The Nineteenth Century Woman in the Literary Works The Story of an Hour and Porphyrias Lover - Essay Example

The Nineteenth Century Woman as Exemplified in the Literary Works The Story of an Hour and Porphyria’s Lover With women’s liberation and the closing gap between gender inequalities, the modern woman is characterized as liberated, free, in control, and strength personified. However, the women during the nineteenth century were far from this. Although it cannot be said that they were weak, they were generally still compelled to become submissive to the male forces in their lives. Men that time dominated the women and sadly, women then were treated as possessions—things of beauty that were meant to be displayed andpushed around. Although this is a generalization, societal view of women as inferior to men during the nineteenth century is crucial to this paper. This then effectively sets the mood and tone of the two pieces of literature that will be reviewed and critically analyzed in this paper. Because they were both written during the nineteenth century, both texts exhibit in clear detail how it is to become a woman during that time—repressed, limited, and treated as an object of pleasure, or just a plain object and possession. This paper will present a critical and comparative analysis of the two highly conroversial pieces of literature—The Story of an Hour, a short story, and Porphyria’s Lover, a poem—and how they illustrate the plight of women more than a century ago through the exposition of marriage and romantic relationship. Robert Browning’s Porphyria’s Lover It has been said, that this graphic poem of Robert Browning was based on a true to life murder that happened during his time, which was entitled, John Wilson's "Extracts from Gosschen's Diary" and was published in Blackwoods Magazine in the year 1818 (Maxwell 27). The diary entry described how “a man knifes a woman to death, talks of the corpse's blue eyes, golden hair, and white breasts, and describes the feeling of perfect happiness the murder gives him” (Wikipedia). True or not, this presents a hauntingly familiar scene as it is somehow reenacted in Browning’s poem. Though many interpretations could be made regarding this very explicitly written poem, the author of this paper will dwell on a particular interpretation that suits the purpose of the paper in elucidating the way women were typecasted back then through the extrapolation of the relationship of men and women as seen through the characters in these literary texts. Porphyria’s Lover tells the story of the love and obsession of the narrator, the woman’s lover. Amidst a storm, Porphyria came to the man and professed her love and devotion to him. The storm was reminiscent of their lovemaking—passionate and sensual. The four lines below exhibit the graphic representation of their coupling, with the man considering this as Porphyria’s submitting herself over to him, like a property that was surrendered for ownership. Too weak, for all her heart's endeavour,   To set its struggling passion free   From pride, and vainer ties dissever,   And give herself to me for ever. However, Porphyria’s passion and love was not enough. He had to really own her. And this man’s obsession with owning her became the cause of her death as he strangled her with her own hair. She did not struggle nor make a sound. She just accepted what he was going to do to her—submitting herself fully to his will—lying in his arms as pliant as a contented kitten waiting for its master to stroke its tummy. That moment she was mine, mine, fair, Perfectly pure and good: I found A thing to do, and all her hair In one long yellow string I wound Three times her little throat around, And strangled her. No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain. Why? Why did she not fight him? Why did she not fight for her life? Did she not value her life? These questions cannot be helped but be asked as who would not fight when death is staring her in the face. Obviously not Porphyria. For she was a woman trapped in a stereotype—a submissive woman who has only her man to obey. Wives then did not have a say in major decisions. They were told what to do and they simply followed the breadwinner. Men were the kings of the world—having such great responsibility as prividing for the family. Because of this, they were pillars that cannot be budged. Their word was the law. And their wives have no choice but to follow. It was just the way it was. Porphyria’s fate is a symbolism of the fate of many women during the nineteenth century, wherein women were typecasted into the acquiescent role of a mere wife who is controlled by her husband. This control is so suffocating and it must have felt like they were being strangled with the reins of control becoming tighter and tighter. It can be said that women then were strangled by their own beautiful hairs in that their own beauty became their curse as they were seen and treated only as beautiful objects—mere possessions. Thus, their free spirit slowly dies that they do not know who they are anymore. They have lost their identities as their husbands enforce their hold over them. Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin’s short story is more straightforward in stating this as the main character Louise Mallard discovers that she is not at all sad by her husband’s untimely death. In fact, she was happier than she has ever been in her entire married life. Her cries of “Free! Body and soul free!” were evocative of a prisoner who has not seen daylight in years. And that was just the case for Mrs. Mallard as she saw “a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely” as “there would be no powerful will bending hers” anymore. She was finally free to become her own woman and to do the things that she really wanted to. She felt completely liberated. And even as she thought of the sad moment of looking upon her dead husband’s “face that had never looked save with love upon her,” it did not dampen her spirits. Even as she contemplated her love for him, she was not deterred in feeling the elation and happiness of finally being free. “And yet she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” In this excerpt from the story and the quotations stated beforehand, it can be said that although Brently Mallard obviously loved his wife, there were some things that he did out of habit, and perhaps out of societal dictates, that made him unbearable to his wife. It could be that his love, concern and attention act as condescending voices in her life that made her feel controlled and limited. No matter how much he truly cared for her, he still made her feel like a prisoner in her own home—bound by her wifely duties to her husband. She was simply not free to be herself and assert her true personality. This presents the fact that no matter how good the men’s intentions were towards the women, because of the duties and roles imposed upon them by a society that favors men, they still feel cornered and hampered. They could not help but feel smothered, with their actions limited to only what is considered acceptable. As with Robert Browning’s poem, this also ends in tragedy for Louise suffered a heart attack upon seeing her husband alive and well—standing before her. All her hopes and happiness were crushed and her heart, which could not bear the thought of going back to her former life, just gave up. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-- of joy that kills.” This is the irony of it all as it was intense sadness, desperation, and frustration that killed her. As ever, her husband was clueless as to her true feelings, even until the end. Conclusion These two present the dichotomy of the women during those times—the Porphyrias who were contented in being submissive and the Louises who will never be content with the control the men have over them. Porphyria and women like her, were already happy with being treated as men’s possessions—or they have been so accustomed to being submissive that it has become second nature to them. They let their husbands continue on treating them as subordinates and beautiful objects that only exist to please their men. They willingly surrender their individualities and are happiest when they serve their husbands. Porphyria’s lover also symbolizes the men who only want to own beautiful women. Thus, the reason why women feel it is right for them to be objectified. On the other hand, there are the Louises of the world who would rather die than go back to a miserable life plagued with condescension and inequalities. They were never blind to their situation as they quietly wallow in their misery due to the fact that they know their husbands love them and were not doing those things on purpose. That was just how things were. In this way, Bently symbolizes the product of a masculine society. Although he was good to Louise, he could not help but manifest the gender inequalities that society has incorporated in him since when he was young and able to tell the difference between girls and boys. The Bentlys of the world are inherently good, yet they are able to unknowingly commit offensive acts due to the societal dictates that have been planted in their subconscious. With the exposition of the two literary texts, one can see how marriages and romantic relationships were encumbered by the gender inequalities that were prevalent in society at that time. Men were the masters of the household and of the women, while the women were treated as second-class citizens who have no voice. Works Cited Maxwell, Catherine. “Browning's Porphyria's Lover.” The Explicator. 52.1 (1993): pp. 27-30. Wikipedia. Porphyria's Lover. 24 April 2007. 7 May 2007 . Read More