The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and I Want a Wife by Judy Brady - Essay Sample

Kate Chopins short story (first published in 1894) and Judy Bradys essay (first published in 1971) are separated by almost eighty years of incessant struggle for the rights of women and to a certain extent these two literary pieces illustrate the way that the feminist movement has covered. Both little masterpieces share the same ironic treatment of the theme of oppressive nature of marriage, taking the reader by surprise with a sudden 1800 turn of the familiar stereotype, and yet each author does it in her own way. Rich in stylistic devices and symbols Chopins subtle fiction employs vivid contrast to show the reader what marriage is not it is neither freedom, nor self-assertion, while Bradys dry and resonant prose leaning towards journalistic rhetoric vigorously reveals what marriage is total submission of the female self to the needs and desires of others.

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Chopins short story The Story of an Hour is one of the early examples of feminist writing with a strong and clear message which is presented in the form of refined prose. It is built essentially around an inverted stereotype: a wife who, according to the common views, is supposed to grieve the loss of her husband, finds an unexpected joy in the prospect of living a life of her own, being free from stifling love and care of her spouse. This revelation surprises the readers and actively involves them into the discussion. The key-word Dream of the initial title of the story The Dream of an Hour (changed later to The Story of an Hour) is effectively verbalized through a sharp contrast: dull greyness and platitude of the introductory part with all the broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing of the careful and tender friends, bearing the sad message, is suddenly juxtaposed with a wonderfully inspiring scene: open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair, two things which become symbols of future independent life. When Chopin writes about the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life, the delicious breath of rain, the notes of a distant song which some one was singing and countless sparrows twittering in the eaves, she engages the readers senses to reveal Louises dream in all the possible definition and to put this new clear vision up against the monotonous routine of the heroines daily life.

Contrast and surprise are also the key-words describing the plot structure of the story. The readers plot expectations defined in the very first sentence of the story (Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death (Chopin)) are completely and decisively overturned by the author in the last paragraph: Mr. Mallard appears on the doorstep safe and sound while Mrs. Mallard dies of heart disease. This dramatic plot twist helps the author to partly conceal the significance and immediacy of the heroines climactic awakening. Emily Toth points out in Unveiling Kate Chopin, Kate Chopin had to disguise reality. She had to have her heroine die. A story in which an unhappy wife is suddenly widowed, becomes rich, and lives happily ever after . . . would have been much too radical, far too threatening in the 1890s. There were limits to what editors would publish, and what audiences would accept (Toth 10). Though Toths interpretation is thoroughly valid, one might surmise that such an ending was not just a forced measure, but also fulfilled at least two other significant functions. First, it emphasized the extent to which the truth that has revealed itself to Louise has become the inner force defining her whole being and how much the newly-gained freedom has meant to her. Secondly, it offers an opportunity for alternative readings. For example, Mark Cunningham claims that Louise dies as a result of the psychological pressure she was under: after the death of her husband and her spiritual rebirth she simply had no place in the contemporary society (Cunningham 48-55). Lawrence Berkove insists that the heroine death is a symbolic atonement for being an immature and shallow egotist (Berkove 152-55). Both interpretations show how rich in meaning and nuance Kate Chopins prose is and that her vision of marriage is by no means biased and limited.

While Kate Chopins interprets the theme of oppression in marriage by asking questions and giving the reader the right to find answers, Judy Brady in her iconic essay both asks questions and gives answers. Her first question Why do I want a wife? (Brady) is a surprise factor that immediately attracts the readers attention. At the time, I Want a Wife had the humorous effect of surprising the reader, because a woman was the one asking for a wife, explains Linda Napikoski, decades before gay marriage became a commonly discussed subject, there was only one person who had a wife: a privileged male husband (Napikoski). To paraphrase the quote, there was only one person who had a life: a privileged male husband, and the wife was viewed as a kind of hired workforce. This idea is effectively verbalized through the usage of formal language, modals and repetitions which make the story sound like a parody of an employees handbook with a detailed list of duties. All the more ironic is Bradys second and final question left without an answer: who wouldn't want a wife? which in this context reads like: who wouldn't want an unpaid servant?. Bradys straightforward and honest narrative paints a detailed portrait of expectations that society places upon married women, a class, belonging to which a woman becomes in the first place A Wife (a role which was in Chopins story at least a little individualized as Mrs. Mallard), secondly a mother and thus loses her right to be herself.

Having read both literary pieces one might start wondering if much has changed in the way gender roles are seen in modern families. Judy Brady offers her own pessimistic answer in her interview on NPR's, "The Story": There are certain things that have changed for the better, but they are surface things. ... Real change for women cannot come unless there is real change for all people and I see that as having gone backwards (Feminisms).

Works Cited

Berkove, Lawrence I. Fatal Self-Assertion in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour. American Literary Realism, no 32, 2000, pp. 152-58.

Brady, Judy. I Want a Wife. Columbia University in the City of New York, www.columbia.edu/~sss31/rainbow/wife.html. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.

Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. KateChopin.org, 2017, www.katechopin.org/story-hour/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.

Cunningham, Mark. The Autonomous Female Self and the Death of Louise Mallard in Kate Chopins Story of an Hour. English Language Notes, no. 42, 2004, pp. 4855.

Feminisms: "Why I Want A Wife". Dailykos.com, 13 Sep. 2007. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/12/384429/-. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.

Napikoski, Linda. Judy Brady's Legendary Feminist Satire: I Want a Wife. About.com Education, 31 Aug. 2016, womenshistory.about.com/od/feministtexts/a/i_want_ a_wife.htm. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.

Toth, Emily. Unveiling Kate Chopin. Jackson, University Press of Mississippi, 1999.