...Themes Found in Kate Chopin's Short Stories Kimberley J. Dorsey Stevenson University English 152, Writing About Literature 152-OME1 Charlotte Wulf November 14, 2010 Abstract Many of Kate Chopin’s short stories share the common themes of female oppression. The females in her stories are trying to find a way to escape their oppression and have a sense freedom and individuality. They either commit adultery or fantasize about it as a way to explore their feminine sexuality and obtain a sense of freedom. Common Themes Found in Kate Chopin's Short Stories Kate Chopin, an American novelist and short story writer. Born in 1851 and died in 1904 (cerebral hemorrhage). Chopin lived in Louisiana during her marriage to a Louisiana businessman and began writing after her husband’s death; being left to raise six children alone. Many of her stories are based on her knowledge of Creole and Cajun life during the time she lived there. She is best known for her novel “The Awakening,” considered Chopin’s masterpiece was subject to harsh criticism at the time criticism for its frank approach to sexual themes (Toth, 1988-1999, p. 1). Her attitude seen throughout her writing’s are about a woman’s place as being in the home and her purpose in life is to nurture her husband and children. Being against oppression Chopin chose to write about these issues through fiction, expressing real women. Kate Chopin is considered...
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...Hannah Radney Professor Andrew J. DiNicola English 1102 July 22, 2014 Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”: Character Analysis of Louise Mallard Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” (1894) is a fictional short story presumably set in America in the late 19th century. Chopin’s story is a description of an hour in the life of Louise Mallard, the protagonist in the story. The subject of the story is the transformation of Louise Mallard after she learns about the supposed death of her husband, Brently Mallard; what she thinks and how she feels as she is alone and contemplates self-assertion for the first time. (Koloski) Chopin first introduces the reader to the main character as only Mrs. Mallard. Given the time period of the story, Chopin directs the reader to the conclusion that Mrs. Mallard has no identity of her own. This reference to her as only by her husband’s last name foreshadows how marriage represses Mrs. Mallard and realistically like many women of this time in history. The virtuous wife, in Mrs. Mallard’s world, accepts the idea that her husband has a right to impose a private will upon her. (Jamil) During the time period in which the story takes place, married women are in a subservient role to their husbands under the “femme covert laws.” “Covert refers to a woman’s legal status after marriage: legally upon marriage, the husband and wife were treated as one entity. In essence, the wife’s separate legal existence disappeared as far as property.” (Lewis 1) A married...
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...Kate Chopin was a famous American author writing during the Realism Era, in the late 1800s. She wrote many short stories, one of the most famous being The Story of an Hour, published in 1894. The story features many characteristics of realism, like all of Chopin’s works, which were all successful. In The Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin writes about the happiness of a woman after she learns her husband dies. An idea that shocks, bothers, and empowers, like most of Chopin’s realist works. Three main factors made Chopin’s works so powerful. First, Kate Chopin’s writing was influenced by many things, among which the varied events in her life. Chopin had five children with Oscar Chopin, a French businessman who she lived with in New Orleans. She...
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...Kate Chopin research report Kate Chopin is most known for her literary works such as, At Fault, Beyond the Bayou, Her Letters, The Story of an Hour and Lilacs. As any one could imagine, her life events greatly impacted her writing. You see tragedy, independence, happiness, and freedom within her works. Catherine (Kate) O’Flaherty was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 8, 1850. She was the second child of Thomas O’Flaherty and Eliza Faris. Her father, Thomas, was from Galway, Ireland and her mother, Eliza, St. Louis. Kate’s family of her mother’s side was of French descent and Kate grew up speaking both English and French. She was not only bilingual but bicultural. The influence of French life and literature if evident throughout...
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...Marriage and Women’s Roles in the Late Nineteenth Century: Kate Copin’s Commentary on Women’s Lives in the Late 1800s Every human being deserves the right to choose how his or her own life is lived. As women in the late nineteenth century began to disassociate with cultural norms of the time period, writers began to reflect this historical shift. In Kate Chopin’s didactic short story, “The Story of an Hour,” the author demonstrates the way many women felt about their marriages during that time: trapped in a meaningless life. Chopin’s story works as a cautionary and informative commentary substantiating how women felt about divorce and marriage in the late nineteenth century, and the author attempts to educate her audience in order to show that women deserve better than a life of servitude to a husband. The circumstances surrounding Louise Mallard’s reaction to the death of her husband are at first predictable but then quickly shift to a surprising response: Louise is elated as she realizes that "there would be no one to live for during these coming years; she would live for herself" (Chopin 353). This realization deontes Chopin’s main argument in this...
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...free time with socializing, instead of taking care of family related things. In the lights of these circumstances, the feminist approach has revealed itself in literature. One of the good examples of feminist literature is Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour”, which exposes the lack of freedom of women in the 1800s. In her story, Chopin estimates the situation of women in marriage and she looks at the life from a female perspective. Mrs. Mallard, the heroine of the story, is a cardiac patient, who had been told what to do by her husband and could not make choices for herself. In a way, Chopin portrays what it is like to be a woman in the late nineteenth century through an ill protagonist. In the story Mrs. Mallard is told that her husband is dead, even though she is emotional at first, she leaps for joy with the recognition of freedom. However, when Mrs. Mallard learns her husband is alive, which means she will lose her moment of freedom all over again, she dies. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills.” (Chopin 3) Analyzing of “The Story of an Hour” through the historical and feminist lenses, it can interpreted as an illustrating of a woman’s lack of freedom in a male-dominated society. “The Story of an Hour” was written in the Victorian Era, when a wife was responsible for all household chores without...
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...Gilman story "The Yellow Wallpaper," was published in 1892, two years before Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour." These two stories deal with the position of women in the late 1800’s. This era is especially interesting because women were still treated as second-class citizens. I will try to make their themes apparent by examining a brief summary of their stories, relate them to their authors’ personal life stories, and show their similarities. In Chopin’s "Story of an Hour", we are told that Louise has a bad heart condition. A friend of the family has discovered that there was a bad accident at her husband’s job and he is on the deceased list. Louise’s sister carefully tells her this shocking news; however, instead of falling apart, Louise finds herself feeling as if she has a new lease on life because she will finally be able to live for herself. Suddenly, her husband walks in the door, and shocked, Louise drops dead of a heart attack. The physician says it was from "a joy that kills" (Bedford 11-13). In "The Yellow Wallpaper", the main character is attempting to heal from a nervous disorder. Her husband who is a physician does not allow her to do anything: no housekeeping, no writing, and no visiting with family or friends. Her husband also insists that she has to stay in a room upstairs where everything, including the wallpaper make her eventually go insane. (Wallpaper) Both Chopin and Gilman wrote these stories based on real events in their lives. Kate Chopin’s mother...
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...Kate Chopin had many obstacles to overcome throughout her lifetime. She lived a very traumatizing and detrimental life. By spending her childhood in St. Louis, Missouri in the late 1850’s, Kate Chopin knew what it felt like to be discriminated against. St. Louis was a city widely recognized as a prejudice state during the late nineteenth century (Chopin 651). The city was also known for being the sight of the Dread Scott trial. Kate Chopin experienced “many acts of injustice at an early age and she was conformed into being a stereotype of the structure” (Chopin 654). Another impediment that Kate Chopin overcame was not having a male figure in the household. She lost her father at the age of six in a train accident and her brother George died after being imprisoned (Chopin 646). Instead of looking at her past as being harmful, she used the negativity and channeled the energy into writing award- winning novels and stories. By being a feminist writer, Chopin uses realism and writes stories that characterize her childhood and life experiences. Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour” explores the negative views of marriage injustices by being under a man’s control during the latter-part of the nineteenth century in America. The historical context of Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour” really describes why this story is written. Chopin constructed this piece of literature during the late Romantic Period, which encompasses the years of 1850-1890. Throughout this time, the United States...
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...CA Essay “Story of an Hour” Kate Chopin’s literary work has touched many reader with an open mind of what many women in the ninetieth century was going through as a woman with no freedom. One of the most commendable aspects of Kate Chopin’s short story “The story of an Hour” is the fact that the author is able to manipulate oppression, freedom and symbolism in a table that is extraordinary compact. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Story of an Hour.” SparkNotes LLC. 2007. http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-story-of-an-hour/ (accessed September 29, 2013). In the story, Mrs. Louise Mallards was an oppressed wife of Brentley Mallard. She afflicted with a weak heart and good care was taken to give her the news of her husbands death from a railroad accident. Her sister Joseline told her in broken sentences about the loss of Mr. Mallard. Obviously, Mallard reacted to obvious grief and admits that her husband was kind and loving. She knew at the funeral she would "weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead". However, despite the love between each other, Brentley’s death was a release from oppression. She never described ways he oppressed her, but hinted that the marriages in general stifles both women and men. Also, she suggested that she oppressed him as much as he oppressed her. Mallard thoughts that was going...
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...be viewed as equals. This idea of gender equality is not something new. The feminist movement has been an old, progressive one. Many women and men alike have had these gender equity ideas for centuries; this idea is not a new one as pioneers from Sor Juana to Kate Chopin to even the present-day Emma Watson, have stated time and time again, women are faced with oppression by the patriarchal society in many different ways that hurt women and men alike. Kate Chopin wrote many short stories in her time that pushed the envelope for the feminist movement. Two stories in particular were “The Storm” and “ The Story of An Hour”. Both of these stories have a female protagonist oppressed by a male antagonist, which very much can be construed as a commentary of what social normal behavior was, a patriarchal driven society that oppressed any type of female freedoms or expressions. In Chopin’s short story, “The Story of An Hour” the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard was able to imagine a life of freedom when she received the news of the death of her husband. While, Mrs. Mallard was not given the liberty to enjoy her newfound freedom, for her husband did not pass away after all; Chopin writes in such a way that even if it was for just an hour, Mrs. Mallard had the life that every person dreams of. Chopin use of windows and open...
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...Kate Chopin, born on February 8, 1850 was a novelist and short stories author in the later years of her life. She grew up in the mid 1800's, which was during the time of the Civil War. Kate Chopin was not your ordinary, obedient woman in the time of her existence. Women were taught to be submissive and quiet while Kate was taught by her widowed role models to be independent and outspoken. One of Kate's most famous works was "The Story of an Hour" which is centered on a woman named Louise Mallard who is diagnosed with heart disease. Her husband died in a railroad accident and her sister Josephine informs her as delicately as possible because of her condition. At first, Louise Mallard is heartbroken and mourns her husband's death, then as she looks ahead to what her future holds, she realizes that she is...
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...Tony Dass Prof Shaw Egl 2219 March 2nd 2016 Kate Chopin who had an Irish father and a French-creole mother, she was born on February 8, 1850 in St. Louis, Missouri. The O'Flahertys were members of the Creole social elite and were fairly well-off. When Kate was very young, her father Thomas O'Flaherty died in a work-related accident. He left behind a family of four generations of women all living in the same house. Kate was very close to her maternal great-grandmother, Madame Charleville, who first introduced her to the world of storytelling. Madame Charleville spoke only French to Kate and told her elaborate, somewhat risqué stories. Family tragedy surrounded the young Kate. When she was eleven, Madame Charleville died, and her half-brother George was killed while fighting in the Civil War for the Confederate side. Yet, Kate seems not to have completely despaired; she earned a reputation as the "Littlest Rebel" when she tore down a Union flag that had been tied to her front porch by Yankee soldiers. Had Kate not been a young girl at the time, the incident might have resulted in serious consequences, but since she was, her act became famous as local legend. While attending a Catholic high school, Kate studied both French and English literature and became an accomplished pianist. She attended numerous social events and became very popular in St. Louis high society. She also became interested in the movement for women's suffrage although she never became very politically active...
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...September 2014 An Argument for the case of “The Story of an Hour” The decision to keep “The Story of an Hour” instead of “Hills like White Elephants” is an easy one based on the plot, the characterization and the conflict that these stories have. “The Story of an Hour” is a short story with an interesting plot with a dynamic character that has personal conflict, while “Hills Like White Elephants” has no real plot, there is not much information about the characters at all and the conflict is minimal at best. The textbook would be of better service to the students if “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin remained in it. “The Story of an Hour” is a story about a married woman named Louise Mallard who was known to have a heart condition. This is the first sentence in the story so the plot is introduced right away. Immediately the reader knows that she has a heart condition and her husband had died. The story goes on to describe her sadness and then the awakening that she has when she realizes that she is free of her marriage. The author describes the emotions that Mrs. Mallard goes through. For example, she sums up the emotions of Louise Mallard when she says “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday that she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin 654). The plot thickens as the front door opens and her presumed dead husband walks through the front door. However, in the story “Hills like White Elephants”, the plot is never...
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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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...of Married People Janet Vint Ashford University English 125 Prof. Benzon Barbin August 19, 2013 The Hidden Thoughts of Married People Telling a short story involves many different things. Theme, tone, irony, and plot are just a few that really make a story come alive. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber (b. 1939) and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin (b. 1894) are two short stories that are written many years apart but still convey the same struggle that many people face with being married. Both stories display individuals that are having a hard time “finding themselves” or trying to go back and imagine their independence more or less by finding ways of escaping the “trapped” feeling of marriage. Both of the stories are portraits of the struggle that men and women face during a marriage. “The Story of an Hour” tells of a woman with a very weak heart condition that has been told that her husband has been killed in a railroad accident. While most people would have expressed great sadness (she did for a brief moment) in learning such horrible news, Mrs. Mallard felt more like she had received a whole new life, only later did she learn that she had been misinformed and that her husband was still very much alive. The same could be said in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”. This story tells of the restrictiveness of some marriages by giving great details of the constant daydreaming of a married man, who feels like he is being held prisoner by his...
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