...Emily Ivey Dr. Chase The Hours analysis 7 November 2005 The Gay Disease Michael Cunningham’s novel The Hours depicts a day in the life of Mrs. Dalloway author Virginia Woolf, fifties housewife Laura Brown, and nineties publisher Clarissa Vaughn who, along with other complex characters, Woolf’s husband Leonard and Vaughn’s best friend Richard intermingle to create a story with a strong message about the treatment of disease especially among the homosexual community. Only after applying Deconstructionist literary theory does Cunningham’s comment on the plight of the homosexual reveal itself. When examining the story from a Deconstructionist viewpoint, Clarissa Vaughn acts as Richard’s binary opposite. When Clarissa and Richard first meet in the story, Clarissa brings Richard flowers, a traditionally masculine role. Richard, in contrast, is describes as having a mind “eaten to lace,” a decidedly feminine image and Clarissa equates his home to “the hold of a sunken ship” a yonic image further depicting Richard as the female in the scene. If, in the novel, the female Clarissa was a literary genius suffering from AIDS feminist literary critics would have dubbed her “the mad woman in the attic;” however, this “mad woman in the attic” concept applies instead to Richard the homosexual man in the story. By applying this feminist terminology to Richard, Cunningham compares the plight of the artistically repressed woman of the 19th century to the...
Words: 1245 - Pages: 5
...story of an hour Like many contemporary women living in the nineteenth century, Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin bore social ties of traditional requirements. Under the strict control of social requirements, married women’s lives were formed around their husbands. They were happy with their husband’s happiness and sad with their husband’s depression. They were regarded as the properties of their husbands even in daily lives. Kate Chopin did not directly express women’s dependence, but the readers could realize this truth through the chaos in Mrs. Mallard’s mind. After her instinct reaction when hearing the news of Mr. Mallard’s death like “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms” (p.106), there was something a little bit hopeful and happy appearing in her feelings. Then, “she did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her” (p.107). For one moment she was afraid to allow herself to be joyful about her freedom "she was striving to beat it back with her will" (p.106). This showed us that Mrs. Mallard was a product of her time and was dependent on society rules. We often need a whole life to comprehend one person’s soul and desire. Though, sometimes, in only a while, we are able to realize some meanings of life. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, in just one hour, Mrs. Mallard’s thought and feelings revealed profoundly the desire for freedom of women in the nineteenth century. Through only one hour, the conflict...
Words: 914 - Pages: 4
...English 123 A06 O.Ogundipe Cong Yin 1343685 Mrs. Mallard’s unhappy marriage in “the story of an hour”by Kate Chopin In Kate Chopin’s short story “The story of an hour”. Chopin keenly explores the status being of married women back in the late 1890s that they were isolated, not tolerated for seeking freedom for themselves, and the pathetic values of the society they have to deal with. Mrs. Mallards in the story who gains and loses her freedom in an hour suffers from her marriage. When her sister Josephine told her the death of her husband, she “wept at once” and realized that the freedom was belong to her in the future(Chopin 15). Then she became excited and believed the rest of her life would be joyful. However, at the end, her husband’s return destroyed her hope. Her dream to freedom shattered and she lost the freedom she just acquired. The great contrast between her ideal life and reality killed her. Moreover people did not understand the truth of her death and believed that she died of “joy that kills”(Chopin 16). Obviously, Mrs. Mallard has an unhappy marriage because she does not have freedom in a male dominated word. Also, comparing with other women, Mrs. Mallard looks forward to the freedom eagerly which makes her marriage more torturous .Also, she has a contradiction which she loves her husband and freedom while she could not have both. The contradiction makes her a complex person and confused about her marriage . Mrs. Mallard suffers from her marriage due to...
Words: 1291 - Pages: 6
...The Story of an Hour Assessment The modern women's movement has spent decades trying to dismember the ideology that the head of a woman is a man. Society has had a centralized idea that a woman should and will submit to the head of the house; the man. This religious ideology has caused a cry of help of many women by the sort of tyranny and abuse women feel being controlled by their partner. “The story of an hour” represents the feeling of mixed emotions a woman who has been mentally and physically controlled would feel when her spouse has perished. Mrs. Mallard feels an instant feeling of sorrow because she is now alone in the world. This agonizing feeling of loneliness is promptly ended when she understands she is now entirely free. The roles women were challenged with in the 1800s and now face are not polar opposite. This is because the ideology of a womans responsibilities have not changed. The requirements consist of childbearing, household duties, submitting to your husband....
Words: 456 - Pages: 2
...In Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard receives news of her husband being involved in an accident which caused his death. Mrs. Mallard had a strange reaction to her husband’s death, she first felt devastated but then began feeling relieved. She felt relieved that she didn’t have to please him or worry about what he thought of her. In the inauguration of “Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard obtains the news of her husband’s death. She is shattered with this news, “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.” (pg. 236, para. 3, lines 2-3). She did not know how to act in response to her husband’s death. As soon as she got a hold of herself “she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.” (pg. 236, para. 3, lines 3-4.) Mrs. Mallard was stunned as to what was happening, she could not cope with the devastating news. She “stood, facing the open window” (pg. 236, para. 4, line 1), waiting for a sort of sign, when suddenly “there was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully.” (pg. 236, para. 9, line 1). At this point Mrs. Mallard “recognize (d) this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back” (pg. 236, para. 10, lines 1-2). When she finally stopped fighting “a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips.” (pg.236, para. 11, lines 1-2). She repeated the word “over and over under her breath: “Free, free, free!” (pg. 236 para. 11, line 2). She finally felt free, she...
Words: 531 - Pages: 3
...Aslı ** ‘’VIEWPOINTS’’ The Story Of The Hour, by Kate Chopin, is about woman who struggles with oppression brought on by her husband and her secret desire for freedom. Mrs. Mallard doesn’t know how truly unhappy she is until she is told that he has died in train accident. The story is limited to a third-person point of view, but is not short on drama thanks to the structure and style of Chopin’s writing. Her theme of oppression is reveled by the irony of the story, in which she discovers a sense of freedom quickly after her husbands death. Chopin uses symbolism to emphasis this newly found feeling. The main character Mrs. Louise Mallard is a very easy to relate to. The structure and style that Chopin uses in The Story Of The Hour, is used to exaggerate the drama of what is taking place. She uses very short paragraphs the majority being only two to or three sentences a piece. The story is about the hour after Louise find out her husband is dead. It bring us quickly from a state of morning to a place where she realizes that she is “free” from the bondage of her husband. The structure of the story is reflects the intensity of emotions she exhibits. The length of the story leaves no room for a drawn out exposition, we shoot quickly from the that to the climax and end just as quickly after that. There is a lot of repetition through out the story, which she uses to emphasize the importance of certain points she makes. The word “open” is repeatedly used through out the story...
Words: 1341 - Pages: 6
...Running head: ESSAY 6.1: THE STORY OF AN HOUR Essay 6.1: The Story of an Hour Jeremy Todd Macy ITT Technical Institute Essay 6.1: The Story of an Hour Freedom!!! Liberation!!! The idea of living your life for yourself, not others; it is something that we all dream of at some point in our lives, but how many of us actually achieve that? Whether we feel trapped in a job that we hate, a bad friendship, or a bad marriage, there is something inside us that yearns to be free. We long for that weight to be taken off of our shoulders. Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour takes us through these emotions, only to find out at the end that these emotions are fleeting, and then reality sets in. What will be discussed in this paper is the plot of the story and those feelings that are experienced, Kate Chopin’s life experiences and how that experience influenced this story, as well as my reaction to the story. The story starts off with Mrs. Mallard( we don’t know her first name) being told some distressing news. Josephine, her sister, is trying to relay this horrible news in the most delicate matter. Mrs. Mallard has severe heart problems, although she is young. Brentley, her husband, was killed in a train accident. She weeps, with “sudden, wild abandonment”, at the news (Woodlief, Study Text). She then sinks into an armchair, and begins to ponder the future. The sky opens up, showing the calming blue. Her horizons seem to broaden, she gets a feeling of starting over, fresh. She is still...
Words: 1310 - Pages: 6
...People desires and long for many different things, for example freedom from a controlled marriage as Kate Chopin describes in “The Story of An Hour” for his family to reunite as mentioned in “The Powder, by Tobias Wolff, and for the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity after the pain and hardship of childhood to recover the first gift ever. The authors of these short story all describes wishes coming true even if it’s only for a moment. In “The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin the author shows us that wishes can be granted even though it might only be just for a little while as she describe the response of a young woman to her husband’s presumed death. The belief that marriage should occur only when two people are in love; although this belief is common it is not always the case and people marry for a variety of reasons. Love was not a deciding factor for nor was love their reason that Mrs Mallard was married and therefore after receiving the news of her husband’s death her reaction was so very ironic. After learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experienced emotions she knew to be wrong. It seems that she has grown accustomed to her husband and remained with him out of stationary comfort and tradition. Although she knew she should be saddened over her husband’s death; she eagerly embraced the freedom it provided her with. With her newly found freedom, Mrs. Mallard begin doing and experiencing things she never imagined doing while her husband was alive such as when she...
Words: 1149 - Pages: 5
...Carlos Gonzalez Professor Dr. Wiggins 26, September 2011 Essay # 1 Throughout history many people have fought for their freedom in many ways. People have protested, marched, and even fought wars in order to preserve their rights. Women fought for equal rights. The black population fought to be freed from slavery. Today everyone is free and everyone has equal rights, but even today in 2011 after women have the same authority as men, some men still see women as their property. Some men still think the female is meant to stay home, Cook, clean, and take care of the children and her husband. Many females with a low education tend to follow their husbands commands. These circumstances are shown to us In The Story Of An Hour, by Kate Chopin, she explains in her short story how men and women observed life. Men were responsible of certain things and women were responsible of certain duties as well. This was normal for a typical matrimony in the late 1800’s. In this short story the protagonist, Mrs. Louise Mallard, lives with her husband, Mr. Mallard, in a rural setting. There has been a railroad disaster in which people think Mrs. Mallard husband was involved and died. Kate’s sister Josephine does not know how to tell her sister about the incident since Louise suffers from heart problems. Once Louise finds out about the incident, her first reaction is to cry and run to her room. Kate Chopin uses positive description to describe the room. Even though she had just gotten the...
Words: 834 - Pages: 4
...Sean Troester Instructor Anthony Sanders English Composition II 25 September 2013 “The Story of an Hour” Literary Analysis In her story, "The Story of an Hour," Kate Chopin objectively brings the reader inside the mind of Louise Mallard upon her hearing of the death of her husband, Brently. Chopin uses specific language to guide her audience through Louise's brief time of grief and the ultimate realization of new found liberty, amidst sudden tragedy. In the text, Chopin presents a negative view on marriage, as well as articulating her longing to live free of another's imposing will. The speaker immediately brings the reader into the downstairs of the Mallard home, where Louise is being told of her husband's death by her sister, Josephine. It is revealed in the first line of the story, that Louise Mallard is "afflicted with heart trouble.” Richards, Brently's friend, is also mentioned in the text as being present, as Josephine informs her sister of Brently’s death. It appears Louise's grief is genuine, as she "wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms." The text communicates that she did not receive the news, "as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance." Louise clearly isn't like most women of her day. She travels upstairs alone to seemingly collect herself and reflect on what just transpired. Louise slumps into a chair, as she is staring at "open square." The speaker uses metaphors, of what is happening...
Words: 1041 - Pages: 5
...“Story of an Hour.” By Kate Chopin Mrs. Mallard is a young woman who has been informed that her husband has been killed in a train accident. Her husband’s friend, Richards, delivered the news after thinking that the news was indeed true, due to the information of two separate sources. Knowing that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition, her sister Josephine and Richards attempt to deliver the news with as little trauma as possible. Despite their efforts, the news immediately causes her obvious grief, and she excuses herself to the privacy of her room. Sitting in a chair in her room, the new widow finds herself looking out the window at the lovely spring day. Outside, life continues normally and seems the same, while inside; Mrs. Mallard is facing a big life change. “There was something coming to her….”(Hawthorne). This partial sentence in the story hints of the realization of her freedom from her husband was starting to set in. “No; drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window (Hawthorne).” Drinking in a very elixir of life is suggestive of a renewal or new way of life. Upon accepting, and welcoming her new found “freedom”, Mrs. Mallard leaves her room, and upon descending the stairs sees her undead husband walking through the door. This unexpected turn of events leads to her death, and all assume that she died from the joy of seeing her husband alive. In conclusion, there is a lot of emotion packed into this little story. Mrs. Mallard lived in an era in which...
Words: 340 - Pages: 2
...Shanika Spencer ENG 112 Short Story Analysis Grief and Relief “The Story of an Hour” authored by Kate Chopin doesn’t actually take an hour to read. From Mrs. Mallard’s diagnosis of heart trouble to her death, “The Story of an Hour” is a conversation between the narrator and the reader. The narrator tells us things about Mrs. Mallard that Mrs. Mallard herself is not aware of. The conversation that the narrator presents to us is so vividly and dramatically written, it makes the lesson of “The Story of an Hour” obvious to whomever is reading it. In the late 1800s there was not yet such a thing as women’s rights or the independence of women. At the sound of keys at the front door, Mrs. Mallard made the ultimate sacrifice for her freedom. In “The Story of an Hour” the narrator is unknown. The narrator is playing the part of the guide, so to speak. The narrator is the guide that clearly presents every detail of Mrs. Mallard’s final moments to the reader. The narrator carefully starts out by telling us about Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble and the fragility of informing her of her husband’s untimely death. One would expect a great amount of grief after being told that your loved one has passed but it was slightly different in this case. The narrator tells us that “she did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance” (Chopin Page#). Mrs. Mallard did not immediately understand the importance of the news she had just heard...
Words: 695 - Pages: 3
...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 had recovered from an era in which many cultural and social questions engaged Americans' minds (Welter 381). African-American’s left their roles of enslavement and finally had the chance to seek new opportunities. During the late nineteenth century, the Civil War had just ended and the Women’s Suffrage Movement had come into existence. America had undergone a reform movement that impacted...
Words: 1259 - Pages: 6
...“When the doctors came they said she had dies of heart disease--of joy that kills” (Roberts 342). This is the final and pivotal line in Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour” written in 1894. The story tells a tale of a woman named Louise realizing her husband had died in a railroad accident. She goes to her room only to find a new found freedom she now has without her husband. “She began to weep again and then she was young, she was new, she was somehow reborn” (Fatima). This freedom is crushed when she finally emerges to see her husband alive. The sight kills her where she stood. “When she sees him she dies instantly … she has to continue living a depressing life that has no meaning or excitement included” (Fatima). I am going to show how through the use of such literary devices as irony and connotation Chopin added a depth to the story that moves the reader. The story has one of the best examples of irony you can find. The very last line of the story states that Louise had died of heart disease—of joy that kills. The tragic irony is that it was both joy and sadness that killed her. She dies from the sadness of knowing the joy see realized through looking out her window has been crushed. This joy of freedom and independence is what killed her. Without filling herself with this joy she would not have anything to be destroyed when she realized her husband was alive. So the joy killed her because without it there would be no shock when her husband returned, yet the sadness of loosing...
Words: 951 - Pages: 4
...Literature Review of “The Story of an Hour” By Kate Chopin Introduction: "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin speaks to a negative perspective of marriage by giving the onlooker a lady who is plainly thrilled that her spouse has passed on. This is communicated through the dialect in "The Story of an Hour". The storyteller relates what she sees in straightforward exposition, yet when her feelings are portrayed, the words are energetic and influential. This proposes that Louis has a profound internal life that is not joined with the outside universe of her spouse or companions and the way that she houses herself in her room to run across her emotions is critical. The world outside of her own room is just negligibly depicted, yet the world within her psyche is enthusiastic and overall portrayed by the storyteller. The window outside of her room is alive and lively like her brain, while everything about her physically is sequestered. At the point when Louise's feelings are depicted in regards to something she is excited about, the dialect gets vivacious and rich with shade and dynamic pictures. This stands in sharp complexity to the segments in which she appears aloof or candidly unattached. It is essential to recognize not just the dialect becomes animated with the utilization of words like "mystery" and "impulse" but the exact stating evolving. The beginning feelings depicted in these quotes in which she was latent about is short clean sentences, yet when she starts to feel...
Words: 938 - Pages: 4
