Molchanova 1

Viktoriya Molchanova

Mr. Rogers

English 10H

11/8/13

The Twentieth Century: Impact of Society on Women

        In the short story, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the main character Mrs.

Mallard hears the news of the death of her husband. She starts her life anew with liberty,

however, when she meets her husband she dies from a heart attack. In “A Rose for Emily” by

William Faulkner, the youngest daughter in society has to take care of her parents till their

deaths. When Emily starts to live a life on her own after taking care of her parents, she is

conjured in the society’s expectations that force her to go insane. In “A Jury of Her Peers” by

Susan Glaspell, while investigating a crime scene, two women find clues for Minnie Wright’s

approval of murdering her husband. However, these women understand the harsh truth of

living under the force of a male being, therefore, they hide the clues. The male domination in

society forces the women of the era to obey to the enforced boundaries of everyday life. The

common theme of these short stories is how the domination of patriarchal society has set

limitations of freedom and impacted psychologically the lives of women.

        Fake relationships and limited privilege in life has altered Mrs. Mallard’s aspect of

equality. According to “The Story of an Hour”, marriage enforced by patriarchal society

without love impacts the way Mrs. Mallard views the world. In the text, the setting

contributes to the expression of her emotion and thought. The focus on the remaining patches

of blue sky shows how Mrs. Mallard views her last days in happiness. In her new reality

“[there] would be no powerful will bending hers … with which men …  believe they have a

right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature”(Chopin 2). The men in society affect
 Molchanova 2

the woman’s individuality. Hicks states, “the problem with [Mrs. Mallard’s] heart is that her

marriage has not allowed her to ‘live for herself’”(1). There is the hidden concept of finding

the path of freedom. The only way for Mrs. Mallard to achieve her goal is to wait for the

death of her husband.

        Isolation and tradition has affected Emily’s emotional health. In the short story “A

Rose for Emily”, the repetition of a specific flashback throughout the text conveys a hidden

message for the reader. Her teenage years spent under the influence of her father have set

limitations to her future life. When she disappears with Homer from the social affairs of the

community, the author makes a slight accent on how her actions are linked to her past. Her

personality has a “quality of her father which had thwarter her woman’s life so many times”

(Faulkner 4). It is ironic how Emily is detached from society, yet she follows its traditional

influence. Hacht states, that “[the] stigma and embarrassment of unreci-procated love [is] too

much for Emily to bear, and so she shut herself in her house with a body” (13). Necrophilia is

one of the diseases of the state of mind that Emily’s mind evolves to.

        Domestic slavery and living in a stressful environment has led Minnie Wright to

murder her husband for life’s greatest treasure: freedom. In “A Jury of Her Peers”, Mrs.

Peters and Mrs. Hale have found two clues: a piece of quilt and a broken, birdcage. The way

the quilt is sewn and how the birdcage has been broken tells about Wright’s life. Before her

marriage, she has been a lively woman with creative colors and lovely melodies. After her

marriage, the sudden shift to her opposite self indicates how a force of her husband impacted

her flow of emotion. Mrs. peters says, “Look at [the bird]! Its neck--look at its neck! It’s all--

other side to”(Glaspell 9). The way the neck of the bird shifted to the other side symbolizes

the metamorphosis Mrs. Wright had to go through. Hedges states, “[that] married women

were defined under the law as ‘civilly dead’, their legal existence subsumed within their
 Molchanova 3

husbands, their rights to their own property, wages, and children either nonexistent or

severely circumscribed”(5). The government or community could not give rights and equality

for the women in the twentieth century.

Striving for freedom and identity has ended sorrowfully for the women in the short

stories. Mrs. Mallard has died from a heart attack after she saw her husband. Emily has

wasted her life under the restrictions of her own twisted mind. Mrs. Wright went into prison

for murdering the one who has forced her live without freedom like her bird. All these

situations show how a male given power in society can have a great impact on the mentality

of these women. Marriage and tradition play a huge role in determining the fate of these

women’s lives. Years spent with unhealthy relationships affect their point of view.

Nevertheless, no matter how many challenges these women went against society and the

government, their efforts paid off when the women’s suffrage was passed along with many

other laws giving women equality.

    
 Molchanova 4

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. Logan, Iowa: Perfection Learning, 2001. Print.

Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily,. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill, 1970. Print.

Glaspell, Susan. A Jury of Her Peers. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Library,
1996. Print.

Hacht, Anne. “Race and Prejudice in American Literature.” Literary Themes for
Students: Race and Prejudice. Ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 3-20. Literary
Themes for Students. Student Resources In Context. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.

Hedges, Elaine. "Small Things Reconsidered: Susan Glaspell's'A Jury of Her Peers'."
Women's Studies 12 (1986): 89-110. Rpt. in Short Stories for Students. Ed.
Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resource Center. Web. 4
Nov. 2013.

Hicks, Jennifer. "An overview of “The Story of an Hour”." Short Stories for Students.
Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.