Is marriage a tie of oppression for both genders, even when they love each other? Numerous movements -like feminism- conceive marriage as a way of subjugation, especially to the female gender. Women gave up their own interests to meet their husband’s desires and lost their economic and social independence. Each gender had different duties depending on its role and society’s expectations. As a result, when people got married, they could not help but fall into the gender roles that were expected from them.
If she did love this man, why was marriage so harmful to her? Marriage was a prison for her There would be no powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature. Marriage oppressed her, she needed freedom, freedom to grow and do what she wanted to do, and marriage took that away from here. Chopin didn't believe that one person should take away another's freedom.
During the time when Gilman was growing up, women had defined domestic roles and their husbands were the dominating force. In turn, there were women who gained a voice and defied the oppressive male community; one of those voices being Gilman’s. Locked away in a mental and physical prison of her husband’s machination, the protagonist of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper is the embodiment of the struggles faced by women seeking freedom from the restraints placed upon them by men. The narrator remains nameless throughout the story in order to depict the wife as a figurative representation of women in society; women were treated lesser than that of males. In the story, this nameless woman is the wife of a “physician of high standing” (Gilman, 1), and has a “[brother who is also a physician] of high standing” (1).
The law that the attorney says Mrs. Peters is married to, is a patriarchal law that dominates women and makes them matters of the system. These women’s dedication truly lies with each other and their struggle to survive a domineering civilization. If during a marriage a woman is secluded and subjugated, her only sense of self lies within the common struggle. At the end, she signifies that her responsibility towards her fellow woman is more significant than the law and stays faithful to her sex. In fact, they might have a concealed longing to do the same thing with their husbands as a rebellious to the continuous domination from the men.
The conventional roles of women were kept in place by long standing values and beliefs that held to a presumption, in which, women were inferior to men in every way. In The Subjection of Women, The Lady of Shalott, and A Room of One's Own, respectively, these authors define their views on the roles women are forced to play in society, and why they are not permitted to step outside those predetermined boundaries. John Stuart Mill, in his essay The Subjection of Women, makes a daring exclamation about the position of women in society. He wrote this piece with the hope of opening other's eyes to the same conclusion he felt all of his life, in regards to equality. The principle which regulates the existing social relations between the two sexes--the legal subordination of one sex to the other--is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other.
As well as, the death of her husband was not enough to kill her from a broken heart because of her condition. Finally, Louise not wanting companionship in her room shows that what she strives for has not been found in its entirety. The turning point to her real feelings about her being married has come to realization. This overwhelming feeling came over Louise, and the author wrote, “She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with h... ... middle of paper ... ...ense of freedom. The grief of her husband’s death is gone.
With an author ahead of her time, Kate Chopin challenged the ideas of how women should be seen socially. Chopin frankly portrays women as emotional, intelligent and sexual beings. While it might seem that Chopin offers positive examples of female characters, in actuality they are complicated, messy and ultimately negative. All of her main female character seem to experience self-awareness, something very important at that time period because while women had feelings and thoughts, they weren't recognized by society, these feelings of independence and discovery are often temporary, still bound to social limitations. In some cases, it requires the Chopin brings attention to women's internal struggles with themselves and who they are told to be in a society that dismisses female autonomy, she doesn't do anything to solve or change them.
Chopin recognized the disparity between the true needs and wants of women and those that society forced upon them, and provoked women to speak out against such oppression by pointing out the negative consequences that would result from their continual acquiescence. The central themes and social commentary conveyed through Chopin's vivid imagery and meaningful diction lead both past and present readers to reflect upon the role of women and society's effects upon those of all gender, race, and ethnicity. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour" in The Complete Works of Kate Chopin. Per Sayersted, ed.
Kate showed increasing concern for the plight of women in Victorian age America and she responded with scandalous writings dealing explicitly with love, sex and marriage. In one of her more famous short stories, The Story of an Hour, her refusal to be silenced is all too evident. Chopin presents a character known simply as Mrs. Mallard. The lack of personal identity is evident in this name. Not once in this story is her first name mentioned illustrating the lack of indi...
In Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour" the author portrays patriarchal oppression in the institution of marriage by telling the story of one fateful hour in the life of a married woman. Analyzing the work through feminist criticism, one can see the implications of masculine discourse. Mrs. Mallard's medical diagnosis is an example of the male-dominated society in which she lives. They are able to tell her that she indeed has a heart condition, but are unable to treat her effectively, portraying how ineffectual male patriarchy is in the life of this woman in particular. Mrs. Mallard is expected to fulfill the stereotypical role of "the angel in the house."