From ancient years to the middle of 20th century being a woman meant being a housewife. Women were repressed. Not only they did not have any rights, except to stay home, do the housework and care for a husband or children, women were considered only a half of human being. As one Russian saying says: "It would be very funny, if it was not so sad." Nowadays, when there are so many feministic coalitions, it is hard to imagine that once upon a time, females were not considered a part of society.
Of course, the roles of women were reflected in the literature. However, because women did not have any status and were not expected to work, more often than not, they were stuck in loveless marriages. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened in the following stories: "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant and "The Story of An Hour" by Kate Chopin.
In both these stories, authors portray two very different yet alike women who have trouble accepting their fate and are trying to reject the life of women of their class. Mathilde Loisel and Louise Mallard are very alike because they dream of something they do not have, then their dreams come true, but destiny plays a fatal role in both stories, and ladies lose everything they had. In both stories, ladies have caring husbands, whom they do not appreciate .Unfortunately, the endings of both stories are tragic.
From the first lines of both stories, it is clear that Mathilde Loisel and Mrs. Mallard dream of living different lives. The only difference between them is that they dream of different treasures.
Mathilde Loisel suffers from her middle-class lifestyle. "She had no dresses, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that; she felt made for that. She would so have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after." (Maupassant, p. 36) It is clear that Mathilde is envious of her reach friend, Madame Forestier and would trade places with her if only she had the chance, but unfortunately she is stuck with her clerk husband in their middle-class apartment.
Unlike Mathilde Loisel, Mrs. Mallard from “The Story of An Hour” doesn’t suffer from her middle-class lifestyle. Mrs. Mallard, who is a fragile woman afflicted with heart trouble, suffers from being trapped in a marriage. She loves her husband, however she longs for freedom.
That being said, women were extremely limited in their role in society. First of all, women were expected to be homemakers. By homemaker, I mean the women w... ... middle of paper ... ...ay."
In both stories, the two characters were married and had almost a similar marriage experience. They had the same feelings. Mr. Mallard and Mathilde both had a loving husband. That was
Throughout history women have pioneered their way into occupations that were once occupied solely by men. Not surprisingly, many achievements have come from women challenging and stepping out of their expected social roles. Today most women are free to voice their opinion and express themselves in every aspect of their lives, including their marriage. It was not long ago when women were deprived of this freedoms. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin Mrs. Mallard has been informed of the death of her husband. At first she feels melancholy because they both loved each other. He never mistreated her but at the same time she was chained to him. She quickly changes her mood when realizing what the death of her husband has given her. In the story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, Calixta is a loving
Mrs. Mallard in 'The story of an hour', is a woman that has had to live her life composed and in control as the wife of her husband, Brently Mallard. Chopin details Mrs. Mallard's reaction to the news of her husband's death with convolted emotions that were considered appropraite and yet horrifying to the reader. At the end of the story, her death came as no surprise.
Society at this time was dominated by men, making women live extremely challenging and limited lives. The position and status of a woman ultimately depended on that of her husband. She was not given many rights unless it was allowed by her husband. Women had to withstand arranged marriages and there were times they encountered abuse from their spouse. What many people do not see in this society is that women longed for their own empowerment and they wanted to be given the opportunity to create their own success in life without being overshadowed by their husbands. Women were supposed to be seen and not heard. They did not carry a voice in this society. This was a way of life for women "the relations of the sexes were restructured to one of
Both stories show the characters inequality with their lives as women bound to a society that discriminates women. The two stories were composed in different time frames of the women’s rights movement; it reveals to the readers, that society was not quite there in the fair treatment towards the mothers, daughters, and wives of United States in either era. Inequality is the antagonist that both authors created for the characters. Those experiences might have helped that change in mankind to carve a path for true equality among men and women.
...her room she will no longer be bound to her husband but rather free to do what she wants whenever she chooses to. Mrs. Mallard is at last apart from a person who was once somebody she loved but then started to dislike him because of his selfishness towards her. Then at last she comes to a point when she sees him and dies because she knows she will be jailed up again with his possession with her.
Most women in Mrs Mallard’s situation were expected to be upset at the news of her husbands death, and they would worry more about her heart trouble, since the news could worsen her condition. However, her reaction is very different. At first she gets emotional and cries in front of her sister and her husbands friend, Richard. A little after, Mrs. Mallard finally sees an opportunity of freedom from her husbands death. She is crying in her bedroom, but then she starts to think of the freedom that she now has in her hands. “When she abandoned herse...
In Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace,” Mathidle is unhappy with the life she currently has. Furthermore, Mathidle is always striving to be like her “rich” friends. Even though Mathidle’s husband tries extremely hard to please Mathidle, Mathidle is always unsatisfied with her materialistic wealth in the beginning of her life. Likewise, Mathidle is an object-oriented idealist who momentarily escapes reality only to experience a tragic loss and eventually finds happiness through her journey.
Today women have more rights and are treated differently than before. Society back then didn 't see how valuable women were. They didn 't see that women are capable of many things. They have suffered the most and always will. Men should give women their space and freedom. Feminism fights for equality between men and women, in the short story “Of An Hour’’ the main character fails to meet her expectations and how feminist is today 's changed. Certainly, feminism has always been a dilemma in the society . “A lack of economic opportunities , and the absence of voice is one of them”(The Women 's Rights movement 1). Before no one believed in women as being something else. They would just see them as a housewife , they would have them
With all the basic needs are are necessary to life a comfortable life. What she desire and hopes for is impractical. Knowing that she can never obtain the wealthy life she begins to feel sorrowful and sadden by that. Her greed for expensive items has become apart of her daily life and it is something that she can't easily change. With her vital need for these items it is a critical aspect in her because without those things she desires she can never be happy and satisfied with her life. Mathilde Loisel will never experience what is like to not have to depend on a physical object to...
In this story the narrator focuses on how Mrs. Mallard copes with the death of her husband. The plot defines to the reader what happens in a story by how she reacts to the news of her husband just being killed in a train accident. Looking deeper into this story the theme shows you her underlying feelings demonstration of the impression behind the story by showing almost relief and freedom, through the utilization of different symbols and tones. On the surface you see details such as the phrase “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same” (Clugston, 2010, sec 2.1). This phrase sets a tone of sadness and question of why she took the news so differently than many other women.
Despite the authors writing the stories decades apart, there are striking similarities between the protagonists. Defying the societal standard of the time, they rebelled against their marriages and strove for any feeling
It is implied that since the dawn of time, women have been inferior to thy fellow man. It was not until the Age of Enlightenment, which began around 1650 in Europe, that the first ideas of women being as competent as men, lacking only education and not intelligence, began to circulate (Online MBA). As the end of the 18th Century neared, women were regulars in salons and academic debates, though schooling for women would come late down the road (Online MBA). Prior to the birth of the Industrial Revolution, women did not work. Those who did work were from lower class families and many of those were minorities. It was the primary idea that a women’s role was of that at the home; cooking sewing, cleaning, and caring for the children. There were many duties required of them around the house and their focus was to be the supportive wife who dutifully waited for the husband to come home after a long day at work.
The main theme in “The Story of an Hour” is a woman’s freedom from oppression. Mrs. Mallard does not react accordingly to the news of her husband’s death; in the third paragraph it states, “she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment.” After her initial wave of shock and sadness has passed, however, she becomes elated with the thought of finally being free of her husband. Originally, she is described as being “pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body” and having lines that “bespoke repression”; in an attempt to be a perfect wife to a man whom she did not even love, Mrs. Mallard has been masking her true self. Once she realizes that she has finally gained the freedom that she has been longing for, Mrs. Mallard begins to