“I take you, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.” These traditional wedding vows conjure up images of true love and unfailing commitment. Although this unconditional love is beautiful, it was not always a reality. This fact became evident within literature of the late eighteen hundreds. “The Storm” written by Kate Chopin, “An Adventure in Paris” by Guy De Maupassant, and “The Lady with the Dog” by Anton Chekhov, are all prominent short stories that portrayed dissatisfied women involved in loveless marriages. For these women, lack of fulfillment and the thrill of playing with fire, were the catalysts of their extramarital affairs.
Those who are unfaithful in their marriages equate an affair with thrills and passion. For the women in “An Adventure in Paris”, “The Storm”, and “The Lady with the Dog”, this notion held true. Collectively, these stories portrayed extramarital affairs, both deliberate and unplanned, that were filled with heat and infatuation. In “The Storm”, Calixta had not contemplated having an affair, yet she threw all caution to the wind upon seeing Alcee, her long lost lover. The thought of being intimate with an old flame excited Calixta, and she ultimately gave into Alcee’s temptation. Similarly to Calixta, Anna Sergeyevna of “The Lady with the Dog” was not deliberately searching for a trilling affair, but she definitely did not oppose one. Dmitry Dmitrich Gurov, a charming womanizer, swept Anna off her feet and into bed. “There was an elusive charm in his appearance and disposition which attracted women” (Chekhov 285). This...
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... is absolutely beautiful, but has not always held true. In the late eighteenth century, literature depicted women and men who were very dissatisfied in their marriages. Specifically, “The Storm”, “An Adventure in Paris”, and “The Lady with the Dog” were all famous short stories that portrayed unfaithful women involved in unfulfilling marriages. Although their life stories were different, these women cheated for similar reasons of discontent, and the thrill of a passionate affair. With their literary works, Guy De Maupassant, Anton Chehkov, and Kate Chopin, proved marriages were not always accompanied with devoted spouses, and unfaithfulness was not unheard of.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Storm. Vol. Pages 95-99. 1898. Print.
Bausch, Richard, and R.V Cassil. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. New York, New York:
Norton, 2006. Print.
A History of Marriage by Stephanie Coontz speaks of the recent idealization of marriage based solely on love. Coontz doesn’t defame love, but touches on the many profound aspects that have created and bonded marriages through time. While love is still a large aspect Coontz wants us to see that a marriage needs more solid and less fickle aspects than just love. The first chapter begins with an exploration of love and marriage in many ancient and current cultures.
The short story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, deals with the subject of adultery. The story takes place in the early 1900’s. There are two main characters, Calixta (the wife) and Alcee (the former lover). Alcee must take refuge from a passing storm in Calixta’s house, while he is there the two end up making love while Calixta’s husband and son have to wait out the storm at the local store. By doing this Chopin implies the theme that is, adultery is natural and does not necessarily have negative consequences. Through out the story the constant changing of imagery plays a great role in the development of characters and their ability to demonstrate the theme.
Anton Chekhov and Ernest Hemingway both convey their ideas of love in their respective stories The Lady with the Pet Dog and Hills like White Elephants in different ways. However, their ideas are quite varying, and may be interpreted differently by each individual reader. In their own, unique way, both Chekhov and Hemingway evince what is; and what is not love. Upon proper contemplation, one may observe that Hemingway, although not stating explicitly what love is; the genius found in his story is that he gives a very robust example of what may be mistaken as love, although not being true love. On the other hand, Chekhov exposes love as a frame of mind that may only be achieved upon making the acquaintance of the “right person,” and not as an ideal that one may palpate at one instance, and at the another instance one may cease to feel; upon simple and conscious command of the brain. I agree with Hemingway’s view on love because it goes straight to the point of revealing some misconceptions of love.
Lady Chudleighs’s “To the Ladies” exhibits a remorseful stance on the concept of joining holy matrimony. Chudleigh’s usage of metaphoric context and condescending tone discloses her negative attitude towards the roles of a wife once she is married. It is evident that Mary Chudleigh represents the speaker of the poem and her writing serves a purpose to warn single women not go get married and a regretful choice to women who are.
Beauvoir’s thesis in The Married Woman revolves around women characterization and inferior nature oppressed by men in a marriage opening her piece comparing housework to “the torture of Sisyphus” (380). Using imagery and descriptive language, Beauvoir describes the expected duties of a women forced up by her husband as she is in “war against dust, stains, mud, and dirt she is fighting sin, wresting with Satan” (381). Beauvoir believes that the sanctity of marriage lies only in the males supremacy of women, as women are “temped—and the more so the greater pains she takes—to regard her work as an end in itself” (382). This comparison depicts marriage as a waste of life, rather than devoting “time and effort in such striving for originality and unique perfection” (382); the woman succumbs to marriage and housework. Beauvoir truly believed her ideology of marriage and lived her life accordingly to her death in 1986. Simone de Beauvoir’s account of marriage as scrupulous, demeaning, and “sadomasochistic” (381), repres...
436-441. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Ed. Cassel & Bausch. New York: The New York Times.
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 couples seem to have an ideal marriage, which eventually turns to aloofness. This could be that ending a marriage during this time was unheard of.
Marriage can be seen as a subtle form of oppression, like many things which are dictated by social expectations. In Kate Chopin’s The Story of An Hour, Louise Mallard finds herself in distress due to the event of her husband’s death that makes her question who she is as a person. The author cleverly uses this event to create the right atmosphere for Mrs. Mallard to fight against her own mind. As the short story progresses, we see that Mrs. Mallard moves forward with her new life and finds peace in her decision to live for herself. This shows that marriage too is another chain that holds oneself back. Not wanting to admit this to herself, Louise
The short story “The Lady With the Dog”, by Anton Chekhov, is a fanatical love story depicting infidelity at its finest. This story demonstrates a deceptive nature that completely portrays a usual situation that can willingly happen in today’s society. Two characters that are miserably married oppose to those perfect fairy tale, Hollywood movies of true love and happily ever after’s. Dmitry Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna are prime examples that love doesn’t exist and instead affection and passion overpower love. After having a stable life, married and with kids these characters prove that its possible to feel attraction to another individual besides his or hers spouse.
Calixta and Alce, the two main characters in the short story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, are sexual, mature, and knowing adults. By having them discover amazing sex outside their marriages, they return to their own marriages renewed. Chopin openly condones adultery due to the fact that the characters are not punished and in the end “everyone was happy” (paragraph 40) . A common theme of fresh sexuality and desire is seen in this story though symbols and other literary elements. Kate Chopin is an American author that wrote short stories and novels in the 20th century.
Marriage is a powerful union between two people who vow under oath to love each other for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. This sacred bond is a complicated union; one that can culminate in absolute joy or in utter disarray. One factor that can differentiate between a journey of harmony or calamity is one’s motives. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a novel of manners, where Elizabeth Bennet and her aristocratic suitor Mr. Darcy’s love unfolds as her prejudice and his pride abate. Anton Chekhov’s “Anna on the Neck” explores class distinction, as an impecunious young woman marries a wealthy man. Both Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Anton Chekhov’s “Anna on the Neck” utilize
... This woman suffers a tremendous amount from the commitment of her marriage, and the death of her husband does not affect her for long. A marriage such as this seems so unbelievable, yet a reader can see the realistic elements incorporated into the story. This begs the question of how undesirable marriage was during Chopin’s life. The unhappiness felt by Mrs. Mallard seems to be very extreme, but Chopin creates a beautiful story that reflects upon the idea of marriage as an undesired relationship and bond to some women in the nineteenth century.
“There is no perfect relationship. The idea that there is gets us into so much trouble.”-Maggie Reyes. Kate Chopin reacts to this certain idea that relationships in a marriage during the late 1800’s were a prison for women. Through the main protagonist of her story, Mrs. Mallard, the audience clearly exemplifies with what feelings she had during the process of her husbands assumed death. Chopin demonstrates in “The Story of an Hour” the oppression that women faced in marriage through the understandings of: forbidden joy of independence, the inherent burdens of marriage between men and women and how these two points help the audience to further understand the norms of this time.
While it has traditionally been men who have attached the "ball and chain" philosophy to marriage, Kate Chopin gave readers a woman’s view of how repressive and confining marriage can be for a woman, both spiritually and sexually. While many of her works incorporated the notion of women as repressed beings ready to erupt into a sexual a hurricane, none were as tempestuous as The Storm.
My belief on marriage is a sacred vow taken by two people which joins them in union. Most people carry 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. In the short story "The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin suggests that in the case of Mrs. Mallard and Mr. Mallard, love was not a deciding factor for their reason to get married. Though the response of three readers, one being myself, we will explore the character of Mrs. Mallard and the idea of love in her marriage. Kate Chopin has given little detail about the Mallards and therefore left much to the imagination of the reader. Although there are similarities in details between readers such as: point of view, setting, and character, each reader brings new perspective and ideas. This type of analysis of the text allows a richer and more knowledgeable outlook; not only by enhancing ones own ideas by introducing new ones.