Literary Comparison Essay

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Literary Comparison There are two highly important short stories, with themes concerning gender roles and the effect they may have on women in society. The first being “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin, and “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway. Both stories chronicles the inner turmoil of women who are essentially isolated in their lives, due to circumstances based heavily on their gender. Both of these stories should be read and studied by those interested in gender roles in literature and those who do will understand the many similarities in theme and style used by both authors to shed light on the starkly different lives that men and women lead in society. “The Story of an Hour”, written by Kate Chopin in 1894, should be considered one of the most important pieces of literature for women and feminism in western society. It was one of the earliest examples of a female writer penning a tale of women’s struggles. The short story tells the tale of Louise Mallard. She is the wife of railroad worked Brent Mallard. There is a railway accident and a list is quickly telegrammed of the deceased. Brent Mallard is on the top of the list and family is fearful of breaking the news to Louise. Louise suffers from a heart condition and the fear is that she may drop dead from sheer grief at the news of her husband’s death. After being informed of his death, she takes to her room and shuts herself in. She is initially feels sadness at the news of Brent’s untimely death. But is suddenly overcome with sheer joy with the knowledge that she is free from the constraints of marriage. She opens the windows and sees the world in a new light, the light of a woman who is truly free from previous obligations. Brent arrives home shortly thereafter, he had not been at the seen of the accident and had not even been aware of its occurrence, and discovers that

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