitchell interprets Chopin’s work “The Story of an Hour” as a feminist piece of work. She believes that Chopin wants to prove the double conscience of females, which is when women connect their inner self with their outside and gain freedom. “In ‘The Story of an Hour,’ the quest for freedom is complicated by three important factors: biological determination, patriarchal social conditioning, and the patriarchal institution of marriage.” Mitchell uses Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition to show biological determination. “Richards, a friend of her husband, rushes to relate the sad news of his death before someone ‘less careful, less tender’ can do so.” Patriarchal social conditioning is shown by showing that Mrs. Mallard does not act as a woman

The short stories, “The Story of An Hour”, by Kate Chopin and “The Jury of Her Peers”, by Susan Glaspell compare two married women who live under the shadow of their husbands. Both of these stories were written in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries during the time when women were treated unequally. Women had limited rights. For example, they could not vote, voice their opinion or work outside the home. Glaspell and Chopin were considered feminist writers who focus their writing on the struggle of women during the time when the Women’s Suffrage Movement was beginning; these short stories reflect women’s struggles under the control of men. Married women were responsible for taking care of the household, children and wifely duties while the husbands were responsible for consistently managing the title of “the breadwinner.” Married women were expected to be discreet and obedient to their husbands, which meant that the wives could not express their opinions because of society’s expectations of women. In the short stories, “The Story of An Hour”, by Kate Chopin and “The Jury of Her Peers”, by Susan Glaspell, Mrs. Mallard and Mrs. Wright share a prominent similarity concerning the loss of their individual identity during marriage and realize that the death of their husbands allow them to regain their self-identity.-

In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, the main character, Edna Pontellier surrenders something extremely important: her life. She becomes very self-aware and secretly stands for women being independent from common gender roles and expectations, later realizing that society wants the exact opposite. This highlights several of Edna’s values, including her freedom, her art, and her sexuality.Throughout the novel, Edna Pontellier finds herself being held back because of her family. She is expected to devote all of her time and energy to her two children and husband. The audience should gather that Edna is very unhappy with her life as a mother and wife. In fact, Chopin uses symbolism to show just this. At the

The Awakening by Chopin was written in a time where marriage and love did not have the same meaning as it does today. The women in this time was forced into an arranged marriage at a young age, they had no time to experience life they self. In today society we have a choice on who we marry and for what reason why we choose to marry. Edna marriage was to escape from her family cage only to replace by Mr.Ponteller cage. She was forced in to a loveless marriage for the appearance of society. Marriage to the Edna was something that was suffocated the life out of her. It seemed that she had no voice in the world around her that affects her. She realize that she want more out life than to be just a mother and

During the time of achieving freedom, authors like Kate Chopin and Susan Glaspell express the way gender roles were set during the Progressive Era by writing “Story of an Hour” and “Jury of Her Peers” to illustrate the way women wanted to escape from their husbands, which reflects these individual’s morals, psychological and social awareness of self identity. Men received the luxury they wanted, and now women are standing up for themselves till this day, whether it is sexual assault, equal pay, and much

In her novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin shows Edna Pontellier¹s confrontations with society, her imprisonment in marriage and Edna¹s exploration of her own sexuality. Chopin also portrays Edna as a rebel, who after her experiences at Grand Isle wants to live a full and a free life and not to follow the rules of society. Edna¹s life ends in her suicide, but her death does not come as a surprise. Chopin foreshadows Edna¹s death by the use of nature and Edna¹s connection to it; also by the use of symbols, especially the symbolic meaning of a bird; and by the use of many different characters in the novel, such as Robert Lebrun, Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle.

Chopin’s work has allowed her to become recognized more over time. As women keep gaining rights, so are Chopin’s works of literature acquiring literary attention. Chopin realized that people valued morality, especially when it came to things such as adultery and the marital discord caused by such, so she decided to use those two items to try and deliver a message concerning an overarching patriarchy that set into motion internal strife for stereotypically frail individuals and women alike who had been cornered by the strangling ideology. Chopin uses identity as a main focal point concerning her philosophy over her search for self and desire to express herself when being subjugated.

Patriarchal ideals in “Story of an Hour” enforce the inferiority of women, and breaking the patriarchy liberates womankind. Kate Chopin sheds light on the deadly results that patriarchy can bring. From the very first line, patriarchal ideals are expressed by letting the reader know that “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, [and] great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin). Mrs. Mallard is too feeble to hear of her husband’s death, and keeping this news from her means that her truth is being withheld. While not explicit, this is an example of patriarchy at work. Mrs. Mallard is not strong enough for her truth, so a man must tell her sister, who then tells Mrs. Mallard. This extensive filtration supports the notion that women are inferior because they cannot handle the stress of bad news. In a turn of expectations, Mrs. Mallard sees the news of her husband’s death as a beacon of liberation. By her lonesome, Mrs. Mallard assures herself that “there would be no one to live for during those coming years [after her husband’s death]; she would live for herself.” (Chopin). Patriarchy laid down upon Mrs. Mallard so much that the breaking of it frees her. She discovers her truth for herself, not a filtered truth by a man, which is a result of the patriarchal forces in her life being dissolved.

“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

women are a huge part of our society. Yet they are not given the respect and love they deserve. Kate Chopin wanted to show how women were treated and how it affected their mental stability. Women today are still a huge part of what makes the world great and run smoothly. Kate Chopin used irony to display the great desire for freedom that women struggled to

In, “The Story of an hour” by Kate Chopin is about the protagonist achieving her freedom as she has aspirations to become independent; which is her freedom. Through this short story, the protagonist Mrs. Mallard was confined by gender relations through marriage (Lucas). As noted in this short story there is gender inequality presented by both male and female in marriage, as both “believe(d) they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature” (Chopin 204). Furthermore, the quote as mentioned illustrates the gender inequality present in marriage as either male or female enforce their other partner to follow orders and obligations. Thus, because of the inequality in gender relations, confinement is felt by the other partner. Consequently, leading to a lack of aspirations and a feeling of imprisonment felt by the other partner.