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Attitudes Toward Women Reflected in 3 Stories

Societal attitudes toward women are characterized by writers of fiction through the depiction of characters and the way those characters interact with the milieu in which they are found. The plight of women in American society can be seen as the subject of the stories "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, and "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen.

The women in these stories are separated from men, and the mere fact that they are separated creates a tension between themselves and their neighbors. The people of the town look at Emily in the Faulkner story as a person who is not a complete human being. At the same time, her social position requires a certain sort of match to satisfy the town, and Homer Barron does not fit the bill: "Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer" (313). Ultimately, though, a marriage with any man is better than no marriage at all: "Then we were sure that they were to be married. . . We were really glad" (314). In the atmosphere in which she lives, there is little for her to do once it appears she has been abandoned except to withdraw from all social discourse. Her father had chased away all her suitors, and now another male seemed to have abandoned her as well. Her father's death is also something of an abandonment, one she does not care to admit because she has been made so dependent on this male figure.

In "The Story of an Hour," the main character at first feels and expresses the emotions that are acceptable in society and that are expected of a grieving widow, but she soon begins to revel in her new-found freedom. Again, the picture of a relationship or a person that is perceived by the outside world is very different from the reality. Society expects women to have certain feelings and especially to favor and even need desperately the marital state, and Mrs. Mallard does not have these feelings. She is first ...

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Attitudes Toward Women Reflected in 3 Stories. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:00, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1692301.html