Lesson21 - 22 - Kate Chopin

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Madame Celestin's Divorce

Kate Chopin: February 8, 1850 — August 22, 1904

Story of an hour....docx

Kate Chopin: February 8, 1850 — August 22, 1904

THE STORY OF AN HOUR

LESSON21 Q. 6:

THE FEELING THAT COMES TO MRS MALLARD IS A FEELING OF FREEDOM AND HAPPINESS. SHE TRIES TO BEAT IT BACK BECAUSE SHE IS FRIGHTENED BY IT, AS THIS IS NOT A SUITABLE REACTION TO THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND.

LESSON21 Q. 8:

MY ANSWER WOULD BE THIS: THE SCENE OUTSIDE HER WINDOW IS A SPRING SCENE: BLUE SKY SHOWING, BIRDS SINGING, PEOPLE CALLING. THIS CREATES AN ATMOSPHERE OF HOPE, BECAUSE IT MEANS NEW BEGINNINGS.

LESSON21 Q. 9

SHE REALISES THAT SHE IS NOW FREE TO DO WHAT SHE LIKES. THE REST OF HER LIFE IS HER OWN, SHE DOES NOT HAVE TO HAVE PERMISSION FROM HER HUSBAND ANYMORE. SHE CAN START A NEW LIFE.

LESSON21 Q. 10:

THE STRANGE THING IS THAT HER MARRIAGE DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE BEEN UNHAPPY. ON PAGE 33 WE HEAR ABOUT HER HUSBAND’S KIND TENDER HANDS AND ABOUT HOW HE ALWAYS LOOKED WITH LOVE UPON HER. BUT SHE FELT THAT HE WANTED HER TO BOW TO HIS WILL – AND THIS MUST HAVE BEEN UNBEARABLE TO HER. THE TEXT SAYS “And yet she had loved him – sometimes”. SO JUST LIKE IN REAL LIFE HER MARRIAGE WAS NOT A ROSE GARDEN, BUT MORE COMPLICATED.

SAVE MEANS EXCEPT

LESSON21 Q. 12:

MY ANSWER ABOUT THE SOCIAL BACKGROUND WOULD BE THIS:

THE MALLARDS SEEM TO BE MIDDLE OR UPPER MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE. THEY ARE WEALTHY, AS WE CAN SEE FROM THE DESCRIPTION OF THE HOUSE AND THE FURNITURE, THE SITUATION OF THE HOUSE FACING AN OPEN SQUARE (PAGE 31). MR MALLARD IS PROBABLY A WELL-KNOWN BUSINESSMAN – THIS IS INDICATED BY THE FACT THAT HIS NAME IS AT THE TOP OF THE LIST OF CASUALTIES FROM THE RAILROAD ACCIDENT.

LESSON21 Q. 16:

MRS MALLARD SITS IN HER ARMCHAIR REALISING THAT NOW SHE IS FREE, BECAUSE SHE NO LONGER HAS TO BEND HER WILL TO HER HUSBAND’S. SHE HAS ONLY HERSELF TO THINK OF NOW. THIS COMES OUT VERY CLEARLY AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 33: SHE LOOKS FORWARD TO ALL THE DAYS AHEAD OF HER THAT WILL BE HER OWN.

SO WHEN SHE DISCOVERS THAT HER HUSBAND IS STILL ALIVE, IT IS A SEVERE SHOCK TO HER, AND A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT. THIS IS WHAT KILLS HER.

OR, AS ONE STUDENT SUGGESTED: DEATH WAS THE ONLY WAY OUT IF SHE WANTED TO BE FREE!

LESSON21 Q. 17

THE FIRST TWIST OR SURPRISE IN THE TEXT IS MRS MALLARD’S REACTION TO HER HUSBAND’S DEATH: SHE FEELS FREE AND IS FULL OF JOY, LOOKING FORWARD TO ALL THE YEARS AHEAD OF HER.

THE SECOND TWIST COMES AT THE END: THE DISCOVERY THAT HER HUSBAND IS STILL ALIVE KILLS HER – IT COMES AS A SEVERE AND UNPLEASANT  SHOCK TO HER. THE SURPRISE IN THIS IS OF COURSE THAT WE WOULD EXPECT A WIFE WHO GOT THIS KIND OF NEWS TO BE HAPPY.

LESSON21 Q. 18

THE STORY UNFOLDS IN THE COURSE OF ONE HOUR. IN THIS SHORT TIME INTERVAL MRS MALLARD’S LIFE IS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN MORE THAN ONCE: THE SHOCK OF HER HUSBAND’S DEATH, REALISING THE FREEDOM IT MEANS TO HER, AND THE SHOCK OF HIS STILL BEING ALIVE. HER FEELINGS HAVE GONE DOWN AND UP AND DOWN AGAIN EXACTLY LIKE A ROLLER COASTER (RUTSJEBANE). NO WONDER IT KILLS HER IN THE END. THIS IS THE HOUR THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING IN MRS MALLARD’S LIFE, AND WHEN THE HOUR IS OVER, SHE IS DEAD.

WHY IS IT LIKELY TO HAVE SHOCKED THE READERS AT THE TIME?

THE IDEA THAT A WOMAN WOULD VALUE HER FREEDOM ABOVE HER MARRIAGE WOULD BE SCANDALOUS AROUND 1900.

MADAME CELESTIN’S DIVORCE

LESSON22 Q. FIRST PARAGRAPH:

THE DESCRIPTION OF MADAME CELESTIN: THE SNUGLY FITTING CALICO WRAPPER IS WHAT LAWYER PAXTON NOTICES ABOUT HER, IN OTHER WORDS, HE NOTICES HER FIGURE. I THINK THIS IS WHAT TELLS US THAT SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN BETWEEN THESE TWO, SOMETHING TO DO WITH LOVE OR SEX, AND THIS MAKES US CURIOUS.

LESSON22 Q. DOES RELIGION PLAY A PART:

RELIGION HAS DEFINED THE TRADITIONS, THE MORAL STANDARDS AND THE NORMS OF BEHAVIOUR IN HER FAMILY AND IN HER COMMUNITY. THAT IS NOT THE SAME AS SAYING THAT THEY ARE DEEPLY RELIGIOUS PEOPLE.

IN MY VIEW, BY THREATENING TO BREAK WITH THE RULES OF HER COMMUNITY (BY GETTING A DIVORCE) MADAME CELESTIN VERY CLEVERLY EXPLOITS THE MORAL STANDARDS OF HER COMMUNITY TO GET WHAT SHE WANTS: HER HUSBAND BACK. WE MUST ALSO REMEMBER THAT THE FRENCH COMMUNITY OF LOUISIANA WERE CATHOLICS – EVEN TODAY CATHOLICS HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING A DIVORCE.

LESSON22, Q. RELATIONSHIP:

ON THE SECOND PAGE (PAGE 168) IT SEEMS CLEAR TO ME THAT LAWYER PAXTON HAS FALLEN IN LOVE WITH MADAME CELESTIN: HE HAS STARTED TO DREAM OF A FUTURE WITH HER.

LESSON22 Q. POINT OF VIEW:

THE STORY IS TOLD IN THE THIRD PERSON. THE NARRATOR IS NOT OMNISCIENT (ALTVIDENDE), SINCE WE KNOW ONLY WHAT GOES ON IN LAWYER PAXTON’S MIND. WE ONLY OBSERVE MADAME CELESTIN – THROUGH PAXTON’S EYES, SO THE STORY IS TOLD FROM HIS POINT OF VIEW (SYNSVINKEL). LIMITED VIEW.

THIS IS SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY FOR KATE CHOPIN, NORMALLY SHE WOULD TELL HER STORIES FROM A WOMAN’S POINT OF VIEW.

 LESSON22 Q. MESSAGE:

KATE CHOPIN HAD SOMETHING VERY SOPHISTICATED IN MIND – WHICH MAY BE WHY CONTEMPORARY READERS WERE SHOCKED BY HER STORIES: I THINK SHE SHOWS US THAT MADAME C USED MR PAXTON NOT ONLY TO FILL A VOID IN HER LIFE – BUT TO PERSUADE HER HUSBAND TO RETURN! SHE MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT A GOOD CATHOLIC MOTHER OF TWO TOYING WITH THE IDEA OF DIVORCE WOULD BE A FINE STORY TO SPREAD AROUND, AND RUMOURS OF IT MUST SOON HAVE REACHED HER HUSBAND. WHO KNOWS, HER MOTHER COULD HAVE INFORMED HIM.

            IN OTHER WORDS, MADAME CELESTIN PLAYED WITH MR PAXTON’S FEELINGS TO MANIPULATE HER HUSBAND TO COME BACK. AN APPARENTLY WEAK WOMAN WHO KNOWS HOW TO GET WHAT SHE WANTS.

AND WHAT DO I BASE THAT ON, YOU WILL ASK? (THE MORE FAR-FETCHED OR SHOCKING AN INTERPRETATION IS, THE MORE WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE SOME WORD OR SENTENCE IN THE TEXT TO BASE IT ON.) PAGE 170, LINE 7 – AND THE PRECEDING LINES: I TAKE MADAME CELESTIN’S ROSY CHEEKS TO MEAN THAT SHE IS EMBARRASSED TO TALK TO MR PAXTON AGAIN, BECAUSE SHE KNOWS THAT SHE HAS USED HIM IN HER GAME.

TO MY MIND THE MESSAGE IS THIS: A WOMAN WHO SEEMS WEAK MAY HAVE METHODS TO GAIN WHAT SHE WANTS. MADAME CELESTIN WANTS HER HUSBAND BACK, AND THAT IS WHAT SHE HAS AT THE END. SHE HAS USED MR PAXTON TO MAKE HER HUSBAND RETURN.

LESSON22 Q. PARALLELS:

“THE STORY OF AN HOUR” IS CLOSE TO TRAGEDY, “MADAME CELESTIN’S DIVORCE” IS A COMEDY.