Kate Chopin is an American author who wrote two novels and about a hundred short stories in the 1890s. Most of her fiction is set in Louisiana and most of her work focuses on the lives of intelligent women. Two widely known short stories that Chopin wrote are The Story of an Hour and Desiree’s Baby. Both stories are about women who have struggling relationships with their husbands. The Story of an Hour is about a woman, Mrs. Mallard, who suffers with a heart problem. Her husband’s friend, Richards, and her sister Josephine have to tell Mrs. Mallard that her husband has died in a train accident. They are both concerned that this news might danger Mrs. Mallard’s health. However, when Mrs. Mallard hears about the news, she feels excitement and a spur of freeness. Even though her husband is dead, she doesn’t have to live the depressing life she has been living. Mrs. Mallard sits in a chair and then whispers, “Free, free, free!” She knows that she will cry again when she sees him dead. But she keeps whispering, “Free! Body and soul free!” Josephine kneels at the door and tells Mrs. Mallard to open the door. Mrs. Mallard makes a quick prayer that life might be long and then opens the door. Together, they go downstairs. Someone is opening the front door, and it is Brently Mallard, Mrs. Mallard’s husband. He had been far away from the accident and didn’t know there had been one. Richards tries to cover him from the view of his wife, however he is too late. When the doctors come they say she has died of heart disease. Desiree’s Baby is about a girl named Desiree, who is adopted by the Valmonde family after they find her in the shadow of a stone pillar. When Desiree becomes a young woman, a plantation owner with one of the finest nam... ... middle of paper ... ...tween her and her husband. The last letter in the story is the letter written by Armand’s mother. This letter reveals that he is the one that is responsible for the child’s appearance. There had been unexpected twists at the end of the stories, though the twists are appropriate for the outcome. The twists are to have a main message. The Story of an Hour represents the male dominated society and the subjugation of women. The short story suggests that Brently Mallard dominated his wife – and for this, she is not happy, and dies soon after. Desiree’s Baby also represents women’s lack of power and male domination in the society. When Desiree’s mother tells her to come home, based on Armand’s reaction to having a child the same color as a slave, Desiree has to seek approval of her husband to leave. This shows his control in their relationship and his power over Desiree.
Throughout the story, the different roles and expectations placed on men and women are given the spotlight, and the coming-of-age of two children is depicted in a way that can be related to by many women looking back on their own childhood. The narrator leaves behind her title of “child” and begins to take on a new role as a young, adolescent woman.
In the opening sentence of The Story of An Hour, the reader is made aware that the protagonist, Mrs Mallard, “was afflicted with a heart
freedom and independence. In the story “The Story of an Hour” Ms. Mallard experiences a moment of liberation from her marriage due to the sudden
Lisa finds Baby upset in their hotel room, sulking about the tongue lashing and discriminating views of her parents and the manager of Kellerman’s. Lisa’s empathy for Baby is full of warmth and understanding. Lisa catches herself when she offers to do Baby’s hair, and instead compliments Baby by telling her she is prettier, her way. A portrayal that historically these two characters would not have put aside their rivalry for the affections of their father.
The story leads the reader on an exploratory journey to witness the neglect by Emily's extremely guilty mother. This is described by the children's cry when they are left with strangers, lacking attention and love due to the fact she is a single parent at a time where this was not commonly accepted in the community, causing a lot of emotional distress.
"The Story of an Hour" continues by Mrs. Mallard focusing on the freedom she secretly craves. As Mrs. Mallard is contemplating the news of freedom she didn't even stop to ask if it was a "monstrous joy" what she is feeling. At this point she is thrilled that she has newly found freedom, something society would conclude to be moral wrong after a depressing event just occurring. Even though she is happy she has freedom, when she g...
Desiree is a lady who completely relied on her husband for any type of support. Desiree became powerless when Armand rejected her and the child when he noticed the infant’s change in skin color. Without having Armand in Desiree's life, she had low self-esteem and did not have the will to live anymore. For the most part there was a large amount of racism in the story as well as the feeling that ladies too are not equivalent to men.
As the title puts it, “The Story of an Hour” takes place in the span of an hour. The title of the story also shows the possibility of occurrences within a single hour. This story is mostly centered around one woman, Louis Mallard. In conventional circumstances, death brings sorrow, grief, seclusion, guilt, regrets, along with other feeling depending on the cause of death. In “The Story of an Hour”, sorrow and grief are a product of the recent happenings, however, these feelings are coupled with joy and independence. Kate Chopin uses this story to convey death as a joyful circumstance whereas conventionally it is portrayed as sorrowful.
Korb, Rena. "Critical Essay on 'Désirée's Baby'." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Jennifer Smith. Vol. 13. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Web. 01 Mar. 2014.
In 'Desiree?s Baby,' Chopin illustrates her idea of the relationship between men and women by portraying Desiree as vulnerable and easily affected, whereas Armand is presented as superior and oppressive. Throughout ?Desiree?s Baby,? Kate Chopin investigates the concept of Armand's immense power over Desiree. At first, Desiree tries to conform to the traditional female role by striving to be an obedient wife. Later in the story, this conformity changes after Desiree gives birth to her part-black son.
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...
“The Story of an Hour” is the story of Mrs. Louise Mallard who suffers of a weak heart. This being the first we know of Mr. Mallard, she is carefully being told that her husband had just passed away in a train accident. As every good wife should, Mrs. Mallard breaks out in grief. At first, the story goes, as it should. Then Mrs. Mallard goes into her room where she begins thinking, and her first thought is that she is free. Mrs. Mallard after years of being in an unhappy marriage is finally free to do what she wants, with no one to hold her back. Yet everything is against her, when she finally accepts that her life will begin now, her husband enters his home, unscathed and well, not having known that everyone thought him dead, a...
b. Josephine: Mrs.Mallard's sister. She was who told Mrs.Mallard the notice about her husband death. c. Richard: Mr.Mallard's friend. He heard about the notice about his suppose death.
In “The Story of an Hour”, freedom was only allowed in your private thoughts. Meaning that you could of only dreamed of being free or finding yourself. In American society, marriage is seen as a time of your life where you do not live for yourself but for someone else. Marriage is seen as a place where you depend on your significant other for happiness or self-actualization. In marriage gender inequality is occurring. Mrs. Mallard undergo a confusion of emotions of feeling free and sadness once her husband passes
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