compare and contrast
Comparing and Contrasting “The Story of an Hour” and “How I Met My Husband”. Lora Cruse Ashford University ENG125 11/20/2014
In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting two great short stories. One being “The Story of
an Hour” written by Kate Chopin in 1854 and the other being “How I Met my Husband” written by
Alice Munro in 1974. The two short stories share the theme of gender roles/marriage. That being said,,
I will be going over plot, point of view and tone. Sometimes women feel like they are
trapped in their marriage, and sometimes women cannot wait to become married.
Kate Chopin 's “The Story of an Hour represents a negative view of marriage. Every individual
takes a different approach when enduring the loss of a loved one. Whether it is bursting into tears or
being miserable. When a wife loses a husband, she typically tends to be in a state of depression. The
feeling of losing your significant other is a piercing agony going through one 's heart, but in this case
the feeling of loss can turn into someone 's freedom. For Louise Mallard she had an erratic reaction
when she was informed that her husband had been allegedly killed in a train accident. She locks
herself in her room and sits in front of the window in desolation. She begins to ponder how her life
will be without her husband. The sorrow that Mrs. Mallard felt in the beginning slowly turns into joy.
“Free body and soul free!” (Chopin 40). She knew that she would grieve over her husband like a wife
is supposed to, but internally her new found independence takes over. Finally she gets to live for
herself and do the things she had longed to accomplish. It is safe to say that she does not see this as a
misfortune, but as an opportunity, as if she were given another chance at life. Louise Mallard had been
so close to being finally free but as it turned out
In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting two great short stories. One being “The Story of
an Hour” written by Kate Chopin in 1854 and the other being “How I Met my Husband” written by
Alice Munro in 1974. The two short stories share the theme of gender roles/marriage. That being said,,
I will be going over plot, point of view and tone. Sometimes women feel like they are
trapped in their marriage, and sometimes women cannot wait to become married.
Kate Chopin 's “The Story of an Hour represents a negative view of marriage. Every individual
takes a different approach when enduring the loss of a loved one. Whether it is bursting into tears or
being miserable. When a wife loses a husband, she typically tends to be in a state of depression. The
feeling of losing your significant other is a piercing agony going through one 's heart, but in this case
the feeling of loss can turn into someone 's freedom. For Louise Mallard she had an erratic reaction
when she was informed that her husband had been allegedly killed in a train accident. She locks
herself in her room and sits in front of the window in desolation. She begins to ponder how her life
will be without her husband. The sorrow that Mrs. Mallard felt in the beginning slowly turns into joy.
“Free body and soul free!” (Chopin 40). She knew that she would grieve over her husband like a wife
is supposed to, but internally her new found independence takes over. Finally she gets to live for
herself and do the things she had longed to accomplish. It is safe to say that she does not see this as a
misfortune, but as an opportunity, as if she were given another chance at life. Louise Mallard had been
so close to being finally free but as it turned out
Bibliography: Clugston, R. Wayne. (2014). Journey into Literature 2nd Edition: United States: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Jamil, Selina. S. (2009). Emotions in The Story of an Hour. The Explcator, 67(3) pp 215 5p. Sutton, B. (2005) Munro 's How I Met my Husband. The Explicator, 63(2) pp 107 4 p.