Lispector’s book The Hour of the Star and Campion’s film “The Piano”, are told in the perspective of a female voice and feminism in an emotional tone. In The Hour of the Star, Macabéa’s humanity is portrayed by her being described as an unattractive, unnourished, unwanted, poor, and inexperienced girl. While in The Piano, Ada’s characteristics are seen as strange and as an outcast. Both characters Macabéa and Ava are isolated and constricted from the beginning of their lives and are either mentally or physically abused by men. Along with the constrictions of culture, both of these characters face restrictions and separation from others. The importance in feminism is for woman to face freedom and not ashamed to think their own thoughts. Macabéa and Ava’s muteness is symbolically the female’s losing of the discourse power in the social life. It is a silent resistance to the oppressive patriarchy. In order to make one feel alive, we must gain a voice that can be heard and break isolation. They live in a world where thoughts and impulses are unacceptable and cannot be talked about. …show more content…
She struggles to survive in the slums of Northeast Brazil’s Rio de Janeirom and finding a sense of place as she desperately seeks attention. She remains the “innocent victim of life” and her position in society left her with not knowing certain things about life. She was only able to face life because she had the pure happiness of an idiot. Macabéa’s humanity caused her presence to be nonexistent, “she owed nothing to anyone and no one owed her a thing” (33) as she felt like an outcast in the world “who she was, was what she didn't know”
Let us start with Chopin herself. Without going into too much detail Kate Chopin was, for all practical purposes raised by her maternal great-grandmother. She was raised as a Catholic, took daily music lessons and was told somewhat adult stories by her great-grandmother spinning the local gossip regarding the founders of St. Louis that seemed to greatly influence the writings of Kate.
Her voice mainly speaks to women whose voices are repressed from the overbearing society of men. Challenging the idea around the nation that women must be dependent upon men instead of being an individual with their own thoughts and actions.
However, she does not have as much power as a man and her voice is nonexistent. Ada is a mute woman who refuses to speak since the age of six and must use facial expressions, body language, sign-language, her daughter, or her piano to express herself. This action make her no longer silent unlike Macabéa. However, in the many similar traits to Macabéa, Ada fears emptiness and Ada maintains isolation like Macabéa. By willfully not learning to speak, Ada faces isolation with the threat of loss, abandonment, loneliness, and failed connections with others. Ada depends on her piano for her voice because her power is her passion and music is her strength. No one knows why she doesn’t speak, not even herself. What we are hearing, she tells us, is not her speaking voice, but the self-imprisoned voice that sounds inside her mind. The Piano is a feminist film because it gives us a version of female sexuality that is much more than a woman's "positive surrender" to men. It shows us the power of female passion to make music, touch souls, and have power in the bedroom. In short, it shows the power of women to be heard, and whole, in a man's
In conclusion, “The story of an hour” is a clear depiction that women status in the society determines the choices they make about their lives. In this work, Chopin depicts a woman as a lesser being without identity or voices of their own. They are expected to remain in oppressive marriages and submit to their husbands without question.
Traditional gender roles are important in society, and the violations of these gender roles or over-adherence to them may cause many issues to surface. These issues may be caused within one’s self, other people, or society. By looking through the feminist lens, the theme of gender roles can be seen in The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The characters of Madame Adele Ratignolle, Leonce Pontellier, and Mademoiselle Reisz, all either uphold or rebel against the social norms of gender roles.
Reading carefully, one realizes that Chopin’s true model of feminism lies in Mademoiselle Reisz, who is happy to live alone and unmarried despite what society dictates a woman’s role to be. Mademoiselle Reisz is an accomplished pianist to whom Edna turns for advice as she struggles to find her sense of self. Unlike Mademoiselle Reisz, however, Edna lacks the motivation and willpower necessary to follow her desires from thought to fruition.
In the mid-nineteenth century, many American men based the worth of a person primarily on his or her race and gender. Kate Chopin often wrote about topics that were extremely sensitive during her lifetime. Men were usually pictured as the person who earns money for the family, as well as the well-educated and the sole structure of the family. Women are illustrated as sensitive, sweet, caring, and faithful. In “Desiree’s Baby,” a short story by Kate Chopin, there are three major themes: identity, racism, and gender roles.
Global feminine icon Ani DiFranco once stated, “Feminism is self-determination, and it's very open-ended: every woman has the right to become herself, and do whatever she needs to do.” Commonly throughout history and in society women are viewed as inferior to their male companions, and individuals frequently say that the world functions as a male- dominated society. Over the years the idea of feminism, or the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of society, has sparked interest in the female population, and women are often found standing up for what they believe in and not falling custom to adhering to the male population. DiFranco’s quote depicts the morals of feminism, as it supports how women have evolved into an ever powerful force that has become custom to influencing society. Author William Shakespeare agreed with DiFranco’s ideals, even when residing during the Elizabethan era where society was male dominated. In his novel, Othello, he uses the courage of the women in his literature to depict how women should be treated, and to contrast from how little respect they once obtained. The society in Shakespeare’s Othello is strongly dominated by men who are the political and military leaders of their homeland during the Elizabethan era. These men are expected to stay loyal to their reputations and to uphold the strong sense of character that earned them their positions in the first place. In contrast, during the Elizabethan period of time women were viewed as weak second-class citizens and inferior to males, with their only job being to serve their men. Shakespeare’s views of these expectations are contrary to the standard view of women’s roles during his play, for he demonstrates his malaise over the way gender relationsh...
Many female writers write about women's struggle for equality and how they are looked upon as inferior. Kate Chopin exhibits her views about women in her stories. The relationship between men and women in Kate Chopin's stories imply the attitudes that men and women portray. In many of Chopin's works, the idea that women's actions are driven by the men in the story reveals that men are oppressive and dominant and women are vulnerable, gullable and sensitive. Chopin also shows that females, like Desiree and Eleanor, undergo a transformation from dependent and weak to stronger women free from their husbands by the end of the story. In the short story 'Desiree's Baby,' Kate Chopin reveals her idea of the relationship between men and women by showing instances of inferiority and superiority throughout the story. In 'A Point at Issue,' there are many instances where the idea of hypocrisy and the attitudes that the main characters display and how their actions affect each other's lives, show the impact that men have on women's lives.
Many short story writers have written about the gender and role of woman in society. Some of these stories express what Barbara Walter calls, “The Cult of True Womanhood” meaning the separation of both man and woman in social, political and economic spheres. In order to be considered a “true woman” woman were to abide by the set of standards that were given to her. Women were expected to live by the four main principal virtues - piety, purity, submissiveness, and domestication. In Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Storm,” Calixta the main female character breaks away from “The Cult of True Womanhood” when she has a sexual encounter with her past lover Alcée. The storm goes through many twists and turns that tie with their adulterous actions. Although she breaks away from the four main principal virtues, she in the end is considered to be pure innocent of heart because the action in which occurred happened instantly, and as white as she was, she was taken away from her innocence.
“The Story of an Hour” expresses the difficulties of being a women in the late 1800’s in South America due to the issues of gender inequalities. This story, written by Kate Chopin, who was a married woman in late 1800’s, provides the perspective of a young married women who has limited freedom and is largely controlled by her husband. Throughout this story gender norms are clearly displayed in different ways. One clear example is when Mrs. Mallard, the protagonist, is expected to act a specific way when she hears the news of her dead husband, yet she feels the extreme opposite. The narrator then does a great job of expressing the reality of how Mrs. Mallard is truly feeling and uses that as a way to express the control as a conflict. The outcome of this story is the blatant reality of this life that so many women have lived during the late 1800’s. With additional research and knowledge on the history of gender inequalities, it is easier to connect Mrs. Mallard to her restricted life throughout this
In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, the struggle for freedom is dominant. The main character, Mrs. Mallard, stands for a woman who is struggling internally and externally for freedom. After the sudden loss of her husband, Mrs. Mallard gets a taste of the freedom she was lacking in her marriage. Like Mrs. Mallard, women throughout history have struggled to find freedom and success away from their husbands. Chopin herself only became successful after the loss of her husband. In “The Story of an Hour”, Chopin shows women’s struggle for freedom during the Victorian period through Mrs. Mallard’s struggle for her own freedom.
At the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries, a series of events occurred that would be known as the feminist movement. During this time, many woman were starting to change the way they thought of themselves and wanted to change their social roles. In his views on feminist analysis Donald Hall says, “Feminist methodologies focus on gender…and explore the complex ways in which women have been denied social power and the right to various forms of self-expression the many perspectives that fall under the heading ‘feminism’ vary wildly”(Hall 199). Since women were denied social power and self-expression, they went against what society saw as acceptable, a patriarchal world. In the stories The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, “Story of an Hour” also by Chopin, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman we see just how woman’s expected gender roles affect these woman. In The Awakening we meet Edna Pontellier who struggles with her social and gender role. In “Story of an Hour” we see a woman who is glad she is free from her husband. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” a woman fights for her happiness. Through the author’s portrayal of these characters, we see how feminism affects the actions of the characters and how the woman change.
Xuding Wang writes in her essay, Feminine Self-Assertion in “The Story of an Hour”, a strong defense for Kate Chopin’s classic work, “The Story of an Hour”. Wang provides powerful proof that one of the pioneering feminist writers had a genuine desire to push the issue of feminine inequality. Even decades later, Xuding Wang fights for the same ground as Kate Chopin before her. She focuses on critic Lawrence I. Berkove, who challenges that Louise Mallard is delusional with her personal feelings of freedom once she discovers the news that her husband has passed away. The story opens with the line “Knowing Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble” (Chopin). [1] Chopin uses allegory to describe
In the past women have suffered from inequalities where women have been stopped from achieving their goals and dreams. One can argue that this is not true, they can simply say it was a different time period, a different set of social norms, different traditions, but the reality is that women back in the days compared to today are still facing many issues with inequality it can also be seen in the way female characters are displayed among television and film. For instance, in the film “Fifty Shades of Gray” Anestia is a female character that is portrayed as a female who has no voice for herself and has to learn how to be submissive just so she can remain by the side of the man she claims to love which is Christian Gray. Anestia eventually learns to not have a voice as to what she truly wants and desires from him, and becomes okay with the idea of following his orders. This film has sent a message to young females that it is okay to not take a stand and not have a voice for themselves with situations they are not happy with. This film is a perfect example to demonstrate how female inequality is still being persuaded among our society through films and television. But films like Amelie are changing females life into encouraging females to take action and follow their