Women In Kate Chopin's A Respectable Woman And The Story Of An Hour

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Kate Chopin is an American writer known for portraying her female characters as “strong”. In the nineteenth century, women 's roles in society were restricted. This situation resulted in woman serving their husbands and not having a voice of their own. Do Mrs. Baroda and Mrs. Mallard share the same views? In the stories “A Respectable Woman” and “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin shows how society has affected women’s views about marriage and life. In the story “A Respectable Woman,” Mrs. Baroda is called upon to entertain guests at her and her husband 's plantation. During the season of winter she and her husband had entertained a large amount of people. Now that they are not entertaining any guests, Mrs. Baroda is looking forward to spending …show more content…

She loves her husband, but at the same time she does not. Chopin writes “And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not” (1). Louise Mallard suffers from a heart problem and to a certain extent it shows the confinement she has in her marriage. Unlike Mrs. Baroda, her heart is not in her marriage. She is not satisfied with the roles that she has as a wife and thinks that the end of her marriage will free her. When Mrs. Mallard hears about her husband’s death “she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely” (Chopin 1). Chopin uses visualization to represents the freedom that Louise is feeling showing the beginning of spring, the patches of blue skies, and twittering of sparrows. Her life will no longer be confined in the household and she can follow her dreams and find her own identity. These situations show that Louise was very confined in her marriage and did not have her own voice so after her husband 's “death” she is so overwhelmed with joy, that it kills her. The outcome of Louise’s life shows how desperate she was for freedom and finding who she, as an individual was. Being a woman in the nineteenth century and not being able to identify as who she wanted to be had a big impact on the way Louise lived. She was not looking for love from …show more content…

Both Mrs. Mallard and Mrs. Baroda both a thirst for freedom, but in different ways. Mrs. Mallard wants freedom to herself to figure out who she is. She does not want to live under the confinement of a man. She whispers, “Free! Body and soul free” (Chopin 1). Although she shows a bit of grief for her husband 's death, she comes to realization of her new found freedom. This situation results in Chopin revealing her name and starts calling her Louise which represents that she is no longer in the shadow of a man, but she is free. Mrs. Baroda comes to realization that she too wants freedom. She gets the temptation to affectionately touch Gouvernail. This shows that she would like the freedom to admire any man that she wants. The two women are complete opposites with they way they look at freedom. Louise wanted time to herself, whereas Mrs. Baroda wants freedom and love with another man who does not ask much of her. The women’s outlook on life is also not very similar. It is clearly shown that Mrs. Baroda is a romantic and respectful woman in a sense that she will do anything to please the man she loves and cares for their wellbeing. Louise seems to be the complete opposite of Mrs. Baroda. She is more of a realist and she very much looks forward to a life on her own and sees her marriage as a trap as she keeps saying she is

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