Category: Kate Chopin

‘The Story of an Hour’ by Kate Chopin takes us on a rollercoaster ride of emotions displayed by Louise upon hearing the news about her husband’s death. This story serves as an advocate for women’s rights and feminism. Ms. Mallard is represented as a symbol of women and their situations of the time when the story is written. The death of her husband brought grief to Louise but upon further evaluation of her life she viewed herself as a victim of oppression, unfolds a new perspective of life and freedom gazing through an open window, and decides to live the rest of her life for herself; unfortunately, died of grief when she sees her spouse alive again.

When she heard that her husband is no longer in this world, she burst into tears and went to her room alone. Then she began to glance at her life. Her husband is not a bad person, but rather a kind gentleman. She seems to have a successful marriage, but not a happy marriage. She was not happy with how her husband treated her, though his intention was to take care of his sick wife. Unconsciously, he had been imposing his will upon her, taking away her identity, dreams, and ideals of life. He might have failed to meet her emotional, psychological, and sexual needs. Mr. Mallard seems to be away from home on different business trips, staying away from Louise. One cannot simply be happy just because her partner treats her well. She might have some expectations and some desires which were not fulfilled. Her inner wishes look as though they have been suppressed for a long time. “There will 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” (Chopin, 443). It suggests to us that different persons in her life have stripped her of freedom and restrained her with their will. She had no identity of her own. Her unique identity and her freedom have always been chained by other strong characters of society. Louise thought she had never been herself and had lived her life fulfilling the expectations of other people.

She had been gazing from the open window of her room resting on the armchair. It was a pleasant day with patches of blue sky, the smell of rain in the air, and the sounds of a melodious song with twittering sparrows. She opens her mind and soul while looking through the window. “The trees quivered with new spring life”. (Chopin, 443). This symbolizes that her life is going to be filled with joy and freedom, just as trees are filled with new leaves in spring. She was still young and beautiful and could have a new beginning in life. Something was trying to posse her. She resisted this new feeling, but when she gave up, she had a new enlightenment. “She said it over and over under her breath: ‘Free, free, free!’” (Chopin, 443). At this point, she realized she could start over a new life. She knew she would feel sad seeing her husband again at the funeral, but she looked at the days beyond that. She could finally have her own identity and cherish her life. She could now make her own decisions, and no one will be there to criticize her. For the first time in her life, she had a taste of freedom. She can be independent and, finally, free from all the oppression. Ironically, the death of her husband became a blessing to her. There are insights of freedom in the story too. She is called Mrs. Mallard at the beginning of her story, and later – Louise. It symbolizes that she had been living the identity of her husband and it is finally time to make her own identity.

People might counterattack my thesis arguing that marriage was never a problem, it was the attitude of Mrs. Mallard herself. Mr. Mallard was a fine husband and he provided great care to Louise. Mrs. Mallard, in fact, never loved her husband. She was grateful for his generosity but never grateful to him as a wife. She made herself a victim of the marriage. “And she had loved him-sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter” (Chopin, 443). Here it just says that she always had mixed feelings about her marriage. She never wanted to make the marriage successful, but did complain about her restraint. Mr. Brently might have been treating Louise the way other women have been treated. Maybe he was a controlling husband and Louise could never speak up to him about her desires. It was the attitude of Louise towards her husband and her marriage that made her the victim. How could a wife be over her husband, the husband who never mistreated her so quickly, and be happy about being free from all restrictions?

There is no denying that Louise was over-excited about her husband’s death and got over the grief too quickly. Her reaction could be explained by the social context she lived. Given that the story is supposed to resemble the society of the 1890s. Women held little to no rights at that time. They were not allowed to vote, neither allowed to hold property. A woman’s role included child-bearing, caring for children, and having to live according to their husband’s desires. All these activities were normal at that time. They had no authority and no free will. Louise was not the victim of her marriage, but the victim of society. Her husband indeed took great care of her, but he had no idea that she had repressed all her feelings. Her zest for freedom could be compared zest of a bird who lived in a cage all her life, and now she is free. The little birdie will indeed be grateful to her caretakers and might feel sad for them. When she looks ahead to her days flying free in the sky, her excitement will take over the grief. Louise is the caged bird in the story.

The attributes of gender roles formed by society have always held a strong influence over everyone. Based on these standards, it is expected for women to stay at home and handle all of the house chores, as well as be emotionally, physically, and financially dependent on their husbands. This expectation is heavily followed by the world at large and is reflected in many famous literary works, such as ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ by Laura Esquivel or ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood. However, some writers break out of the norm and express their ideas from the standpoint of women, while being oppressed under societal expectations. This can be seen in ‘The Storm’ written by Kate Chopin in 1898, where both of the female characters seek their desired satisfaction away from their husbands. This Chopin’s work contradicts the traditional gender expectations of women being enforced at the time they were written through the expression of freedom in love and sexual intimacy.

By expressing the freedom of love and sexual intimacy, Kate Chopin has gone against the traditional gender expectations of women being enforced at the time the story was written with ‘The Storm’. This short story describes passionate sexual intercourse during a heavy storm between the two characters, Calixta and Alcée, while their marital partners are away. At the start, Chopin states: “She was greatly occupied and did not notice the approaching storm” (Chopin, 274). This implies the nature of the gender expectations for women. In this case, Calixta is being restrained within her own marriage with her husband, Bobinôt, and society with house chores. According to Admin, “the storm raging in nature is suffused with the one waging in the protagonist’s heart as she lets loose of her marital bondage and societal propriety”. With the sexual intercourse, Calixta gains full independence in her choice of love, without being controlled by her marriage and society. She also gets to experience satisfaction and pleasure to her fullest potential. Likewise, Alcée’s wife, Clarisse, is being repressed by her marriage with the responsibility of being a part of their intimate life. According to Chopin, “Devoted as she was to her husband, their intimate conjugal life was something she was more than willing to forego for a while” (Chopin, 277). By being far away from her husband, Clarisse finds relief from not having to participate in their sexual intimate life. Both women in ‘The Storm’ seek their desire for satisfaction elsewhere from their marital partners: Calixta finds satisfaction from her sexual desires with another man, whereas Clarisse finds relief in the absence of her intimate life with her husband. This indicates their independence in fully expressing their choice in love and sexual intimacy.

Summing up, Kate Chopin’s story ‘The Storm’ contradicts the traditional gender expectations of women being enforced at the time it was written through the expression of freedom in love and sexual intimacy. Both women in the story seek fulfillment of their desires away from their spouses, which is contradictory to the traditional gender expectations of women of being emotionally, physically, and financially dependent on men.

Kate Chopin was an American author and her stories are based on nineteenth-century culture and society. She is known for her duplicity of effect, the limited perspective of nineteenth-century society, on women. The stories, “The Story of an Hour” and “The Storm” are based on marriage and adultery. In these stories, Chopin indicates that all marriages even the kindest ones filled with love and respect, can be essentially bitter. This essay will prove the morality and ethics related to marriage and adultery. In the story, “The Story of an Hour”; Chopin shows how Mrs. Mallard is happy about her husband’s death, but in the story “The Storm” Chopin shows how Calixta has hidden desires that cannot be fulfilled by her husband. In both the stories Chopin is trying to indicate that during that era marriage and commitment were more important than women’s happiness. Both the characters, Mrs. Mallard and Calixta are trapped in a marriage with a husband they are not entirely happy with.

In the story “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard has a heart disease and she finds out that her husband, Brently Mallard died in a train accident. But later she finds out that he is still alive, and she dies due to her heart disease. When Mrs. Mallard finds out that her husband is dead, at first she has this uneasy feeling, she is sad and anxious. But a few minutes later she realizes that she feels a little different and that is the scene of freedom. The weather outside Mrs. Mallard’s house is pleasant as the author states’ “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air.” (Chopin 543). The pleasant spring weather portrays the sense of freedom and the rebirth of women. Chopin discusses a woman’s need of self- personality, opportunity, and the confinement she encounters in a marriage. The heart disease in the story to a degree demonstrates the amount of burden she has in her marriage. When Mrs. Mallard has a little scene of happiness, she realizes that she is free from the marriage and this also shows that she was not very happy in this marriage, as the author states, “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!” ” (Chopin 543). This also shows that Mrs. Mallard is a person who likes her own space and likes to do things her way. For instance, Chopin states, “Men and women believe they have the right to impose a private will upon fellow-creature.” This shows that Mrs. Mallard has a different mindset about marriage, she has a little modern mindset of marriage that the couple should also have the freedom to do what they want to while they are married, instead of imposing rules on each other. This also shows that Mrs. Mallard loved her husband but just wanted some space and freedom. When Mrs. Mallard died, the author states that “she had died of heart disease — of joy that kills.” (Chopin 544) this to a certain extent demonstrates the mindset of society, the doctor thinks that she died because she was happy with her husband. But she may have died due to the shock of thinking that she cannot have her freedom and independence back.

In contrast, in the story “The Storm”, Calixta, is a mom and a wife yet she commits adultery with a man named Alcee who was her lover before she got married. In this story, Chopin uses the weather storm, can demonstrate the desires Calixta has, and the end of the storm demonstrates that when Calixta performed adultery no one found out and her husband and son are back home and the marriage continues to be how it used to be. This story addresses a very important issue during that era, it shows the sexual desire Calixta has which is not fulfilled by her marriage, She is unhappy in her marriage and her only duty is to take care of her family. This can be seen when the author states, “She sat at a window sewing furiously on a sewing machine.” (Chopin 545) this demonstrates that her only job is to take care of the house and household. During the storm when Alcee came to her house and when they committed adultery, she did not hesitate to do it, which shows the unhappiness in her marriage. After the storm passes everything is normal Calixta never acts like anything happened during the storm, the author states, “Bobinot and Bibi began to relax and enjoy themselves, and when the three seated themselves at the table they laughed much and so loud that anyone might have heard them as far away as Laballiere’s.” (547). Chopin by this story demonstrated that in a marriage, a woman’s needs and desires were not very important during that era, It shows there was dishonesty in the marriage even after the adultery was performed, it was not very usual to perform adultery in that era either.

These stories were based in New Orleans in the nineteenth century. Kate Chopin shows the local colors in both stories. She demonstrates the perception of things like the start of spring, patches of blue sky through mists, the twittering of sparrows, and the smell of coming rain as Mrs. Mallard’s mindfulness about the genuine idea of her opportunity, she now will be able to pursue her dreams to carry on with her life as she wishes. Whereas in “The Storm” Chopin addresses the issue of love and desire of women, it exhibits sexual standards and limits in nineteenth-century. Chopin uses the word “Storm” to show Calixta’s sexuality and energy which is subdued by the requirement of her marriage. In both the story women are not happy in their marriage, but they choose their family and husband over their own needs and freedom. Chopin also indicates how rules forced by the society around them on women influenced them to disregard their own temperament.

In conclusion, Chopin speaking to diverse parts of women in the previously mentioned stories is attempting to unfurl about the state of women and about their needs and freedom which were generally suppressed at her time. These stories also show that women were forced into a marriage or had arranged marriages, it was not important to know how women felt about anything. Women did not have any opinion, and there was no such thing as divorce during that era, women had to be in a committed relationship regardless of their own feelings. Through Chopin’s stories, she does not exclusively address the circumstances of women during their era but she additionally communicates her own thinking about marriage and adultery during that era.