Feminist Analysis As Portrayed By Kate Chopin in The Storm and The Story Of An Hour - Essay Example

Feminist Analysis Feminist criticism has been on for many years and looks at how women are seen to be of less value than their male counterparts. This view is usually upheld in many aspects of society, from the duties the women are supposed to perform to how men treat them in relationships and marriages. This piece looks at the feminist analysis as portrayed by Kate Chopin in two of her short stories. These stories are The Storm and The Story of an Hour. These stories talk of the suffering imposed on women by men they love. The suffering is not a direct infliction of pain but an amendment of love between them. The hurt that love builds in them is in some cases devastating. They involve lies in their love and the understatement of their abilities as adults. They also require immense manipulation of previous love affairs for selfish gains as seen in The Storm. The death of the woman in The Story of an Hour is as a result of her love for her husband. This topic is essential for understanding the relationships between men and women, and the kinds of inequalities that have existed between the two. The differences between men and women are difficult to eliminate and are portrayed even in the deepest of love, passion, and compassion. Men view women as weak and cannot protect themselves. This view is as a result of the fear of Bibi for his mother. He says that his mother will be afraid of the storm (643). This view is a clear indication that women are scared of storms. The four-year-old boy is not afraid of the storm, but fears that his mother would be afraid of being all alone in it. His father adds to this view by saying that their friend Sylvie, another woman, will give their mother company and help her brave the storm. He says that she’ll shut herself in the house and seek Sylvie’s assistance (643). Bobinot, Calixta’s husband, believes that his wife needs a companion for her to brave the storm. These views by the boy and his father indicate that they have a belief of weakness in women. This weakness is just their perception of women. It is a form of oppression to the women. No one would love to appear weak. There is a high perception that women are fully dependent on men and that they cannot survive without them. The Story of an Hour has this aspect in the section where Richards and Josephine were afraid of informing her of her husband’s death. They believe that her heart condition will deteriorate and affect her, probably even kill her. However, it is more of a relief to her to the point when she thinks to herself of the freedom she has been granted (648). She privately tries to express her freedom from the bondage of her husband’s love. The thought of her having a long life ahead of her with no dedication to her husband brightens her up. She whispers of the freedom of her body and soul (648). This expression indicates her joy from the oppression inflicted on her by her husband’s love. This love, instead of bringing joy and peace, appears to be a source of pain for her. Lies in marriages are some of the biggest forms of oppression on women in the society. Alcee tries to push his wife Clarisse away by writing to her and asking her to stay at Biloxi for longer. His intentions are genuine and benefit his wife as explained in the letter. The truth, however, is that he wishes to get more time to enjoy the freedom he has with Calixta. He wishes for Calixta’s husband to give them some space by insinuating that Bobinot should be sensible enough not to go out in the storm (644). He does this in a bid to get time with Calixta and express the love he always felt for her. Calixta too seems to enjoy this oppression blindly when she celebrates at the thought of having a feast that night (646). This feast relates to her extra-marital affair, a trap she gets into herself. Men take advantage of women, sometimes in the name of love. Alcee decides to shelter from the approaching storm in Calixta’s house despite the fact that they had a fling in the past. He stands close to her and takes her into her arms in a bid to console her from the violence of the storm. He tells her that there is no need for her to be worried and that the lightning will have to choose among other taller structures other than her house (644). He does this, taking her into her arms. This move is meant to take advantage of her weakness as a woman and to bring back the affection they had for each other. He even adds by reminding her of the good time they had in Assumption (644). Alcee uses his manly charms to oppress Calixta’s heart and to get to her body so that he can satisfy his selfish needs. This kind of oppression is indirect and does not hurt Calixta in any way visible, but has an impact on her marriage to Bobinot because they end up having a passionate encounter before the storm subsides. Sometimes men are not aware of the oppression they impose on women. They do whatever they do in the name of love or because it is something necessary. When Bibi and his father talk of Calixta’s fear in the storm, they are not aware that she is comfortable at home. She is the one who fears for them and expresses her concern to Alcee when she says that she has a lot worrying her. Her husband and son were out in the storm (644). She is stronger than they can imagine. She shows this fear for her son and husband when they get home by exclaiming that she was happy to see them well. She even asks whether her son was hurt in any way (645). Her concern shows that she was not shaken by the storm but was rather afraid that her son and husband would not manage to take care of themselves. Women suffer at the hands of innocent men who have no knowledge of their oppression. Mrs. Mallard is a relaxed woman after the death of her husband. She takes the news in a manner that no one expected. She locks herself in her room to absorb the events of the day, and her sister thinks she is torturing herself with thoughts of sadness. She pleads with her to stop this, but she shouts at her to leave, explaining that she has no intentions of getting herself ill (648). The return of her husband kills her, although he does not realize that the news had declared Brently Mallard as dead (647). Her death comes as a result of shock from seeing her husband alive. Mr. Mallard causes this death, but he is not aware of his act and why it had such devastating effects. The feminist criticism that Chopin brings out indicates that women face oppression in the society, even in the modern times. The people they love are the source of this oppression and is sometimes unnoticeable by either party. One can view the abuse as a partial contribution of both men and women. The women in these two stories allow love to drive them to mistreatment by men. Chopin, a social critic, brings out her views through these stories. They indirectly portray the woman as an inferior member of the society, as can be seen, when Bibi says that his mother will be afraid (643). She allows herself to be manipulated by love, something she sees as of extreme importance and value. Chopin defines the woman as weak in comparison to the man in the same society and shows how men take advantage of this weakness, either knowingly or unknowingly. From the two stories, one can believe that women are weak and easy to manipulate. They have less authority on others than on themselves. Their personality depends on who they encounter in their lives. They should, however, step out of this feminist prison, just like Mrs. Mallard talks of the freedom of her body and soul (648). They are capable of accumulating the strength and will to achieve whatever their male counterparts can achieve. Conclusion The two stories by Chopin are a clear indication of feminism and a contradiction to the fundamental concept of love. Love is selfless and should bring about the element of sacrifice from the parties involved. However, it introduces a form of inequality between married men and women, and between genders, in general. Its effects are manipulation and death, and the oppressing men have no idea of the pain in their love. Works cited Chopin, Kate. The Storm, and Other Stories: With the Awakening. Old Westbury, N.Y.: Feminist, 1974. Chopin, Kate, and Helen Taylor. Portraits: Short Stories. London: Women's, 1979. Chopin, Kate, and Marilynne Robinson. The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories. Bantam Classic ed. Toronto [Ont., Canada: Bantam, 1988. Chopin, Kate, and Kate Chopin. The Story of an Hour. Logan, Iowa: Perfection Learning, 2001. Diocaretz, Myriam. Women, Feminist Identity and Society in the 1980s Selected Papers. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub., 1985. Fisanick, Christina. Feminism. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2008. Read More