Story Of An Hour Feminist Theory Essay

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“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin: Feminist Theory What stereotypes of women are depicted in the text? The women in “The Story of an Hour” are depicted as hypersensitive and weak. The story opened with, “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (442). Implying that Mrs. Mallard, with an already weak heart, would be more likely than other women to die of heartbreak. Women of the time, were assumed to not be able to live when not under the care of a man. Chopin challenges this stereotype by ironically having Mrs. Mallard die when she found out her husband was still alive and was imposed under his care. Mrs. Mallard is depicted as very weak when she cannot even fight a feeling that is overcoming her body. Chopin described “she was striving to beat it back with all her will -- as powerless as her two white hands would have been” (443). How do the female characters act toward one another? The two female characters, Mrs. Mallard and her sister Josephine, are very loving and care for each…show more content…
The new headmaster of the school, Obi, is young and part of the modern society, he does not have the same beliefs as the older generation. He does not respect older generation. Obi was “very outspoken in his condemnation of the narrow views of these older and often less educated ones” (44). Obi is disrespectful of any differing beliefs from his own, he built a wall around a sacred site for the villagers and told the priest of Ani that,“the whole idea is just fantastic” (46). Obi is put in a position of power by government officials. His supervisor is a white man, and he works for the wealthy and powerful. The people of the village are not wealthy, so he does not listen to them. Obi is only concerned with performing the assignment is is given by his powerful

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