Research Paper "Story of an Hour"
“The Story of an Hour” Research Paper
Are men and women today more liberated then they were a century ago? While reading a critical essay about women authors and in particularly the author of “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin, it described the struggles Chopin faced getting people to read her feminist stories “Chopin seems less atypical in her censure of scribbling women” (Thomas) thus concluding that women were less liberated back then than they are currently. My group and I unanimously believe that yes, men and women are much more liberated than they were a century ago. This is true because men and women have more opportunities. Men and women can also fill non-traditional roles. Women can now have jobs instead of being the typical housewife. Also, men are now not required to work, and can be the spouse that stays at home. Most of the boundaries that were in place a century ago no longer apply to either gender. Some examples from “The Story of an Hour” that support the idea that men and women are currently more liberated is when Louis Mallardwas yelled “Free! Body and soul free!” This statement by Louis shows two things. The first one is that when she was married she felt trapped and controlled by her husband. The second one is now that her husband is dead, she realizes how confined she was, and now she feels completely liberated. “Few other stories say so much in so few words” (Berkove). Another example of this from “The Story of an Hour” is when Louis Mallardwas said “No; She was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.” Again, this quote shows that Louis’s husband’s death has released her, and this window is used to symbolize that. Often in literature when a person is looking through a closed window it typically means that the person is, or feels like a spectator to the real world. Oppositely, when Louis is looking through an open window, it shows that she is no longer an observer of the real world, and is now a part of it. In the
Are men and women today more liberated then they were a century ago? While reading a critical essay about women authors and in particularly the author of “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin, it described the struggles Chopin faced getting people to read her feminist stories “Chopin seems less atypical in her censure of scribbling women” (Thomas) thus concluding that women were less liberated back then than they are currently. My group and I unanimously believe that yes, men and women are much more liberated than they were a century ago. This is true because men and women have more opportunities. Men and women can also fill non-traditional roles. Women can now have jobs instead of being the typical housewife. Also, men are now not required to work, and can be the spouse that stays at home. Most of the boundaries that were in place a century ago no longer apply to either gender. Some examples from “The Story of an Hour” that support the idea that men and women are currently more liberated is when Louis Mallardwas yelled “Free! Body and soul free!” This statement by Louis shows two things. The first one is that when she was married she felt trapped and controlled by her husband. The second one is now that her husband is dead, she realizes how confined she was, and now she feels completely liberated. “Few other stories say so much in so few words” (Berkove). Another example of this from “The Story of an Hour” is when Louis Mallardwas said “No; She was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.” Again, this quote shows that Louis’s husband’s death has released her, and this window is used to symbolize that. Often in literature when a person is looking through a closed window it typically means that the person is, or feels like a spectator to the real world. Oppositely, when Louis is looking through an open window, it shows that she is no longer an observer of the real world, and is now a part of it. In the