The Effect of Marriage on a Woman of the Victorian Period

Kate Chopin Author Kate Chopin is considered a feminine author because most of her stories feature a plot about a turn of the twentieth century woman who is struggling against the restrictions of the gender biases of her period. At this time in history women were socially insignificant. They were not allowed to have any real power but instead were relegated to the private sphere. A womans only role in life at the time was as wife and mother. Any ambition outside of these roles was considered abnormal and a proper woman of society would never dream of trying to move beyond their assigned gender roles. This of course is not natural and Chopin writes stories where socially repressed women illustrate their true need within for independence and freedom beyond what society says is appropriate. The female characters need for independence in Kate Chopins writing is evident in two of her published short stories, The Story of an Hour and The Storm. In The Story of an Hour a woman named Louise Mallard lea rns that her husband has been killed in a horrific train accident. Her loved ones are immediately concerned that this news will be too much for poor Louise to bear. Louise suffers from a heart ailment, which in the Victorian period made her only more attractive as a society wife because she was fragile and physically impaired and no woman should strive to be strong or healthy. Unexpectedly, the news of her husbands demise is not upsetting to Louise but instead sheShow MoreRelatedRole Of Women During The Victorian Era1664 Words   |  7 Pagesbeen shaped by many movements and time periods. The Victorian Period had a huge impact on many aspects in British literature and culture. The roles of women were greatly affected during this time period. The question of what women could (or should) do attracted a lot of debate in the Victorian era. There are numerous characteristics about The Victorian Period, one of them being the transformation of Britain. From the1830’s to the 1870’s, as seen in Victorian Literature, Britain underwent changesRead MoreA Time Of Perfection And Roles1674 Words   |  7 Pages Imagine living in a time when perfection was a true goal. The Victorian age was a time all about social status, gender, and the role each person played within society. These essentially cause the characters in the novel to become blinded and not see the reality in things going on around them. Many times people, have unreachable expectations and do not realize it. One can be being on the hunt for the perfect man or woman, or even expecting someone to carry them self a certain way all the timeRead More Blacks in Victorian England834 Words   |  4 PagesThe Othered Victorians Introduction The Victorian period was a time of great hypocrisy. Despite the fact that the Protestant work ethic was gaining popular support amongst the Victorians and myths such as Samuel Smiles rags to riches became part of mainstream Victorian culture, the Victorians were greatly divided into their respective social classes. Works like Thomas Carlyles The Irish Widow and Elizabeth Barrett Brownings The Cry of the Children exemplified the blatant disregard ofRead MoreKate Chopin s The Yellow Wallpaper1415 Words   |  6 PagesTwo famous women authors of the Victorian era were Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The Victorian era brought out many different themes of freedom, confinement, and inequity. The Victorian themes can be seen in Kate Chopin’s writing called, â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s writing called, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper.† There are many similarities and differences between both Victorian women’s perspecti ves and writing. This paper will compare and contrast the short storiesRead MoreEmily Brontes Wuthering Heights: Mental Illness and Feminism915 Words   |  4 Pages Psychoanalytical View of Wuthering Heights Mental illness was viewed as being a self-inflicted disease during the time period Wuthering Heights was written in (Bloomfield 298). Many of the characters suffer from a form of mental illness, but not all of them can be seen as self-inflicted. Most of the illnesses are inflicted by the death of other characters. After Hindley’s wife dies in his arms, he becomes an alcoholic and foreshadows his own death due to his destructive behavior (Bloomfield 291)Read MoreThe Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde1750 Words   |  7 Pageshypocritical social expectations of the end of the Victorian era. During the Victorian period, marriage was about protecting your resources and keeping socially unacceptable impulses under control. The play undeniable reveals and focuses satire around differences between the behaviors of the upper class and that of the lower class. Oscar Wilde uses comedic symbolism of specific objects and witty satire to uncover a flawed society and its views on marriage. In order to fully appreciate the symbolism inRead MoreConforming To Society’S Rules Is Not An Option For Everyone.1127 Words   |  5 Pages Conforming to society’s rules is not an option for everyone. This holds true for the orphan Jane Eyre. Jane lived during the Victorian Era in England. During this time period women did not have the same freedoms as men, so as of result women lived under constant oppression. Women had to suffer loveless marriages and the inability to survive without men. Not only, were women oppressed emotionally they were not able to be independent from men. Jane Eyre objects the rules of society and attempts toRead MorePrimary Source Report : Trial Of Madeleine Smith Essay1347 Words   |  6 PagesCorrespondence. Public respectability and social status was a key requisite in upper-middle-class Victorian Britain. Another significant cultural characteristic of nineteenth century Britain was the importance of family as a source in identifying a socially and economically fitting marriage partner for middle class women. Gordon and Nair argue that even though individuals had the choice of marriage partner it was not an unhindered choice. The social separation of classes made it improbable thatRead MoreOrland by Janet Woolf1646 Words   |  7 PagesThe effect marriage in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando has upon the modern individual will be the focus of this essay, whilst also considering the role the wedding ring plays in defining the terms of marriage. Woolf portrays Orlando as a modern individual largely because she is free from a number of social conventions and familial pressures other women of the time are subjected to. Despite this, it is the pressure of marriage that she cannot escape: eve n after she has married Shelmerdine, Orlando is thinkingRead MoreThe Chained Dog, By Alfred Lord Tennyson And The Lady Of Shalott ``1261 Words   |  6 Pagesthe power while women were subservient and even sometimes owned by men. This notion is only emphasized the moment we go back in time in the Victorian Era. Women were subject to men’s oppression, held no actual roles besides motherhood and were reliant on their chastity to project an agreeable image of themselves and their spouse. The status of a Victorian woman is depicted in â€Å"The Lady of Shalott† by Alfred Lord Tennyson and in a more feminist approach in â€Å"Goblin Market† by Christina Rossetti as being