¶ … Institution of Marriage According to Chopin
The institution of marriage has historically carried powerful implications of patriarchy. Especially in turn of the century America, marriage was seen to largely serve the interests of male desire and the impulse for procreation. Within this scope, very little room was left to discuss the female desire. Indeed, the pressure for a woman to ultimately be taken as a wife by a reputable man was a strong force underlying a great many marriages. This is the same force that we find at the center of Kate Chopin's 1894 short story, "The Story of An Hour." In Chopin's highly allegorical piece, the female protagonist offers an inadvertent and unabashed critique of marital patriarchy simply by expressing involuntary joy at the death of her husband.
Discussion:
Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" suggests that the affection which can emerge in a marriage of social convenience may not be enough to erase the feeling of being trapped. According to Toth (1999), Chopin's story is about "the submission of a young woman to someone else's will. It can also be read as a criticism of marriage itself, as an institution that traps women." (Toth, p. 10)
This is a fascinating reading, particularly because the story's protagonist does not appear to be locked into an unhappy marriage. Indeed, Chopin tells that her husband had always been kind, had always treated her with love and had, as far as the subtext suggests, been a faithful provider. Therefore, it says much about the institution of marriage that Louise records her shocking response to news of her husband's death. The notion of patriarchy as a negative force is easy to observe in the context of an abusive or violent relationship. However, its impact may be a great deal more subtle in the context...
Kate Chopin "The Story Hour" 1) what impact story? 2) What? 3) What questions? 4)…. ID Summarize short stories by Kate Chopin "The Story of an Hour" In this story, the protagonist Mrs. Mallard is mistakenly informed that her husband died in a railway accident. Her first impulse, after being stunned by the shock of the event, is to celebrate that she is free. Like so many women of her class during
Story Of an Hour The story details the events of one hour during which a woman learns of her husband's death and is thinking of all that she would do now that she is free and at the end finds that he is alive and the death of her hope causes her own death. In "The Story of an Hour," Chopin has introduced a character, Mrs. Millard, who relishes the freedom after
Story Of an Hour: Theme and Narrative Elements In a way, Kate Chopin's short story, "Story of an Hour," deals with a variety of different issues that are still relevant to this day. It alludes to the repression of women, the fine line between life and death, as well as that between kindness and cruelty. Additionally, the author uses a variety of literary conventions to convey these different elements, which include
Story Of an Hour Kate Chopin was an American writer whose deeply feminist views often influenced her writing. In "The Story of an Hour," Chopin (1894) explores Mrs. Mallard's reaction to the news of her husband's death and the emotional rollercoaster that she experiences during the brief hour after she hears her husband has died and before she learns her husband is actually still alive. Chopin's (1894) "The Story of an
it's enough that her life will change dramatically for the better -- why does it need to be a supernatural or sexual experience as Deneau (2003) argues? And her depression has lifted, too, by the prospect of a complete life change: "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
Before this point, it feels that Louise is actually mourning the death of her husband: "She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat..." (p. 259) The author has indeed tried to give away Louise's Id even before this point of revelation but full blown discovery is made when Louise finally allows herself to rejoice
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