Rough Draft “The Story of an Hour” Vs. “The Necklace”

Rough Draft “The Story of an Hour” Vs. “The Necklace”

Introduction

A short story, “The Necklace” had been written by Guy de Maupassant in 1884 and a poem, 'The Story of an Hour” was written by Kate Chopin in 1894. They both are literary works that are very comparable yet are very much different. Madame Mathilde Loisel and Louise Mallard, the two women described in these literary works that protagonists are the ones who have trouble because of conflicting expectations imposed on them by society. Both the women Louise Mallard and Mathilde Loisel needed something extra than what their lifestyle offers them. During the time when the authors wrote these pieces, the social behaviors showed gender suppression/oppression. The paper will be discussing the comparison between both the literary works focusing on the content elements, style and their form.

Discussion

Both authors have focused on the role of gender in marriage. Earlier women were considered only housewives and they were just forced to work in their homes. When the authors had written these pieces of work, there had been great amount of social issues in gender discrimination. In the 19th century, industrial revolution brought about a change in the perception of the society and caused a gap in gender roles, especially in middle and upper social classes (Radek, 2001). It was thought that both the genders i.e. men and women possess completely different mindsets and different natures. Men were considered brave, independent, powerful and rational decision maker. On the other hand, Women were considered timid, dependent, weak and emotional. These differences had brought separations in the functions of both the genders in the society. "Men were thought to have natures suited to the public world, women to the private" (Radek, 2001). In the 19th century, independence for women was an illicit gratification. Such feeling had made the lives of women suppressed and boring. Men had controlled the marriages, until a woman is able to get control on her own body, she cannot enjoy complete freedom or in other words physical and mental health (Rosenberg, 1973). “During the 19th century gender-consciousness and reform raised even more at odds with social reality” (Bomarito & Hunter, 2005). A 19th century woman is portrayed with the help of short stories and poems that focuses relatively on contradictory prospects imposed on them by the society. Some of the women along with the men took the initiative to speak for those countless women who are unable to raise their voices and expressed their sentiments. They brought attention towards their interests and concerns. Analyzing the conditions, the methods used by the women at that time focused in bringing their concerns handled and solved by therm. Both the authors were interested in highlighting those concerns and moments of suppression by the women at that time in their literary pieces, 'The Necklace' and 'The Story of an Hour'.

'The Necklace' has focused on the gender roles in marriage and 'The Story of an Hour' has focused ...