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The Story of an Hour & Shiloh

Louise Mallard in The Story of an Hour and Norma Jean in Shiloh are both victims of a male dominated patriarchal society. Louise Mallard is thrilled with the prospect of freedom once she learns that her husband has been killed in a train accident. Norma Jean begins to take over the traditional male role once her husband is emasculated due to an accident that prevents him from being the traditional ôbread winner.ö Despite the similarities in these stories of a male-dominated culture and relationship, Louise Mallard will succumb to that pressure when she learns her husband is, in fact, very much alive. Norma Jean, in contrast, develops new skills and takes on a more dominant role than traditional allowed married women.

When Louise Mallard learns of her husbandÆs death, she is filled with conflicting emotions that are odd to her. Eventually these feelings congeal into an overall feeling of relief, as only one word can make its way to her lips: ôFree, free, free,ö (Chopin 2005). Mrs. MallardÆs friends think her odd behavior is due to her grief, but she is secretly harboring feelings of relief and empowerment since she will no longer have to remain subservient to her husbandÆs needs and desires. When she discovers he is actually alive and drops dead, the doctors think Mrs. Mallard ôdied of heart disease of the joy that kills,ö (Chopin 2005). In reality, she has died from the fact that she now knows she will never be free of male dominance to express herself.

In Shiloh, we see that Norma Jean and Leroy have a traditional marriage where the male is ôkingö and the female exists to serve his needs and desires. However, when a truck accident makes Leroy unable to work, the gender norms and roles of the two begin to change. Norma Jean begins to work on her muscles, a typical role associated with males. Leroy begins to take up needlepoint; something he feels is associat

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The Story of an Hour & Shiloh. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:58, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1709647.html