A Feminist Analysis of two Kate Chopin Short Stories
Women have fought for equality since as early as the eighteenth century. Chopin was a female who strongly believed in the strength of women, and she expressed that through “The Story of an Hour” and “The Storm”. She was one of the first American authors to write openly about women’s hidden lives, about women’s sexuality, and about some of the complications and conflicts women went through in their relationships with their husbands. If these stories would not have been written during the time that were, their purpose would not have been near as important or powerful. Since feminism was such a popular topic during the time, these stories had much more meaning than what was just lying on the …show more content…
The World Book Encyclopedia explains, “But not until 1920 did all the states allow women to practice law under the same provisions as men” (“Woman’s Roles Through the Ages”). It has taken a lot of hard work to get to the place the country is today with equality, and one main contributor towards this is feminism. There has always been a struggle between antifeminists and feminists. Antifeminists in the late 1800s and early 1900s fought against any type of equal rights for women because some believed that feminists encouraged misandry. Feminism did not start picking up on a broad scale until the late 1800s. One subtle form of feminism some women took part in was becoming authors and expressing their beliefs through their stories. One author, who was raised by women, wrote about women’s individual needs and wants in a lot of her stories. Kate Chopin concentrated on women’s lives and expressed the struggle they had in creating an identity for themselves. Chopin wrote several short stories, but two in particular express female sexuality and a feminist perspective on marriage. “The Story of an Hour” and “The Storm” give the reader a woman’s perspective on marriage during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Kate Chopin took a bold stand by addressing subjects that most writers would not speak of at the time. Her sex might (consciously or unconsciously) have affected …show more content…
They have been viewed as intellectually lesser than men and it was not until the 1800s that women started to take a stand for themselves. In 1848 the first women’s rights convention, Seneca Falls Convention, took place. An estimated three hundred people attended this convention, and by the end of it, a Declaration of Sentiments was signed which ultimately allowed women to have the right to vote. Newman and Schmalbach state that later on in the 1800s the issue of women’s rights was overshadowed by slavery (214). So even though the convention accomplished a lot and started the beginning of something great for women, it did not get to fulfill its ultimate goals. Although, after this first advancement towards equal rights there were many other conventions and movements that followed in the Seneca Falls Convention’s footsteps. There were many ways that women took a stand for feminism, and one of those ways was writing about their experiences. Many authors wrote about their feelings through their works, and Kate Chopin was one of those authors. Kate Chopin was not necessarily a woman’s rights activist, but she shows through her works how strongly she believes in women. Kate Chopin was a writer of fiction, and like many artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth century she believed that her key purpose to people was to show them the truth about life as she
Women have fought for equality since as early as the eighteenth century. Chopin was a female who strongly believed in the strength of women, and she expressed that through “The Story of an Hour” and “The Storm”. She was one of the first American authors to write openly about women’s hidden lives, about women’s sexuality, and about some of the complications and conflicts women went through in their relationships with their husbands. If these stories would not have been written during the time that were, their purpose would not have been near as important or powerful. Since feminism was such a popular topic during the time, these stories had much more meaning than what was just lying on the …show more content…
The World Book Encyclopedia explains, “But not until 1920 did all the states allow women to practice law under the same provisions as men” (“Woman’s Roles Through the Ages”). It has taken a lot of hard work to get to the place the country is today with equality, and one main contributor towards this is feminism. There has always been a struggle between antifeminists and feminists. Antifeminists in the late 1800s and early 1900s fought against any type of equal rights for women because some believed that feminists encouraged misandry. Feminism did not start picking up on a broad scale until the late 1800s. One subtle form of feminism some women took part in was becoming authors and expressing their beliefs through their stories. One author, who was raised by women, wrote about women’s individual needs and wants in a lot of her stories. Kate Chopin concentrated on women’s lives and expressed the struggle they had in creating an identity for themselves. Chopin wrote several short stories, but two in particular express female sexuality and a feminist perspective on marriage. “The Story of an Hour” and “The Storm” give the reader a woman’s perspective on marriage during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Kate Chopin took a bold stand by addressing subjects that most writers would not speak of at the time. Her sex might (consciously or unconsciously) have affected …show more content…
They have been viewed as intellectually lesser than men and it was not until the 1800s that women started to take a stand for themselves. In 1848 the first women’s rights convention, Seneca Falls Convention, took place. An estimated three hundred people attended this convention, and by the end of it, a Declaration of Sentiments was signed which ultimately allowed women to have the right to vote. Newman and Schmalbach state that later on in the 1800s the issue of women’s rights was overshadowed by slavery (214). So even though the convention accomplished a lot and started the beginning of something great for women, it did not get to fulfill its ultimate goals. Although, after this first advancement towards equal rights there were many other conventions and movements that followed in the Seneca Falls Convention’s footsteps. There were many ways that women took a stand for feminism, and one of those ways was writing about their experiences. Many authors wrote about their feelings through their works, and Kate Chopin was one of those authors. Kate Chopin was not necessarily a woman’s rights activist, but she shows through her works how strongly she believes in women. Kate Chopin was a writer of fiction, and like many artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth century she believed that her key purpose to people was to show them the truth about life as she