“the Necklace” vs. “the Story of an Hour”

“The Necklace” vs. “The Story of an Hour”

Ashford University

ENG 125 Introduction to Literature

January 14, 2013

“The Necklace” vs. “The Story of an Hour”

The Necklace written by Guy de Maupassant and The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, seem to take place during the time when woman had very little equality and rights. Almost from the beginning of time woman have been thought of as a secondary species to men and have been stifled by them. Back in the nineteenth century, women were not considered to be part of society. Women were allowed to work, but generally, society dictated that they work in and around the home. Women could also pursue an education as long as it did not interfere with their housework, but they were discourage from taking any serious studies, because it was believed in those days that if a women became to educated, her uterus would become dysfunctional and this could possibly cause the her to go mad. So women were basically forced to be only housewife’s, staying home to care of the household chores, the children and their husband. It was an era where the industrial revolution significantly affected the variation between gender roles. During this time, men and women were viewed in two entirely different lights. This was mainly because of work done by Charles Darwin on biological determinism. Charles Darwin was an English naturalist, which is the study of organisms in their environment. In 1859, Darwin introduced the theory of evolution, which was that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors. Although Darwin did not contribute to the idea that biological traits can determine human behavior, many people did come to this conclusion after reading his work. Many people concluded that men were naturally fitted for the public world and women were naturally fitted for the private world. Some of...