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Perception of women in society
The perception of women in society
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All three writings, “The Story of an Hour,” “A Sorrowful Woman” and “The Hand” portray the long led belief that women are obligated to carrying the burden’s of a household. The belief that they should surrender their own desires and needs to care for the needs of their families still lingers in society today. Similarly, the women are in a marriage they will not leave, bare the burden of submission, have a love and dislike for their spouses, and desire freedom from the imprisonment they feel in their life.
While all three marriages are alike they do have some differences. In the same way “The Hand” portrays the life of a newly married bride, “The Story of an Hour” vividly describes Mrs. Mallard as young which would lead one to believe that both women are young in age. The description, “She was young, with a fair calm face, whose lines bespoke repression.” Describes a woman that has been married to her husband long enough to have realized her unhappiness.
Also, none of the women ever speak of ending their marriage. Mrs. Mallard realizes the one joy of the death of her husband is she will never have to entertain the idea of leaving him. It comes to her as her way out. She would not have to take responsibility for the failed marriage because it has been taken care of for her. In a different manner, the woman in “The Hand” decides that her husband’s strength’s, which are represented by the description of his hair, eyes, build and arms, are enough for her to deal with his flaws, which are represented by the horrific hand. “A Sorrowful Woman” depicts the wife’s need to stay even though she moves to a different room apart from her husband and child.
Another similarity is the submiss...
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... He allowed her to tend to her needs in order to keep her in his life. One could ponder the outcome of Mrs. Mallard’s marriage had she been open to her husband about her feelings. Some could say it would not have made a difference and some could say it would. This shows the differences in the views of marriage.
In conclusion, a marriage should be an alliance between two people. It should be a tie that bids a woman and a man but does not imprison them. While marriage and the social view of it has come along way many women still feel as these three did. Women feel obligated to stay in a marriage for multiple reasons, submit to their husbands in one way or another, tend to love their man one minute but dislike them another and desire freedom of the lifestyle when it is comfortable conditions. These authors showed different views but portrayed many similarities.
The emotions that Mrs. Mallard showed as she stood still symbolizes that she indeed loved her husband. As quoted, “And yet she loved him sometimes. Often she did not” (Choplin, 16), which exhibits emotional apathy or indifference. It is what every woman is supposed to do to the man she wishes to marry. Love has to play an important part of a marriage, but some beg to differ. In today’s society people marry for money, citizenship, companionship and a host of other things. In comparison, it relates to Mrs. Mallard reasoning for the joy of her freedom. In earlier centuries, marriage was sacred, genuine, and had meaning. Mr. & Mrs. Mallard, however, showed their love in a more symbolic approach such as language. A quotes from “The Story of an Hour”, proves that Mr. Mallard did love his wife through many expressions and facial
“The Story of an Hour” begins with an introduction of Mrs. Mallard who has heart troubles. It is discovered that her husband has been killed in an accident. When her sister, Josephine, tells her of the news, she weeps with “wild abandonment” rather
The couples share a certain amount of love for each other but the disconnection was stronger. The protagonist’s disconnection is evident because her husband treats her like a little girl instead of a wife when he takes her “ …in her arms and called [her] a blessed little goose” (p121). The Mallard’s disconnection is also evident because her husband’s “face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead” (p 15). This is not the emotion a wife wants to feel from her husband.
...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.
A patriarchal society suppressed the rights, freedoms and overall independence of women in the nineteenth-century. Due to this dominant male functioning of society, women's roles in society were reduced to basic domestic functions which in turn gave them little to no significance. The Story of An Hour illustrates this social behavior during that period. It gives a very realistic sense of what marriage was to the majority of the women during the period the author wrote the story. It portrays marriage as a form of prison for females.
Marriage is a sacred, long-standing institution. However, there are times in which the relationship between a wife and her spouse is merely a master-and-slave one. Not until the 1960s did women begin to speak up their voice and require their right of freedom. In her influential work of feminism "The Story of An Hour," Kate Chopin reflects the gloomy marital status of the women in the early 1900s through the life of the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard.
As any woman would, Mrs. Mallard initially “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment,” (227) at the news of her husband’s death. Her weeping almost seems forced as Mrs. Mallard’s true character is revealed later on. She is described as “young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (227). Though Mrs. Mallard is still youthful, she has much more knowledge, and personal strength than others her age possess. Her extended knowledge and experience leads to realization of the position her husband’s death has put her in, and that this death might actually bett...
Mallard comes to a hopeful plan of her new life. She finds that trees can hardly wait to experience “new spring”, and it actively symbolizes her expectations about the freedom. In addition, the “blue sky” represents a sense of hope. Theses elements connect to emphasize that Mrs. Mallard successfully escapes from the cage of her marriage because of her husband’s death. Outside the open window, everything suggests Mrs. Mallard to enjoy a new life. From Mrs. Mallard’s sight, we believe that she has a type of forbidden pleasure from her husband's death, and it displayed how many pressure she experiences in her marriage. Although Richards was a kind person, he stereotypically believed that men “have a right to impose a private will” upon women. Considering the historical context, women in traditional society are commonly dominated by men. In addition, women often get troubles with protecting their rights. Like a hopeless bird, Mrs. Mallard was confined in the cage of her marriage; as a result, she is always willing to be independent and releases herself. This situation hints that Mrs. Mallard was a new woman who would not want to be the slave of traditional marriage.
This reflection period allowed Mrs. Mallard free herself from the life she had with her husband. Once she discovered that her husband was still alive, she passed away as the event was overwhelming for her. Mrs. Mallard feared her husband in a way that affected her perception in life—that men are the dominating figure. Through the feminist criticism
On the other hand, Mrs. Mallard may cry again for the loss of her oving husband not only because of her gender role in the society, but for he still loves her and she herself had loved him as well. Moreover, the story does not tell us whether Mr. Mallard is an abusive or irresponsible husband, but this couple certainly strives for maintaining their unsatisfactory marriage. Besides, no love or security can compensate for a lack of control over her own existence (Skaggs, 53), let alone the fact that there is hardly any love in that fragile relationship.
It depicts a woman, named Mrs. Mallard, who is informed of the death of her husband during the exposition of the story. Mrs. Mallard retreats to her room after hearing this news, and realizes that she is now free to do things as she wished. She is no longer held down by the constraints of being a
In the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the reader is introduced to Louise Mallard, the wife of Brently Mallard who supposedly died in a train accident. The story uses multiple literary devices such as irony, conflict and symbolism to convey Mrs. Mallard’s emotions within the hour that she discovers the sudden death of her husband.
Women often await their husband’s arrival home from work with joy, but not Mrs. Mallard. She awaited her husband’s arrival home in sadness, but what more can you expect from a women not happy in her marriage? In “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin you begin to understand the struggles of a women who is unhappy and unsatisfied in her marriage. You also realize the emotions she might encounter. Most people believe that when a marriage is bad you should try and make it work anyways.
Mrs. Mallard’s conflicts reflects the situations of many women in the 1800 era. Women in the mid 1800’s that were married, lived under the husband's identity, didn’t have much freedom, and felt like they were trapped in a marriage. In a reading called The Story of an Hour, it described a story of a lady named Mrs. Mallard who faced many conflicts within herself due to being invisible in her marriage. Mrs. Mallard could relate to other women in her time because back in the mid-1800s a lot of women felt like they had to stay in their marriage even if they were unhappy. Also, some married women may have felt as if they were trapped in their marriage, living under their husband's identity, as well as not having much freedom. Facing some of the
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