Literary Analysis Essay on "The Story of an Hour" and "The Road Not Taken"

Introduction

The Story of an Hour by an American short stories writer and novelist, Kate Chopin was originally published in 1894 in St. Louis. Chopin is a renowned 20th-century feminist advocating on gender-related social, political and economic aspects affecting women of the age. The story of an Hour is driven by the perception of episodes happening within an hour. Consequently, in 1916 The Road Not Taken is the first poem by Robert Frost. The renowned poet from North America presents a figurative situation to show the liberty of choice at the divergence of two paths. This paper will establish a similarity analysis of how the two authors' applied the major themes of freedom and independence in The Story of an Hour and The Road Not Taken.

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Initially, Chopin applies the themes of freedom and independence to symbolically show the worth of human life. The protagonist, Louise Mallard, is struggling with various confinements in her life of love, friendship, family, and self-fulfillment. In the beginning, she receives the news of the sudden demise of her husband, Brently Mallard, with genuine sorrow. However, within the hour of the narrative, Mrs. Mallard perceives of the incredible gift this sad news was granting her of freedom and independence. The excitement of spending the remainder of her life as an independent woman from her authoritative and manipulative husband gave her a sign of liberation. She says "There would be no one to live for during those coming years.... 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...." (Chopin, 2013). Louise conceptualizes on how the society in the family or married life was robbing women of her day their freedom and independence to entirely live solitarily. Again the news of her husband's death was liberating despite her bad heart. Emotionally, Mrs. Mallard felt an overpowering joy for the emotional and psychological freedom and independence that come handy with the demise of Brently. The frustration of the short-lived joy of freedom and independence are cut short with her own heart attack instigated death after realizing her husband was actually not dead.

Similarly, Frost capitalizes on the theme of freedom and independence in the poem The Road Not Taken to show the narrator's dilemma at a crossroad. The speaker has the liberty to make a personalized choice on the path to take during his journey at a juncture where two paths are physically anticipated to have permanent repercussions in his life. Although he has the independence and freedom to make his self-determined choices, Frost application of figurative language incorporates personal experience to show regret on the emphasizes on the unmade choice. The speaker says "And Sorry I could not travel both" (Frost, 1916, Line 3). The speaker chooses to take the path that was rarely taken by other travelers in the desire to make the best choice showing individualism relating between present decisions in future outcomes (Frost, 1916). The mystery of uncertainty of the outcome of the chosen path depicts the freedom and independence of humankind in deciding their destiny against the societal norms. Frost symbolically brings out the emphasizes of free will and independence in individualism when the narrator decides to take the path that was unpopular with other travelers. Therefore, showing the conception of unfulfilled desires and dreams on the road not taken in the unexpected and unsafe choices people have the freedom and independence to travel in life.

Conclusion

Conclusively, in both the Story of an Hour and The Road not Taken presents the creativity of uncertainty and unconformity in predicting future outcomes emanating from the freedom and independence of individualism. Although Mrs. Mallard is not certain of the future as a window, she perceives great joy from the liberty of living with her supposedly dead husband. On the same note, Frost depicts the unconformity of the future outcome on the permanent outcomes after the traveler chooses to take one of the two paths. The two piecework show the freedom of the choices people make in the independence of expressing their desires. The uncertainty of the outcome, as well as the consequences, is regrettable because of individualism.

References

Chopin, Kate. (2013). The Story of an Hour. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing, 11th ed, edited by Michael Meyer, Bedford/St. Martin's, pp. 1646-1647.

Frost, Robert. (1916). The Road Not Taken - Poetry, Massachusetts: Robert Frost House.