The Story of an Hour authored by Kate Chopin and Frankenstein authored by Mary Shelley compared - Essay Example

The series of different emotions Mallard experiences in The Story of an Hour during that one hour starting from the time the news of death reaches her to when she discovers her husband is alive leaves the readers absolutely enthralled. The story takes a sudden twist when sometime after hearing the news of death Mallard starts experiencing strange feelings of exhilaration and independence. This is one reason why Chopin’s story was widely criticized at the time it was first published as it portrayed a kind of female character who starts feeling liberated upon hearing the news of husband’s death which conventionally speaking should have pushed her deep down in the pit of depression and hopelessness.

The conflict between emotion and marriage is discussed in a riveting manner throughout the story keeping the readers at edge consistently. The story presents a view of marriage that is negative as Mallard gradually gets clearly enthusiastic about her husband’s death and soon begins to fall for the independency granted to her by the news of death. Frankenstein, on the other hand, is a novel based on a strange creature brought to life through an unconventional scientific experiment. In the novel Victor Frakenstein who is a scientist narrates his dreadful experiences to Walton, another man set out to expand his scientific knowledge beyond accepted limits, in an attempt to keep him from doing what he did and which eventually brings him close to death.

Victor in the novel is portrayed as a determined and headstrong character by Shelley who does not believe one whit in orthodox concepts and remains keen on pushing the limits further away as a result of over-ambitiousness and thirst for new things. He is presented as a man who would do anything to seek a better and deeper understanding of the world through science which is why he conducts some very unorthodox and strange experiments. The pursuit of knowledge forms the hallmark of Victor’s character which also eventually pushes him to go beyond limits which are normally accepted and ruthlessly explore things left untouched by previous scientists.

However, such ruthless pursuit of knowledge does not remain fruitful for Victor as his object of creation turns out to be so emotionless and dangerous that it destroys everything dear to him. Crippled by mounting feelings of depression and remorse over the death of those closest to him, Frankenstein is eventually driven to seek peace in a remote place. From the above discussion it is easy to understand that both Frankenstein and The Story of an Hour are similar in respect of discussing controversial subjects and they also touch religious ideas in a different way.

Chopin highlights and contemplates how a man’s death plays a big role in liberating his wife who should have mourned but instead becomes exhilarates which forms quite a controversial subject. Shelley similarly discusses how a headstrong and overambitious scientist very controversially pushes the normal limits and goes beyond conventionality to fulfill his personal desires and motives. Shelley herself was criticized by some critics on grounds of her feminine nature regarding how she forgets the gentleness of her sex by exploring issues thought to be controversial and unheard of in those times.

In the same way, Chopin also got criticized by some on grounds of the character Mallard presented and discussed by her in her short story as she also portrayed emotions unrelated to gentleness and sensitivity of a woman. Mallard reacts insensitively and insanely practically to her husband’