Self-Fulfillment and the Relationship Between Men and Women

A detailed Summary of Self-Fulfillment and the Relationship Between Men and Women

The late 1800's were a time of repression for women. A woman was expected to conform to her husband's ideals and accept a life of his control. Even today, the relationship between men and women sometimes seems unequal. In her essay "Disappointment is the Lot of Women," Lucy Stone discusses the different treatment of men and women. "When... I reached forth after the sources of knowledge, I was reproved with 'It isn't fit for you; it doesn't belong to women,'" she recalls (Stone, 1). Stone expresses her hopes for women's independence, instructing to "not tell us before we are born even, that our province is to cook dinners, darn stockings, and sew on buttons" (1). The short stories "The Story of an Hour," "A Kate Chopin's ," and "The Yellow Wallpaper" illustrate Lucy Stone's ideas about self-fulfillment and about the relationship between men and women in her essay, "Disappointment is the Lot of Women."

In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," a young woman's innermost thoughts about her life and marriage and her perception of the world are expressed through Louise, who reacts quite oddly after receiving the news that her husband has been killed in a train wreck. "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the sa

me, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance" (Chopin, 624) and instead of lashing out, sinks into a comfortable chair, looks out the window and sees spring. She explores the endless possibilities of what a new life would bring. She realizes that her husband is no longer there to control her. "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself" (635). Louise is excited at the possibility to do what she wants to do for once, to make her own decisions, to appreciate the freedom that she has not previously experienced. "Free! Body and soul free!" she whispers to herself (625). She continues to think of all the opportunities that have been bestowed upon her with her husband's death, and grows more happy and hopeful with every thought. "She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long" (625) when the previous day she had dreaded the thought; now her life seemed filled with promise and she intended to embrace it and live to its full potential. As she heads downstairs, anxious to begin her new life, she is so astonished to see her "dead" husband, who had actually been miles from the accident scene, that her weak heart gives out and she dies. After examining her, the doctors conclude that she died of "joy that kills" (625), even though it is apparent to the reader that she died because of shock and disappointment. She had been given a glimpse of freedom and could not bear to go back to living under her husband's will. Her mere hour-long taste of really living, in the true sense of the word, was incredibly appealing; the disappointment she suffered when she realized she would not have that life was so immense that it killed her.

The short stories "The Story of an Hour," "A Wagner Matinee," and "The Yellow Wallpaper" illustrate Lucy Stone's ideas about self-fulfillment and about the relationship between men and women in her essay, "Disappointment is the Lot of Women." Stone wrote that "In education, in marriage, in religion, in everything, disappointment is the lot of woman" (1). All three stories deal with a woman's disappointment and frustration while trying to discover who she really is in a male-dominated society, and the obstacles she must or simply cannot overcome in order to become a person who appreciates life and has the will to live it on her own, rather than under the con

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Approximate Word count = 1591
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English