Marriage has its benefits. You get to be intimate with the one person you love more than any other. In marriage you can share yourself more than you can anywhere else in life. However, for women there is also a dark side to marriage. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” along with the poems “Marks” (by Linda Pastan) and “Conjoined” (by Judith Minty) demonstrate how marriage can become a tiresome obligation for some women.
Louise Mallard, the main character from Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” goes through a flurry of thoughts when she learns that her husband has died. Her inner dialog leads us to believe that she thinks of her marriage like it is a prison. She makes no direct comparisons between prison and marriage the author paints a picture of prison like oppression. According to Chopin, “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (294). One might picture a prison guard or a slave owner keeping Louise from neglecting her duties as a wife. It is clear that she has felt oppressed or trapped as one might if imprisoned. Louise speaks the words “free,free,free!” under her breath as she imagines life without her husband. The story clearly illustrates its view of marriage as being an oppressive thing that women would be happy to be free from. The poems also draw from the more dreadful side of marriage.
Kate Chopin’s story uses allegory to demonstrate ideas about marriage. The poems have similar themes but the authors use more direct comparisons or metaphors.
In the poem “Marks” the author compares her marriage and home life to school. She writes that her “husband gives [her] an A/ for last night’s supper, /” (855). She writes that her daughter says that she passes (855). We know that you receive grades or “marks” in school. The author feels that she is always being judged by her husband and her family. She has to work hard in order to measure up. The last lines show us that she doesn’t want to be in this kind of marriage anymore. She writes, “Wait ‘till they learn/ I’m dropping out” (855) The author is showing us that marriage isn’t any fun for women if they feel like they are being constantly critiqued. The poem “Conjoined also makes some negative comparisons.
Jusith Minty’s poem “Conjoined" compares marriage with “freaks” and specifically with conjoined twins (604). She uses simile and compares her marriage to an “accident” like conjoined twins, “doomed/ to live, even make love, together for sixty years/” (604). Minty’s use of the word “doomed” and even the poems title show that she feels there is no way out of marriage. Her view is that one’s individuality is lost in marriage and that it can not be regained without serious harm being done. She writes, “To sever the muscle could free one, / but might kill the other” (604).
Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and the poems by Parstan and Minty illustrate that marriage can be oppressive, bothersome and harmful. Chopin’s story uses allegory to show her views on the oppression of marriage. Paston uses direct comparisons to the hard work and critiques that can be found both in school and marriage. Minty’s comparison to freaks that are unable to separate show her ideas on marriage. While the authors use different methods the idea is the same. If we’re not careful the trappings of marriage can become terrible for women.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an hour.” Literature: An Introduction to reading and writing. Ed
Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 5th Compact ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 293-295. Print.
Minty, Judith. “The Story of an hour.” Literature: An Introduction to reading and writing. Ed
Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 5th Compact ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 604. Print.
Paston, Linda. “The Story of an hour.” Literature: An Introduction to reading and writing. Ed
Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 5th Compact ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 855. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment