Essays on Kate Chopin

The point of view is a perspective from which the author chooses a narrator to tell a story. The third-person narrators are usually observers but not characters in the story. Kate Chopin in “The Story of an Hour” uses the third-person omniscient narrative, which captures the reader and makes him sympathetic to Louise Mallard. The reader has a possibility to see how the woman interacts with other characters, her thoughts, and feelings. Indeed, the omniscient narrator is able to tell the story of Louise’s hour of evolution and freedom but the happiness lasted only for an hour before ...

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

In Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” the author paints a rather effective picture of heartbreak. However, rather than showing the devastation of Louise Mallard’s devastation upon hearing news of her husband’s accidental death in the train wreck, Chopin takes an unexpected turn. As the reader experiences Louise’s shock at the news of her husband’s death one is led to believe that she is overwhelmed with shock and unable to comprehend the tragedy of becoming a widow. Instead, as the final scene in the story unfolds the reader is made aware ...

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is an insightful work of art that possesses a great literary significance. The short story depicts one hour from the life of Louise Mallard, but touches upon several serious themes that are still important in modern society. Louise Mallard is a young married woman, who gets informed that her husband has tragically died. In one hour she evolves from the grief and sorrow to realization of her joy of finally becoming free to be in charge of her own life. However, her happiness does not last long, as her husband appears ...

The short story “Desiree’s Baby” was published in 1893, in “Vogue”. Its first title was “The Father of Desiree’s baby” to focus on Armand’s identity and origin. The story touches important issues that plagued the South of that time such as racism, the position of women, gender inequality. “Desiree’s Baby” is one of only two major stories Chopin set in antebellum Louisiana, portraying woman character whose life is ruined by a cruel and deeply-seated racism, but intellectual readers of the day would have been aware of the complex cultural history in the background of the ...

The 20th century was a remarkable period for many women who are fed up with the discrimination they faced based on gender. Females in the previous centuries were confined to the spheres of their homesteads and not allowed to participate in public activities. The patriarchal perceptions dominated the thoughts of most Americans. The work of Kate Chopin, a renowned feminist, motivated woman to evaluate their situations critically so that they could realize the unfair burden society placed on them. One of the pieces she wrote was the Story of an Hour. Succinct analysis indicates that Chopin tackled complicated issues ...

Ideally, the marriage institution depicts love between two people and their desire to spend the rest of their lives with each other. Kate Chopin’s works portray a different view as the ideologies of marriage in the fiction stories “Désirée’s Baby” and “The Story of an Hour” are more detrimental that advantageous for the women. Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” relays the story of a woman who is ecstatic after learning that her husband is dead, only for her to die when the man returns unharmed. Concurrently, “Désirée’s Baby” constitutes racism ...

Infidelity and Scandal in “The Storm” and Other 19th Century Writing

Many authors and artists in the nineteenth century tackled a great number of pressing issues in their time, particularly relating closely to the nature of adultery and infidelity. In the world of art, Augustus Leopold Egg’s famous triptych Past and Present demonstrated a husband’s discovery of his wife’s infidelity, and the consequences that ensued, creating a subtle breakdown of the traditional family unit that was thought to be impenetrable in the 19th century. Prominent writers like Leo Tolstoy and Kate Chopin also tackled this issue as well – Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina explores the inherent acceptance of male infidelity and ...

Gender is defined as the activities, roles and behavior assigned in a social place with reference to women and men. Though it is normally confused with sex, it is not. Sex is the biological issue of whether a person is male or female. Gender on the other hand is the society’s code of behavior as to how a man or woman is supposed to behave and act. These distinct given roles are what give rise to inequalities. This difference is that which gives systematical favor to one group and disfavors another. This may occur in terms of health services, job opportunities, ...

Introduction

Individuals read stories and books since they are interested in what is contained in those books and stories. Stories make us love or hate characters, provide us details, and build up to the point where we get the climax. "The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin gives us the details all through the story to set up sudden climax of Mrs. Mallard death. For this reason, this essay examines the sympathetic character of Mrs. Mallard as presented by the author in the short story.

After reading this epic short story, I think that Mrs. Mallard qualifies ...

Non-material notions such as courage, love, truth or faith have been debated in terms of philosophical studies, as well as became central topics of literary works of different genres. Despite the fact that lots of approaches to defining these concepts have already been developed, new ones continue to emerge. For the purposes of this assignment I would like to demonstrate how different truth can be by examples of “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “After Reading a Child's Guide to Modern Physics” by Wustan Hugh.Auden.

Truth can be very different. Someone may associate absolute ...

Introduction

This paper aims to capture the possible conflicts in the literary styles used by the author in writing her book. The degree of agreeableness of the plot and the style of writing will also be considered. Criticism that the author was subjected to shall also be captured. The paper will start by outlining the context in which the narrative was written and will proceed to give a critical view of the plot, and the style employed by Kate in writing her novel. Kate grew up in an environment surrounded by women, both at school with the nuns and at ...

- Brief Introduction - Analysis of A Clean and Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway - Analysis of The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry - Analysis of The Storm by Kate Chopin - Conclusion Within the story, lies the dark theme of death and loneliness which is portrayed by the old customer who only exists in despair despite his wealth and providing a brief description of the author’s life, having a physical defect (deafness) and living in old age. The old and the young waiter were the author’s representation of himself as a youth ...

Kate Chopin was born in Missouri and she has represented the rebellious spirit of her era. She led an unconventional lifestyle, which was depicted in all her writings and was the kind of woman who dared to stand up for her true beliefs and ideas. According to her biographers and literary critics, ‘Kate Chopin’s writing style was a result of her passionate love for the writing style of Guy de Maupassant.’(1996, Le Marquand). Chopin was influenced by Guy de Maupassant who wrote about people’s everyday lives, but she went a step forward. She created her own unique way ...

The Storm is a story Written by Kate Chopin. The time at which the story was set is in the 19th century. The story was set in Louisiana and in real sense; Louisiana is a place that is best known for violent storms. The story is about is a confrontation of the theme of femininity and complexities of the married people in the storm. The storm is used throughout the story, and it only ends after the characters, Alcee and Calixta’s sexual encounter, which brings out the theme of femininity, and sexual desires. Kate Chopin opens her story with the ...

The Awakening is a novel written by Kate Chopin. The story takes place in the 19th century in a Victorian society. The Awakening focuses on Edna who is the protagonist in the story, and she is the wife to Mr. Pontellier. It is a story about a woman who tried to transform herself from a housewife and mother into an independent woman, but she was not successful. Edna was just a normal wife like the other women in the nineteenth century who played the full role of an ideal woman who obeyed her husband, and cared for her kids. Edna now gets an idea that ...

The novel At Fault, published in 1890, brought its author, Kate Chopin, a great deal of attention and appreciation from critics, especially for the impressive realism with which she built her characters. Some were extremely powerful and bold, too bold for that time, like the protagonist, and others were very straightforward, uniquely American, like the half-black half-Native American, half-black Joçint. The mythical and historical association of Native Americans to nature is livelier than ever in Chopin's character, who has no desire of following the path set for him by his father and is drawn to the woods. He ...

There are various approaches of women and feminism in the literature of the early 20th century. For depicting the feminine psych, authors use various literary devices for allowing readers to enter the mind of their characters. Susan Glaspell’s “Trifle” uses symbolism and irony for resenting her character, Mrs. Wright and for illustrating her hardships that drove her to murdering her husband. Moreover, after studying Glaspell’s “Trifle”, the manner in which she develops the narration indicates that she considers Mrs. Wright’s action as justified. Mrs. Wright, a character of the early 20th century, resembles Kate Chopin’s Mrs. ...

The story of Louse Mallard, who dies of a heart condition from the surprise showing up of her presumed dead husband suggests a succesful conspiracy to cover up major issues in their marriage. The fact that Louise died concealing the abusive nature of her husband reveals the dreadful reality of women surviving in abusive relationships and opt to conceal the truth. This paper seeks to analyze Allen Stein's Women and Autonomy in Kate Chopin's short Fiction and Joseph Rossenblum's The story of an hour. Allen supports Kate Chopin efforts in revealing the reality of difficulties that women encounter in the ...

Literature possesses a vast territory for expressing meaningful human feelings, abstract emotions, or themes. Desperation and comfort is a common theme in literature, encompassed in short stories, poems and dramas and reflected differently through the mechanisms of each literary genres, the style of each literary piece or the personality of the authors. Various literary genres like short stories, poems or dramas, possess their unique mechanisms for reflecting the theme of desperation and comfort. Looking at Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”, the poet uses techniques specific to poetry space for transmitting his desperate adversity to resisting ...

Thesis Statement 1: Society has a way of punishing people they envy by emphasizing the latter’s weakness and making a ridicule out of that individual only to boost their personal worth. - Claim: When the beautiful and poised Hester Prynne arrived at Boston, she came alone awaiting for the arrival of her husband Roger Chillingworth, however, to everyone’s knowledge. This made the women of Boston threatened by her.

Interpretation: That left the young, beautiful and poised Hester Prynne the interest of men. This grew the displeasure of the women of Boston. - Claim: Many believed that Hester ...

Readers find many ways to understand the literary works; one of such way would be to comprehend the themes and corresponding these literary works. In addition to it, a read has many choices to analyze and comprehend the themes and corresponding in a story or a poem. This paper focuses on literary devices that can be utilized by the author R. Wayne Clugston, in “Journey into Literature”. From this, literary work of the author two short stories has been selected for themes and corresponding works. The literary writers in the 19th century were very few. The women who wrote usually belonged ...

Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour" is concerning an unhealthy wife who for a short time supposes her husband is deceased and visualizes a complete new life of independence for herself. The speaker’s portrayal of Mrs. Mallard gives you an idea about someone who removes off the ideas of love and even the greatest of marriages for the wonderful thought of pure independence. This paper provides the complication of the concept of Freedom for Mrs. Mallard as the lead character of the story. It gives the impression like an awful thing to Mrs. Mallard, who's constrained in ...

The Awakening, an early twentieth-century novel by Kate Chopin, is often cited as one of the first feminist pieces of literature written for a modern audience. The novel follows a woman named Edna through her everyday activities, as she goes through a transformation that can only be described as an “awakening.” Chopin’s work is heavily concerned with the difference between masculinity and femininity in Victorian-era society. Throughout the work, her protagonist’s continual self-awareness is tempered by her increasing isolation from everyone in her life; thus, Chopin suggests that society, as it existed, does not allow femininity to be self-sufficient without ...

“Cat in the Rain” by Ernest Hemingway

The title of the story “Cat in the Rain” by Ernest Hemingway carries an inner meaning besides its literal meaning of cat in the rain. Hemingway uses iceberg theory to fix a title for his story. The title has a meaning outwardly and has a deep meaning behind it. Even though, the story says the incident when a cat caught in the rain, the protagonist of the story indirectly refers to the title by confronting the element of confinement that resembles the cat. Thus, the title signifies nothing but the American Woman. “Cat in the Rain has two points of view: full omniscient ...

Two women, two different stories, two destinies. Calixta and Desiree had one important common goal in their lives – happiness of their children and husbands. In the short stories “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Storm”, Kate Chopin showed us the attitude of women of those years to the marriage, to their own happiness and what was the life like for a young ordinary woman. In this essay I would like to compare two absolutely different but in some ways similar situations and bitter experience of Calixta and Desiree. The story “Desiree’s Baby” shows us the racial prejudice and how ...

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is a short story that begins and ends with heartbreak. The story begins with the news that Mrs. Louise Mallard's husband, Mr. Brently Mallard has died. Mrs. Mallard, who suffers from heart trouble, reacts to this news rather unusually, unlike how a normal woman would, and secludes herself in her room. What follows are some vague descriptions and Mrs. Mallard’s frequently joyful exclamations of finally being free and being able to live herself for herself. Naturally, this makes readers wonder whether Mrs. Mallard was even happy with her marriage. However, before they ...

American Literature, Essay Exam

1. Mark Twain has made use of various features of Local Color such as in his book Huckleberry Finn. Local color is a style used in writing to show the features and peculiarities of the people in a given locality. The first feature is that of narration which makes use of a narrator who in most cases is educated to draw a distinction between urbanized audience and the locals. An example is when Huck displays moral maturity by saying, “what’s the use you learning to do right when it’s troublesome to do right and ain’t no trouble to do wrong” ( ...

In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin presents readers with a view of marriage that is not very commonly heard of these days. After learning that her husband has died, Mrs. Louise Mallard, the main character of the short story, experiences the delight and glee of freedom instead of the depression and sorrow of having lost her life partner. Chop has chosen such a structure for her short story that seems to be well suited for its subject matter. The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is one of her most famous work because of how she is able ...

Kate Chopin, the author of the short stories, "The Storm" and "Story of an Hour," was a tremendously forward-thinking and feminist author - in both of these tales, marriage is viewed as a restrictive hold on the women who are the subjects of each story. In "The Storm," the desperate Calixta temporarily frees herself of her stifling marriage by engaging in a passionate love affair with a paramour from her past who finds himself in her house in the wake of a nasty storm. Meanwhile, in "Story of an Hour," a woman discovers that her husband has passed away, and starts to have fantasies about ...

The Story of an Hour is an acclaimed literary work by Kate Chopin. Kate is well known for writing story emphasized on freedom or independence of women during the 1890s. Kate’s works were written before any feminist movement was begun. During that time women were considered as property of their husband. This fact impacted author on great way hence she emphasized on liberalization of women in her stories. Throughout the story of an hour, Kate utilizes various literary techniques to display forbidden joy of women’s freedom in male oriented society. Kate’s short story revolves around a ...

I have chosen to examine four short stories whose characters are people with physical markings or mental disorders. People who have these traits are unusual and regarded as odd by "normal" people. Usually, they develop some mental powers and become able to achieve much more than people who have neither physical nor mental problems. Maybe these "marked" people achieve success because they believe in themselves, whereas, "normal", healthy people tend to be paradoxically more self-conscious which hold them back. However, they are always there to judge the challenged ones. The stories that were particularly interesting to me are: Roman ...

In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin strongly employs symbolism throughout the story to intensify the drama. The symbols fit the subject matter of the story perfectly. The short story contains several symbols that make the readers feel a sense of comfort, wellness, and wonderfulness in their mind, somewhat the same feelings that overcome Mrs. Mallard when she learns of the “news of her husband's death.” The symbols in the short story embody Mrs. Mallard’s sense of freedom from the moment she murmurs “free” to herself and intensify the story’s twist ending. The very first symbol ...

‘Desiree’s baby’, written by Kate Chopin, is one of the most anthologized and critically acclaimed short stories of the nineteenth century. First published in the year 1893, the story captures with vivid detail, the societal attitudes that prevailed during the dawning years of that century. It is set in the days where rich, White, plantation owners, had slaves working for them tirelessly, yet did not have the heart or will, to treat the blacks equally, despite the many laws that legally abolished slavery. African Americans were not the only ones, being discriminated and marginalized, but the society of ...

It is widely believed that literature functions as a representative of the period in which it was conceived. More specifically, it is sort of a reminder of the moral values and principles upheld by the society of its era. Throughout the human history, many things have changed, some discovered and some evolved. But one thing has always been constant for the overwhelming majority of human history (at least what we know of it) - women were considered meek individuals, who were forced to bend towards the will of the men of their family and society. Take any civilization across the globe ...

Kate Chopin’s landmark novel The Awakening is often cited as one of the first modern feminist novels written about a woman’s plight and the difficulty of women’s choices. In the novel, Chopin fearlessly addresses issues that were previously considered distasteful or even inappropriate for a female author to consider; however, Chopin considers these issues thoughtfully, without prejudice, and with extreme empathy. The main character of the novel, Edna Pontellier, is faced with a variety of choices; however, in a move that was unprecedented for the time in which the novel was written, the protagonist takes charge of her fate and ...

Kate Chopin’s, the story of an hour, is well crafted in terms of its plot, content, and character choice. However, one of the overarching literary devices that Chopin employs is irony. First of all, the story begins with a friend contemplating on how to explain the news of the death of Mr. Mallard to his wife. Mr. Richard struggles to make sure that the news of death is unveiled to Mrs. Mallard in a way that it would not cause harm to her due to her heart condition. Josephine who is the Mrs. Mallard’s sister is used as the ...

Essay 2

1 Literal borrowing is one of the issues that are discussed by people in the literal world on a daily basis. Authors borrow ideas for their literal works to improve on the quality of work presented. Borrowing of intellectual material can be good or bad. Good borrowing of literal material is an act that almost all researchers perform. It is perfectly genuine if done according to the standard guidelines and the act is documented correctly (Yu and Peter 45). Bad literal borrowing also known as plagiarism is a wrong act since the author copies the works of another author to a wide ...

The two stories, “Hills like White Elephants” and “The Story of an Hour”, resonate around the feminist and Marxist ideas in unique and interesting ways. The stories are narrated from a third person with the authors keen to bring out capitalism and the ever present male chauvinism. It is this paper’s position that the two stories though within the same context, express different political ideology. The “Hills like White Elephants” appears to support the chauvinist approach in life while “The Story of an Hour” contends and disparages male chauvinism while promoting feminism. This paper shall analyze the political undertones ...

The novel The Awakening focuses on a woman who experiments with her own sexual desires as well as her social roles. This woman puts out an effort to affirm an individual distinctiveness past the bounds the patriarchy dictators had inscribed. Mrs. Pontellier's interest in art portrayed and brought to life her desire to deviate from the existing social values and be her own entity. , The various changes in the novel link to the confusion created by Edna Pontellier’s role, as a female artist and these are comprised of the opinions of the people around her, the decay of her ...

Compare and Contrast

Introduction Marriage is an essential component of many societies, as it involves the union between two people in love with one another who would eventually create a family. As a form of social organization, marriage has become the subject of several controversies, with some outside of the purpose of romantic union. Notable pieces of literature attest to that fact, and this study aims to construct an analysis between two literary works – The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and A Marriage Proposal by Anton Chekhov, with both literary works establishing that marriage, as a social practice, has found associations with ...

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Introduction

Marriage is an essential component of many societies, as it involves the union between two people in love with one another who would eventually create a family. As a form of social organization, marriage has become the subject of several controversies, with some outside of the purpose of romantic union. Notable pieces of literature attest to that fact, and this study aims to construct an analysis between two literary works – The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and A Marriage Proposal by Anton Chekhov. This study uses both literary works to establish ...

Jacques Lacan and Jacques Derrida are key pioneers of revolutionizing language theory by a new understanding of writing. Jacques Lacan psychoanalysis concepts touch on the mirror stage, the Real, the imaginary and symbolic in his psychoanalysis advanced symbolic order which dwells on the imaginary that is deception, imagination and images. Lacan gives a linguistic dimension to the symbolic order since language has imaginary and symbolic connotations (Naas, 23). He argues that if the signifier is the aspect on which the symbolic is founded on then the signification and signified are the constituents of the imaginary order. The psychoanalysis that the French ...

Introduction

Racism has been in existent for a very long time in the history of human interaction. Race is often equated to skin color which implies that one can be categorized into certain dimensions because of being black, white or of mixed blood. A writer creates works that are closely connected with his or her life and which reflect some aspects of reality. A comparative analysis of the works of Phillis Wheatly (before 1865) and Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby (after 1865) will reveal that despite the difference in the time and the races of the two authors, there was ...

During Queen Victoria’s reign (June 1837 – January 22, 1901), there were very specific gender roles that men and women had to aspire to. Sexuality was soundly repressed, with the upper classes subscribing to the Cult of Domesticity - the idea that women were meant to be submissive, pious, pure and focused on the domestic duties of the home. Meanwhile, men were allowed to work, dominate the household and their respective marriages; women were absolutely subjugated during this time, making it even more frustrating for them to refrain from taking hold of opportunities (both sexual and economic) offered to ...

It is human nature to personify objects, events, and things which have a great impact upon our lives. For example, people often name their cars or attribute the outcome of sporting events in which they are merely spectators to something they did or did not do (wearing a “lucky” article of clothing, for example). In Kate Chopin’s turn-of-the 20th Century short story “’The Storm”, the storm is used as not only a backdrop for the events it would precipitate, but as both a metaphor for and a personification of them, as well. The story has five human characters. Bobinot and Bibi are ...

Without being graphic, Kate Chopin can still titillate today’s readers in her short story, The Storm. Sex is a need that needs to be gratified. Even illicit sex can bring about happiness. Moreover, Chopin seems to be endorsing that adultery, that it can be casual and it is fine. Not only is she endorsing it, she is suggesting that it can be a source of fulfillment in marital life for the legal spouses. The Storm is a story revolving on two married couples: Calixta and Bobinot, and Alcee and Clarisse. The title refers to the weather condition at the setting ...

Analysis of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin contains a most unique theme of freedom within death. However, the miraculous and graceful way in which the character Mrs. Mallard meets freedom within death is exquisite. A sense of sadness is expected of a widow. Upon hearing of her husband’s passing Mrs. Mallard “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment” indicating that she was indeed mourning her husband. Yet, Chopin twists descriptive adjectives like new, delicious, joy, dream and free into the description of Mrs. Mallard’s experience to promote a sense of freedom within an event that should be sad. ...

Introduction

“Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition”, said Marilyn Monroe as she was defining the power of women thru their charms and presence, and not thru equal work with men. This concept, according to which femininity is the aspect that most empowers women in relationship with men was developed in various writings of the nineteenth century and comes as a contradiction to the binary relationship man – woman, which suggests that woman is placed on the negative side, as she is disempowered. Three novels, “The Awakening” (Kate Chopin), “Mrs. Spring Fragrance” (Sui Sin Far) and “Maggie: A Girl ...

The awakening by Kate Chopin brings into perspective the life and desires of a woman to live entirely independent. This includes freedom in terms of intellectual, independence and sexual. In this quest, she ruffles a few feathers with friends and family. In addition she ends up in conflicts with vital virtues and values of her time. The character Kate uses to express her ideas is Edna Pontellier from Louisiana. This is based back in 1890s. Kate Chopin uses a variety of symbols to develop the plot and ideas in the book. These include birds, art, clothes, the sea, the moon, swimming, and ...

Mel and female gender roles are often included in Kate Chopin's short stories, and at times the female characters in her stories tend to challenge these roles. In a majority of her stories, such as “Desiree's Baby”, “The Story of an Hour”, “At the Cadian Ball”, “The Storm, and “The Awakening”, the female character are shown to undergo a transformation from women who are dependent on their husbands, and weak to more independent and stronger women. The female characters are all examples of how women change throughout these stories while the men are the dominant hurdle that these women want to ...

In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, describes the last hour in the life of Louise Mallard, who is trapped in an unhappy marriage with a husband she did not really love, but has a brief moment when it appears that freedom is at hand thanks to his untimely death. After all, this was an era when divorce was rare and social, economic and educational opportunities for women were very limited. All of Chopin’s women characters in her fictional work also shared a strong desire to escape from the constraints of Victorian marriage and family life. They were often based ...

These two masterpieces “the Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’ Conner are a real picture of the time period when it was written. A Good Man is Hard to Find, is an example of gothic literature which portrays the background of slavery and Civil War, whereas, the historical background of The Story of an Hour is based on women’s behavior and the female desire for independence which was more preferred than love and marriage. It was a time when a typical American woman of the nineteenth century would be a ...

We have read the story “The Storm " and " The Gift of the Magi”; both of them share the concept of love. The Storm is a story written by Kate Chopin. It is a story of infidelity and sexual desires. In his story, Chopin uses a symbol of the storm to express his views on marriage and sexuality. This is a story that evolves between two families, that of Bobinot, Calixta and son Bibi and Alcee, Clarisee and their babies. Sex and adultery are a crucial part of the story. Kate Chopin tells a story of a woman who was torn between two men and had an ...

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is full of irony and incongruity in the feelings of the main character Mrs. Mallard. Marriage is shown as constraining and her desire for freedom and independence is expressed vividly. Her public demonstration of sadness at her husband’s death stands in stark contrast to the ‘monstrous joy’ she feels at the thought of having a ‘Body and soul free!’ The narrator describes the emotions of Mrs. Mallard with powerful and vibrant words. The character has a deep inner life with a lot of desires, feelings and emotions. The thoughts she has in ...

“The Awakening” was written in an age when women allow society to dictate how they should behave and feel. In one summer Edna changed from a woman voided of feelings to one overwhelmed by her feelings, so much so that she feels she could no longer live in this society.

“The Awakening” is a book written long before its time; it is a satire of the prudish New Orleans’ society of the nineteenth century. In his essay, Robert Cantwell says: “The book was banned from library circulation, and the author refused admittance to the St. Louis Arts Society. Mrs. Chopin was disgusted, ...

Barker, Deborah. “The Awakening of Female Artistry.” Kate Chopin Reconsidered. Ed. Lynda S. Boren and Sara deSaussure Davis. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1992, 61-79

In this book, the author attempts to analyze the paintings that are done by Edna and how the paintings affects the sensuality of Edna based on the social issues such as religious restrictions women bear in the society. The essay puts more emphasis on Edna; however, Barker also brings to the reader the way Edna is consciously aware of the struggles that embodies her gender. The central outcome of barkers work in the ...

A short story is a work of fiction that does not comprise the complexity and length of a novel or novella, but still tells a complete story with drawn-out characters and fully-developed plots. Often, since short stories do not get the chance to tell full stories with characters they get the time to develop, they have a much stronger focus on theme as a narrative device, telling stories with messages instead of using numerous plot points. To my mind, there are two different categories of short story: tales of understanding, and tales of terror. These are fairly vague definitions that cover a wide variety of ...

Kate Chopin’s short story ‘Désirée’s Baby’ gives the reader a highly negative analysis of the social conventions regarding race and gender of the South before the Civil War. Walker exposes the dishonest and duplicitous hypocrisy of the South’s attitudes to gender and to race and, furthermore, it is a story that is superbly constructed with the genuine truth about the central male character in the story cleverly delayed by Chopin until the final word of the story which shows us the truth about Armand’s own genetic background. Chopin through her plot and choice of ...

The poem “A Subaltern’s Love Song” by John Betjeman is a very sweet poem that tells a story. Inside the poem is a mystery about love and who is in charge, the man or the woman. It’s the type of poem that makes a person smile when you read it. The author uses ‘ambiguity’ to make the mystery. The reader isn’t quite sure which meaning some of the words have. For instance I think the “subaltern” (which means “a person holding a subordinate position”) is the young man saying the poem. Although the young woman is the victor in the tennis game ...

The setting of “The Storm” is a small town, wherein Calixta, a good, virtuous wife, is caught in a violent storm that keeps her inside and away from her husband. Because of the violent, primal nature of the storm that surrounds her house, Calixta begins to come out of her shell and welcome the beauty and sensuality that has been missing for so long from her life. The storm becomes a metaphor for her affair, and the effect it has on her marriage (the town). In this essay, the connection between the storm and the events of the Kate Chopin short story will ...