The Feminist Movement Hawthorne and Chopin Essay - 694 Words

In our history, women have always been inferior to men. The role they have in society, at this time, is to care for the family and household while the male earns the income. As a result of this, women begin to fight for their rights in what we call the feminist movement. This movement is also relevant in the literature of the time. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a woman by the name of Hester Prynne is found guilty of adultery and is made to wear a scarlet letter on her breast as a sign of her sin. In At the Cadian Ball and The Storm, Chopin shows a more modern age of feminism through the adulteress Calixta. Hawthorne and Chopin show how society and the feminist movement advance over time through their works. How†¦show more content†¦In The Scarlet Letter and â€Å"The Storm†, Hester and Calixta demonstrate the ability to make their own choices to be with a man. Hawthorne has Hester Prynne choose to be with Dimmesdale because she loves him. She realizes that this affair breaks society’s laws, but it does not break her own laws. She is in charge in the relationship. Chopin also had her main character, Calixta, have an affair with the man she loves instead of with the man with whom she agrees to marry. What differs, though, is that no one is in charge of the relationship between Calixta and Alcà ©e Laballiere. They love each other, but their community does not recognize them for it. Their love does not matter because Calixta has chosen to be with someone different. This ability of a woman to make her own decisions regarding men shows that a woman’s decision is important. Both Hawthorne and Chopin give their characters, Hester and Calixta, a sense of seduction. This sense is made known in The Scarlet Letter as Hawthorne describes Hester. The description illustrates Hester as beautiful, with her long, flowing hair and intricate clothing. She is different than the other Puritan women and looks more feminine. Men take notice of how attractive she is. In â€Å"At the ‘Cadian Ball†, Chopin describes Calixta as dark and beautiful. Calixta, like Hester, is seen as being different than all of the other women, but still the most beautiful. More than one man goes to the ball just for her, where she isShow MoreRelated Kate Chopin The Awakening Essay2357 Words   |  10 PagesKate Chopin The Awakening To what extent does Edna Pontellier, in Kate Chopins The Awakening, mark a departure from the female characters of earlier nineteenth-century American novels The Awakening was published in 1899, and it immediately created a controversy. Contemporaries of Kate Chopin (1851-1904) were shocked by her depiction of a woman with active sexual desires, who dares to leave her husband and have an affair. Instead of condemning her protagonist, Chopin maintains a neutral,Read MoreTerm Paper1494 Words   |  6 PagesMatthiessen calls the years between 1850 and 1855 an â€Å"extraordinarily concentrated moment of literary expression.† (p. vii) This text centers its discussion around five nineteenth century authors—none of which include women. They are: Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman. Matthiessen reveals their origins of the nature and function of literature and the extent to which these were realized in their writings. Matthiessen overlooked and completely disregarded the women writers of the nineteenthRead MoreHistory of the Development of the Short Story.3660 Words   |  15 Pagesdays. Cultural and social identity played a considerable role in much of the short fiction of the 1960s. Phillip Roth and Grace Paley cultivated distinctive Jewish-American voices. Tillie Olsen’s â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing† adopted a consciously feminists perspective. James Baldwin’s â€Å"Going to Meet the Man† told stories of African-American life. Frank O’Connor’s â€Å"The Lonely Voice,† a classic exploration of the short story, appeared in 1963. The 1970s saw the rise of the post-modern short story in