...Comparison Essay In her two short stories “The Story of an Hour” and “The Storm,” Kate Chopin discusses relationships between husbands and wives. In “The Storm,” she tells the story of Calixta who has an affair with Alcee, a former boyfriend while her husband is at the store waiting for a storm to pass with their son Bibi. It talks about unfaithful wives and how sneaky and unsatisfied they are. In “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin tells the tale of Mrs. Mallard’s husband, who dies and she is suffering with a troubled heart. Kate Chopin’s stories were about marriages. Cheating is in “The Storm” while death is in “The Story of an Hour.” Both were themes in these two short stories. They are deep in passion and sex, involving unfaithful and dissatisfied wives. Chopin’s short stories were emotional and showed affection. In “The Story of an Hour,” Mrs. Mallard’s receives possible news that her husband had died. It broke her heart that the love of her life was gone. Her mind and body are paralyzed, and she does not want to be bothered. She looks out of the window and cries up into the sky, and this event changes her life forever. Ironically, she feels no sadness about her husband’s death. In fact, Louise feels “a delicious breath of rain was in the air.” To her, her husband’s death is a “new spring.” Her mood of relief has changed because of a death. This is not a reaction that a wife should have about their husband. She should be having a sense of depression and...
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...First & Last Name English 101/Section # Date Essay #6 Disappointment "The Story of an Hour" is a short story in which Kate Chopin, the author, presents an often unheard of view of marriage. Mrs. Louise Mallard, Chopin's main character, experiences the exhilaration of freedom rather than the desolation of loneliness after she learns of her husband's death. Later, when Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband, Brently, still lives, she know that all hope of freedom is gone. The crushing disappointment kills Mrs. Mallard. Published in the late eighteen hundreds, the oppressive nature of marriage in "The Story of an Hour" may well be a reflection of, though not exclusive to, that era. Though Chopin relates Mrs. Mallard's story, she does not do so in first person. Chopin reveals the story through a narrator's voice. The narrator is not simply an observer, however. The narrator knows, for example, that Mrs. Mallard, for the most part, did not love her husband (paragraph 15). It is obvious that the narrator knows more than can be physically observed. Chopin, however, never tells the reader what Mrs. Mallard is feeling. Instead, the reader must look into Mrs. Mallard's actions and words in order to understand what Mrs. Mallard feels. Mrs. Mallard is held back in her marriage. The lines of her face "bespoke repression" (paragraph 8). When Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband's death, she knows that there will "be no powerful will bending her" (paragraph 14). There will...
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...Compare and Contrast Essay: “Story of an Hour” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” Thesis: In the short story, “Story of an Hour” by Mary Chopin and the poem “To my Dear and Loving Husband”, by Anne Bradstreet both authors reveal how each of their female characters feel about their husband and how each feelings are expressed differently I. Both women are treated differently by their husbands. A. In the “Story of an Hour”, the central character, Louise Mallard, feels locked in her marriage. B. In “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, the author Anne feels safe and secure in her marriage. II. Both women express different feelings about their mates. A. In “Story of an Hour”, Louise feels that it is not enough that her husband loves her. B. In “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, Anne values her relationship with her husband more than anything. III. Both authors use literary concepts to make their writings easier to understand. A. In “Story of an Hour”, the line free, free, free tells us that Louise feels free after learning of her husband’s death. B. In “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, the line I prize thy love more than mines of gold tells us that she values their love very much. A WOMAN’S LOVE FOR A MAN As every woman is an individual with distinct characteristics so too will her feelings towards her husband are uniquely expressed. There are husbands who try to control their wives so much that the woman cannot freely follow does their own will. Then there are...
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...Corey Campbell June 29, 2009 English 098 Kate Chopin Essay Catherine O’ Flaherty was born February 8, 1851 (tombstone date). She would later marry Oscar Chopin and become Kate Chopin, critically acclaimed and condemned author of two novels (At Fault and The Awakening) and many short stories. She was a beautiful, intelligent woman who was able to tell powerful stories about the lives of people in the nineteenth century. Chopin’s insight writing revealed the hidden emotions, trials, and tribulations of the nineteenth century women. In the story of an hour, Chopin tells the story of Mrs. Mallard and the extraordinary changes including shock, acceptance and joy she endures during this hour in her home. Mrs. Mallard’s feelings are changed by the news of her husband’s death, the reality of living her life alone and the revelation that her husband was still alive. The glimpse into Mrs. Mallards private thoughts revealed a women momentarily saddened by the loss of her husband. “Go away. I am not making myself ill. No she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window. Her fancy was running riot along those days of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. 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”. Chopin reveals with these words that this woman is actually relived to be a widow and excited about experiencing life without the stress and...
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...Sheryl Stanton Laura Jones English 102-951 March 6th, 2014 Abstract The following paper discusses and analyzes the work “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. The story uses the irony of life to show that marriage can be full of undisclosed hatred, suppression, and unpleasantness between partners – a point that remains concealed from the outside world. “The Story of an Hour” is a story about a married couple. The story begins with the wife hearing the news of the death of her husband. The news, instead of sending her into a shock, sends her into a state of excitement. Her excitement remains concealed from the people around her, who assume that she is under great shock. However, her excitement does not last too long, and she again faces news. This time, the news arrives with the arrival of her husband in front of her. Unable to control her feelings of sadness, she falls and dies on the spot. The paper takes into account multiple readings of various authors, compares their stance, and studies their views of the story. The paper establishes the point that time is running very quickly, and the story also revolves around the importance of time. It concludes with the outcome that if married couples trust each other, interconnect well, and resolve their problems, instead of thinking evil of each other, their relation is likely to remain flourishing. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin The background of “The Story of an Hour” sets its foundations on the moralities...
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...feels about the death of her husband as well as the reaction she has when she finds out that he is indeed -- not deceased. In this Reader response approach I will give you my view on how this story captured my attention and interest with its witty title, and how it shows the irony of one woman’s life changed in one hour. Kate choplin’s short story gives us an insight of how a woman is given devastating new that her husband has been killed. But after you read this story you begin to wonder, is this woman sad or overjoyed with the news?? This literary work caught my attention because it can have two different perceptions. The perception that was most obvious to me was that she was at first in dismay, then realizing she will have a new chance at life- is over joyous. The lines here give a insight to her thoughts, and give us the inner feelings of bewilderment she felt with both these were fully recognized. “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes.” (Choplin,1894) . when I read jamil’s emotion essay I was able to better understand I see a different view on what Mrs. Mallard was possible thinking. Jamil quotes “When she hears the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard’s obliviousness to the beauty of life breaks down under the powerful impact of emotion. Until this moment, Mrs. Mallard hardly...
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...feels happiest when she hears of her husband’s death. Many would say or think this is offal, but after one finds out, he oppressed her it is obvious why she is happy. This essay reminds me of the reason my father left Jamaica, for a better chance at life. Freedom is something not everyone will have an opportunity to have but one must seize. When the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, was told of the death of her husband, joy swept over her. It is important to notice how the author chooses to portray her happiness; she looks out a window to darkness and speaks of the beauty of it. When one thinks of happiness spring and flowers come to mind but for her anything around is enough for her to express her happiness, which is evidence of how overjoyed she was. At one point, she thinks her is not dead and her feels of happiness and freedom whittle down. Similar to Mrs. Mallard’s feels for her husband, my father had specific feelings toward Jamaica. He felt that there was no chance to advance in life and to provide for his children. In addition to this, Jamaica was still colonized by England, so there was very little option that one could go into. When the chance to go to America, the land of freedom, came to him, he wanted it immediately but that did not happen for him. It was not until the fifth time that he was finally able to come to America and be able to live out his dreams. The author, Chopin, was trying to explain sexism through her essay. The ideal woman in those times was submissive...
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...Kate Chopin Essay In the story of an hour, Kate Chopin uses imagery and symbolism to help the reader to better understand the emotion of state of Mrs. Mallard. By Mrs. Mallard having "heart trouble", it made it easier for her to dismiss the concept of love with the grand statement, "what did it matter!" Even if Mrs. Mallard wasn't sick, she'd still have "heart trouble" of the emotional kind. Imagery was a big part of the story, when it gives those big hints, the author wants the reader to picture what is really happening. The timing of when all this happened was most likely spring time, because there were several reasons that describe what would happen in spring time. Spring time represents a new life which is what Mrs. Mallard thought she...
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...Short story essay Forever free Rough draft How many times could anybody possibly hear in a lifetime the phrase that love gives wings and teaches to fly? Yet, often this phrase is misleading; love may be great, but it also may imprison a person and break the spirit. “ A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” (Psalms proverbs). Love, especially in marriage, does not often last forever even though this institution may insist that it does. In her short story “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin expresses the feelings of a woman in a marriage in the 19th century and the vacillations of thought and feeling that a marriage brought a particular woman, Mrs. Mallard, at that time. Through plot, character and irony the author demonstrates that Mrs. Mallard is not the ideally happily married women, of her time or any other time. Mrs. Mallard wishes freedom of thought and expression and this is not available to a woman in her married position. The story begins with the announcement of the death of Mr. Mallard. After she hears of his death, his wife goes upstairs alone to her room to grieve. Yet she does not grieve; instead, she feels relief. A woman in her position has been married her whole life and has gone from father’s possession to husband’s possession. “She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’” (197). She understands that this is not what she is supposed to feel, yet she cannot help but feel it at the bottom of...
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...not tries to get a grip over the plot line. Mrs. Mallard is vexed by a weak heart and therefore any bad news should be broken in gentle manner to her. When her sister Josephine tells her about the news of his husband perishing in a train accident, then instead of struggling against the truth, she succumbs to the flow of events easily and cries her eyes out and then in a subtle manner, shifts into a bout of joyous mood where a sense of freedom is instilled inside her being. The last sentence which describes the cause of Mrs. Mallard’s death to be excessive joy is actually due to the shock of realization that she no longer is free or rather she never was eligible to embrace freedom. This story emphasizes upon the reality of the era in which the story was set where women were given very few rights and where marriage used to be oppressive institution. Also, the events mirror the true innate feelings of Mrs. Mallard which is contrasting to the notion that she loves being married.( Literature (Fiction)( Google.co.in) Topic 1- Conflict Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death. Not only fate has done her bad by perishing her husband who died out of a train accident, Mrs. Mallard, the protagonist of the story, faces the danger of being engulfed by death herself if she suddenly comes to know of her husband’s death as she could be smitten by a weak heart she...
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...In Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour”, Louise Mallard is one of the main characters and one of the only that we get to know the most throughout the story. She is the main character, and the story focuses on her thoughts and feelings. At the end of the short story, Louise Mallard’s destiny does not end well when Chopin decides there is not another choice for her than death. “When the doctor came they said she had died of heart disease- of joy that kills” (Chopin 130). After acknowledging the news of her husband death’s, the thoughts and feelings she has while in front of her sister, Josephine, and her husband’s friend, Richard, are very different than the one she has while in her room by herself. Because of the way she acts and thinks, Louis Mallard’s death looks as pure disappointment of the loss of her thoughts about freedom. Her death is ironic because the tone of the last line, readers can tell that she did not die of a heart disease. Readers of the short story can assume she dies because in the beginning of the story, Louise is introduced as someone...
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...Nicole Paredes Spring 2015 Comparison Essay Many different situations can lead to similar outcomes. Sometimes these outcomes have impacts on other people in society. Characters in short stories sometimes experience similar situations, yet the outcomes are different. While no two characters have exactly the same situation, often there are overlapping commonalities. Characters may have similarities in respect to their marriage, post marriage lives or even in their mortality. Characters can be compared based on marriage. In the stories “Story of an hour” and “A Sorrowful Woman” for example the protagonists are being compared and contrasted in this subject. Mrs. Mallard is a married woman, just like the unnamed character from “A Sorrowful Woman”. They both seem to be doing satisfactorily with their lives. The unmanned character is also a mother of one child. On the other hand, Mrs. Mallard is just a woman who seems to suffer from a heart disease. Although both protagonist women have accomplished what according to society is the number one rule; there is something that isn’t quite letting them enjoy their marriages. Mrs. Mallard and the mother are not happy with their accomplishments achieved in life. Certainly, they share similar emotions and issues that have not been solved and that have left them unhappy. Indeed, these two stories have addressed their similarities and differences based on marriage and the life that it has given them. Characters can also be compared regarding...
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...Jacob Perrotti 1 Ms. Hendra EN-111 Essay “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin are two different stories with the women both suffering from an illness. One of the women are sufferering from a mental illness and the other physical, and both are bery emotionally detached from their husbands. In “An Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard is at first devistated from her husbands death but soon realizes this means she is free from him, and in “The Yellow Wallpaper” it seems that John is very controlling and doesn't pay true attention to his wife. The illnesses of both the women affect their relationships in very similar ways. To begin, though two different stories, both women seemed to be emotionally distant from their husbands. Emotional detachment could stem from complacency in the marriage but I believe it's their illness that is the cause of the disengagement. During the era in which these stories were written, marriages were an economic arrangement which had very little to do with love. In both stories, the couplese seem to have an ideal marriage, which eventually turns to aloofness, in part due to the women's illnesses. Perhaps the husband thought that she was too fragile, or it was a one sided relationship. This could be bacuse ending a marriage during this time was unheard of. The protagonist in “The Yellow Wallpaper” suffers from mental illness which ca be read...
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...of an Hour” and “How I Met My Husband”. Lora Cruse Ashford University ENG125 11/20/2014 In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting two great short stories. One being “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin in 1854 and the other being “How I Met my Husband” written by Alice Munro in 1974. The two short stories share the theme of gender roles/marriage. That being said,, I will be going over plot, point of view and tone. Sometimes women feel like they are trapped in their marriage, and sometimes women cannot wait to become married. Kate Chopin's “The Story of an Hour represents a negative view of marriage. Every individual takes a different approach when enduring the loss of a loved one. Whether it is bursting into tears or being miserable. When a wife loses a husband, she typically tends to be in a state of depression. The feeling of losing your significant other is a piercing agony going through one's heart, but in this case the feeling of loss can turn into someone's freedom. For Louise Mallard she had an erratic reaction when she was informed that her husband had been allegedly killed in a train accident. She locks herself in her room and sits in front of the window in desolation. She begins to ponder how her life will be without her husband. The sorrow that Mrs. Mallard felt in the beginning slowly turns into joy. “Free body and soul free!” (Chopin 40). She knew that she would grieve over...
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...Rebecca Jones Mrs. Mascaro April 7, 2014 Engl/Comp 1020 LOUISE’S NEED FOR WIDOWHOOD Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” tells of Louise Mallard and her want of widowhood. After learning of her husband’s unexpected death, Louise reacts oddly by reflecting on the thoughts of her future with extreme joy. This lead to her own death when learning her freedom is not so imminent. Louise looks forward to this widowhood because of her lack of love for her husband, her crave for freedom, and her egotistical nature. Louise’s marriage was not healthy, meaning it did not contain that equal love that should intoxicate and supportive one. Brently Mallard, her husband, had a “face that had never looked save with love upon [Louise],” proving there was some love in the Mallard’s marriage (Chopin 16). However, Louise did not feel the same way. Because she was able to overcome her grief almost immediately upon hearing the news, she reacts with sadness, but then she sees the possibility of freedom that widowhood could give her. Louise never expresses any kind of explicit love for her husband except that “she loved him - sometimes. Often she had not” (Chopin 16). With this sentence, she even admits she does not truly love him. However, if she does not love him, then why did she marry him in the first place? Many readers and critics ask this question frequently, but can never come to a suitable conclusion. Lawrence Bercove noted that Louise calls her husband’s love a “blind persistence,” meaning...
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