Ever since the dawn of time, a layer of misogyny has consistently been hovering over progressive women attempting to make their marks in the world. This fact has proved itself to be true based on all of the literary compositions that women have constructed over time. Through monumental pieces that follow the likes of “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin; “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston; and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, it is evident to see how suffocated these women were and how writing was their only way of getting a breath of fresh air. These works have created an enlightenment for women and their heinously gender-assigned position in society. Literature such as those aforementioned have confirmed the speculation that women
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At the sight of her very much alive husband, Mrs. Mallard froze in the realization that she will never be able to live her life in the fashion that she wanted to: freely; moreover, the quote, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills,” establishes her spirit-physical and mental-plummeting within itself once the news surfaces of her husband’s continuous life (Chopin). According to Dr. Robert C. Evans, Chopin had made this anecdote as a reflection of her own life. When Evans said that both Kate Chopin and her mother became widows that never remarried, they became symbols of independence; moreover, Chopin came to the decision of creating a character taking the contrasting motto than that which the two women took: when life takes a loved one away, do not succumb into nothingness out of fear (or in Mrs. Mallard’s case-excitement); make the most of what has been given, and thrive off of it (Chopin). This not only provides insight on Chopin’s inspiration for “The Story of an Hour,” but it also caters to the fact that Mrs. Mallard never got to live her full life. She knew that she would once again have to opportunity to do what she wanted to and be what she wanted to be, but what she did not know was that she would never be able to act on this profound freedom. She died having …show more content…
Many readers would-at this point-believe that Gilman had gone insane, and she recognized that; however, that was never her intention. A quote from Gilman reflecting her character’s choices in the story states, “It was not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy, and it worked” (Gilman 969). The character ends up becoming the woman she always say in the wallpaper-someone who just wanted to escape. This symbolizes how she never was the woman they saw at all, and she will not allow them to manipulate her as they did ever again.
In recap, the narrator was someone who felt suffocated in her own space. There was never really a time in her life where she could explore who she was as a person because those who claimed a higher level of intelligence than her found her to be ill. Even when she did try to find her own way through life, she was rejected and told she was going insane. This was her oppression. She never lived until she got the chance, but even then, she only got that chance from knocking everyone else down, which was seemed to be her hardest task in
At the sight of her very much alive husband, Mrs. Mallard froze in the realization that she will never be able to live her life in the fashion that she wanted to: freely; moreover, the quote, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills,” establishes her spirit-physical and mental-plummeting within itself once the news surfaces of her husband’s continuous life (Chopin). According to Dr. Robert C. Evans, Chopin had made this anecdote as a reflection of her own life. When Evans said that both Kate Chopin and her mother became widows that never remarried, they became symbols of independence; moreover, Chopin came to the decision of creating a character taking the contrasting motto than that which the two women took: when life takes a loved one away, do not succumb into nothingness out of fear (or in Mrs. Mallard’s case-excitement); make the most of what has been given, and thrive off of it (Chopin). This not only provides insight on Chopin’s inspiration for “The Story of an Hour,” but it also caters to the fact that Mrs. Mallard never got to live her full life. She knew that she would once again have to opportunity to do what she wanted to and be what she wanted to be, but what she did not know was that she would never be able to act on this profound freedom. She died having …show more content…
Many readers would-at this point-believe that Gilman had gone insane, and she recognized that; however, that was never her intention. A quote from Gilman reflecting her character’s choices in the story states, “It was not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy, and it worked” (Gilman 969). The character ends up becoming the woman she always say in the wallpaper-someone who just wanted to escape. This symbolizes how she never was the woman they saw at all, and she will not allow them to manipulate her as they did ever again.
In recap, the narrator was someone who felt suffocated in her own space. There was never really a time in her life where she could explore who she was as a person because those who claimed a higher level of intelligence than her found her to be ill. Even when she did try to find her own way through life, she was rejected and told she was going insane. This was her oppression. She never lived until she got the chance, but even then, she only got that chance from knocking everyone else down, which was seemed to be her hardest task in