a comparative study between the female characters in the ..., Schemes and Mind Maps of Literature

Download a comparative study between the female characters in the ... and more Schemes and Mind Maps Literature in PDF only on Docsity! Grau Zero — Revista de Crítica Cultural, v. 6, n. 1, 2018 | 59 A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE FEMALE CHARACTERS IN THE STORM AND THE STORY OF AN HOUR BY KATE CHOPIN Vanessa de Deus Rocha 1 Abstract: This paper is a comparative study between the female characters in The Storm and The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, unveiling the female act of resistance on 19th century. Although her books are sometimes considered as shallow because they have female characters basically trying to get married, it is pertinent to look closer to understand what would happen to a woman who did not marry in that period and also to comprehend her writing as a way to say women are not pleased with this life style, however she could not have written such things in a clearer way, otherwise her books would certainly not be pub- lished at all. The narratives subscribe very independ- ent women able to survive without the support of any male figure. Keywords: Female resistance, comparative literature, Kate Chopin. ESTUDO COMPARATIVO ENTRE AS PERSONAGENS FEMININAS EM THE STORM E THE STORY OF A HOUR POR KATE CHOPIN Resumo: Este artigo é um estudo comparativo entre as personagens femininas em The Storm e The Story of a Hour por Kate Chopin, desvelando os atos de re- sistência feminina no século XIX. Embora às vezes se- jam consideradas superficiais, por as personagens femininas estarem preocupadas em se casar, é perti- 1 Mestranda em Estudos Linguísticos Literários pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, UFSC. Endereço eletrônico: vanessadedeusrocha@hotmail.com 60 | Literatura, Resistência e Revolução nente olhar mais para entender o que aconteceria com uma mulher que não se casou nesse período e também para compreender sua escrita como uma maneira de dizer que as mulheres não estão satisfei- tas com este estilo de vida. No entanto, ela não pode- ria ter escrito essas coisas de forma mais clara, caso contrário, seus livros certamente não seriam publica- dos. As narrativas subscrevem mulheres independen- tes capazes de sobreviver sem o apoio de qualquer fi- gura masculina, patriarcal. Palavras-Chave: Resistência feminina, literatura comparada, Kate Chopin. Introduction The role women have been playing in society has been highly discussed nowadays, and despite the fact the topic has been more debated and the situation has been improving, for example women now can vote and also have careers only occupied by men, as the presidency for instance, it is essen- tial to mention that it still has a lot to improve considering for example the fact that in some cases, women and men per- form the same job activity but the salary is still higher for men. Although many improvements have been made and are still being made, it seems that women cannot be totally free to live in the way they want to, being completely responsible for what they really want in life. Despite the fact the current society sees itself as “modern” it still tries in every way to “force” women into those marriage rules created so many years ago, and it is relevant to mention that marrying or hav- ing children are not awful or unacceptable things, however, women should be free to choose it or not. Nowadays , the social networks seem to be a place in which women can at least try to expose and debate the situa- tion, however as in the past those technological apparatus did not exist, many literature female authors used their writ- Grau Zero — Revista de Crítica Cultural, v. 6, n. 1, 2018 | 63| husband was not an abusive husband and she was not into an awful marriage. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender, hands folded in death; the face that never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely (CHOPIN, p. 02). Despite the fact Mrs. Mallard does not seem to suffer any kind of abuse on her marriage, it does not mean she was happy about being married and the idea of having her life and the years to come only to herself seems to be more ap- pealing than spending her years to come looking after some- one. Although Mrs. Mallard’s reaction was not what was ex- pected from her (perhaps to be paralyzed and unable to accept the reality would be something acceptable for a re- cent widow), she wept with an wild abandonment, and this might indicate her marriage was not something really un- pleasant. Her husband does not seem to be someone cruel who kept her in an invisible prison called marriage, however the idea of happiness usually sold by this “happily ever after” was not the reality of her marriage, and although there were no traces of violence, perhaps she was not happy for being married and that might be what has caused the flow of emo- tions of this character, who decided to apparently mourn alone in her bedroom. The Storm begins by presenting the setting in which Bibi, a four years old boy, and his father Bobinot were insert- ed in: The leaves were so still that even Bibi thought it was going to rain. Bobinôt, who was accustomed to converse on 64 | Literatura, Resistência e Revolução terms of perfect equality with his little son, called the child’s attention to cer- tain sombre clouds that were rolling with sinister intention from the west, accompanied by a sullen, threatening roar. (CHOPIN, p. 01) From this quotation, it is evident t that hey had a weather condition coming and how important was to get shelter before the storm comes. Bobinot, the husband, is also presented to us as a concerning father who was taking care of his child in a careful way, paying attention to everything that could possibly harm the kid. At this point there is no hint about where the mother is or what she could possibly be do- ing and also there is no evidence about what kind of husband Bobinot is, however judging by the concerning way he takes care of his child, the reader might tend to consider him as a good husband, quite far from being an abusive or violent one. Due to Bibi’s concern about his mother because of the storm, it also seems that Calixta was a good mother, loved by her son as well. It is only on part II that the female character, Calixta , is presented to the reader as a very devoted housekeeper ,so involved into the chores that was unable to notice the storm coming. She sat at a side window sewing furi- ously on a sewing machine. She was greatly occupied and did not notice the approaching storm. But she felt very warm and often stopped to mop her face on which the perspiration gathered in beads. She unfastened her white sacque at the throat. It began to grow dark, and suddenly realizing the situa- tion she got up hurriedly and went Grau Zero — Revista de Crítica Cultural, v. 6, n. 1, 2018 | 65| about closing windows and doors. (CHOPIN, p. 01) The housework is an aspect that differs the female characters analyzed on this essay considering that while Ca- lixta was involved on the chores, Mrs. Mallard gives the im- pression to be on higher social level that did not require her to have to perform such activities, however this is pure speculation considering there is no evidence in the text about that. After receiving the news and moving to the bedroom, Mrs. Mallard certainly did not behave as a loving wife would possibly behave and although it cannot prove she was not sad about his death, when she sits in that comfortable arm- chair in front of that open window alone in her bedroom, it seems that from that moment she was able to see what she has never seen before looking from the very same window: She could see in the open square be- fore her house the tops of threes that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a dis- tant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless spar- rows were twittering in the eaves. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window. (CHOPIN, p. 01). Now that she was allegedly free from her marriage, she could see and hear things she was not able to see or hear before, and the detailed description of things as the trees or even the songs playing on the street are clear examples of 68 | Literatura, Resistência e Revolução When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free! “ But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome (p-01). Mrs. Mallard probably has not experienced freedom in a long time, and that is pre- cisely why this moment might be so delightful to her. Not having anyone to live for her, as the narrator emphasizes, seems to be a great joy to this character. Calixta was also experiencing a certain kind of free- dom, and despite the fact she demonstrates her concern towards her husband and son, it did not stop Alcée to make the first move towards her : “Calixta put her hands to her eyes, and with a cry, staggered backward. Alcée’s arm encir- cled her, and for an instant he drew her close and spasmodi- cally to him.” (CHOPIN, p. 02). Touching is certainly some- thing quite emotional in literature and considering the period in which the story is told, it might symbolize a very intimate act. Nowadays the body, especially the female one, has been taken for granted considering it is very easy to see a naked woman and instantaneously put it in a sexual context, how- ever in the past, seeing a woman’s ankle, for example, would be something quite important and maybe sexual to men. A 1993 movie, named The piano, also brings this idea of how sexual touching can be when the characters Ada and George fell in love and the first time he actually touched her in a sex- ual context, was through a small role on her socks. By watch- ing the movie, it is possible to observe how such a small ac- tion like this, could have such a sexual impact on both characters. On the same page, the author makes clear how this touching was able to make them revive the past: “The con- tact of her warm, palpitating body when he had unthinkingly drawn her into his arms, had aroused all the old-time infatua- Grau Zero — Revista de Crítica Cultural, v. 6, n. 1, 2018 | 69| tion and desire for her flesh.” (CHOPIN, p. 03). The author's choice of words is another aspect to be paid close attention, the word “unthinkingly” might be understood as this flow of emotion that took control of Alcée’s actions, having him to act in a way he was not able to think about all the conse- quences of what he was doing, and Calixta’s “palpitating body” could be seen as how nervous she was for being in such a situation that she was strangely enjoying. On this flow of new emotions, Alcée mentions As- sumption: Do you remember — in Assumption, Calixta?” he asked in a low voice broken by passion. Oh! she remembered; for in Assumption he had kissed her and kissed and kissed her; until his senses would well nigh fail, and to save her he would resort to a desperate flight. If she was not an immaculate dove in those days, she was still inviolate; a passion- ate creature whose very defenseless- ness had made her defense, against which his honor forbade him to prevail. Now — well, now — her lips seemed in a manner free to be tasted, as well as her round, white throat and her whiter breasts. (CHOPIN, p. 03) Assumption is the name of a small city in which they met and share some kisses, however they did not have sex on this time. The word assumption has a religious connotation resembling something immaculate and virginal. Instead of getting carnal in a place associated with virginity, they ended up having sex in Calixta’s home, which resembles a certain kind of maturity, considering this time they were both adults and responsible for their actions ( Shmoop Editorial Team ). All those uncompleted actions from their time in Assumption 70 | Literatura, Resistência e Revolução might have been the trigger for the actions who took place in Calixta’s home. Beyond being the title of the short story, the storm is actually used by Chopin to create the perfect environment for adultery considering the only reason why Alcée entered into Calixta’s house was because of the terrible weather con- ditions, and having this in mind, they knew nobody would come the her door, so in a certain way they were free to give in into the flesh pleasure they were unable to have in the past. The Storm also represents the movement of the story considering there would be no story if the storm has not hap- pened. ( Shmoop Editorial Team). The last line of the story is: “ So the storm passed and everyone was happy” (CHOPIN, p. 05). As mentioned shortly before, the movement of the story is directly related to the storm, and once it was over, Calixta and Alcée went back to their husband and wife respectively. She had her passionate freedom moments, but now it was time to come back to her mother and wife reality, which again, certainly was not an abusive reality considering there is no evidence in the text about that. An intriguing point about the end is that although there is an affair in the story, and despite all the problems this kind of relationship might bring to the involved ones, the short story ends with a happy ending ,leaving only the specu- lation wether the affair ended that day or not. While in The Storm the whole story develops in a few hours, in The Story of an Hour the facts happen in an hour, and this hour might represent how fast someone’s life can be changed and it is also relevant to mention how death plays an important role on this story considering the whole plot focuses on the news relieved to Mrs. Mallard about her alleg- edly dead husband, and once she discovers this death was actually a wrong information, her life turns upside down again.