What is love exactly? Merriam
Webster dictionary defines love as, “A feeling of strong or constant affection
for a person,” (Merriam Webster). However, both The Awakening and The
Story of An Hour test this definition of love.
In The
Story of An Hour, Mrs. Mallard briefly believes her husband is dead and
imagines a whole new life of freedom for herself. At first, we think she loves
him, “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands
folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed
and grey and dead,” (Chopin). However, she then adds, “And yet she loved him –
sometimes. Often she had not,” (Chopin).
In The
Awakening, Edna is having a good time laughing with a man in town named
Robert. Even though her husband, Mr. Pontellier, saw these flirtatious acts, he
simply got up to tell the children he was going out for the evening. As he was
walking away, Edna asked him if he was staying for dinner, in response, “He hauled
a moment and shrugged his shoulders…perhaps he would…perhaps he would not. It
all depended on the company he found over at Klein’s,” (Chopin, 3).
As you
can see, both The Awakening and The Story of An Hour test the
definition of love and make us question if these characters actually loved each
other or not.
I see this too Britt! They both don't share mutual love so I don't understand how there could be any form of a working marriage between the Pontellier's. One of them is gonna have to fix something or they're in big trouble!
ReplyDeleteOkay girl I get what you're saying, but I disagree. I think the larger theme to be focused on is freedom and not love. Both stories show the marriage as something. legal and constricting.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my big questions, why do they not love eachother? I mean they're not Creole so why does it seem as if the marriage has been forced? There must be something else going on or a bigger picture to be examining. Hopefully we can soon see it or discover answers to these unknown questions.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a good job of connecting the two stories by Kate Chopin in order to show a larger theme. Your question of "did these characters actually love each other" is certainly something to be taken into consideration. I think it's a shame that the characters don't really know what defines love and/or have poor substitutes of love, but then again, they are people of their time.
ReplyDelete