Allegory In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

I never expected that allegories were a big aspect of fiction, as well as their plot lines. I always thought that an allegory was basically just another word for symbolism, but referenced to the past. I didn’t realize that there was more to it. What I have learned about reading this entire semester, is that allegories are not just a tool for symbolism;but are capable to express the thought and ideas of many authors over major controversies, such as women’s suffrage, or civil rights. Authors utilise allegories in a way to show how the characters felt during certain time periods, most notably this year, women’s rights period. While doing all of these functions, allegories also give the reader a better understanding of what is happening in the …show more content…
I did a full analysis of the story, and also never picked up an allegory. Even in our groups of four, we weren’t able to even get a single idea of what the allegory could have been. Later on during class, we were told that there was an allegory, and it was connected to the women’s rights movement. My mind started to race, as I was able to connect the pieces of evidence to the women’s movement. I then started to think that these evidences were not even close to what the allegory was trying to depict. I emerged myself even deeper into the allegory by looking at feelings, to actions of the main character, Louise Mallard, and concluded that Kate Chopin didn’t add the allegory just for the story to be more complex, but to spread her ideas on the women's movement, and get an insight of what the women are going through. Once Louise hears the death of her husband Brently, Louise runs to her room, locks her door, and went into isolation, with no one following, Kate Chopin describes what she was thinking in her room in paragraph 8 ” But she knew that bitter moment a long possession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.” Following in paragraph 16, Louise Mallard chants”Free! Body and soul free!” I digested the evidence in its entirety in my …show more content…
Compared to “The Story an Hour” it was much longer, but the allegory in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” had sort of the same function as “The Story of an Hour’s,” allegory, where it shared the ideas of Kate Chopin on the women’s movement. However, what Gilman did was share how women felt during women’s movement. This time, having previous knowledge of the women’s movement from “The Story of an Hour,” I was able to know what to look for, and to connect the “Yellow Wallpaper” to the women’s movement much more easily. A few class discussions hinted that Jane, was the name chosen to represent all of the women during the time period of the women’s movement, and John was symbolic name for all the men, who oppressed the women. The first page already sounded messed up around where Jane complains” I don't like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened on the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings! But John would not hear of its(Gilman, Paragraph 17)” Jane basically said that her needs weren’t expected, and included in her thought that John ignored Jane’s requirements rehabilitate her Postpartum Depression. Allegorically, I figured the men during the women’s rights movement, never payed attention for the desired rights of women. I Became conscious of how Jane felt because Gilman gave the readers an insight on