Marriage as Presented on “The Story of an Hour” and “The Swimmer”

Both stories “The Story of an Hour” and “The Swimmer” portrays marriage as a primary element. In her, story “The Story of an Hour” Kate Chopin represents one of the most significant hours in the life of protagonist of the story. Moreover, the narrator of the story is in the third person and has a limited omniscient while telling the story. On the other, hand the story “The Swimmer” by John Cheever brings out both the sweet and the ugly side of the marriage. Marriage is one of the most important aspects of the society that brings families together but much has changed as presented by the two stories “The Story of an Hour” and “The Swimmer.”There are several similarities and differences that about marriage that are represented in the two stories. For instance in the story “The Story of an Hour” their evidence of love between Mr. Mallard and Louise. The line “the face that had never looked save with love upon her” clearly shows that there was love between the two characters (Chopin 7). Furthermore, the moment she is told that her husband has passed way she weeps. Another similarity about marriage that is portrayed by the “The Swimmer” is when Needy names this pool after his dead wife. This indicates sadness that is death brings to the matrimony (Cheever 735). Similarly, as times passes both stories seems to agree that the is easy for both the widow and widower get over the painful loss of their loved ones. The stories come to one conclusion that marriage has some ups and downs and the two stories show the characters both happy and in sorrow. Neddy gets into a relationship with Shirley, and on the other hand, Louise begins to rejoice as she sees herself free both in spirit and body. The authors of the two stories are trying to make similar statements about marriage. Primarily, this is evident when the author’s show both Louise and Neddy is sorrow after they lose their loved ones. The Story of an Hour indicates that Louise weeps upon learning the death of her husband while on the other hand the story The Swimmer show that Neddy is great pain and decide to name his pool after his wife (Cheever 732). Further, Louise states that she would cry at the funeral of her husband but sees the death of her husband as a miracle as her hubby was cruel at times. The same is evident of “The Swimmer” as Needy had an affair with another woman while her wife was alive. The two stories try to indicate that marriage is mainly centered on the blind persistence that men and women believe that they have the right to impose their will on their partners. For example, Louise marriage restricts freedom, and in her view, the benefit does not equal the cost. Both “The Story of an Hour” and “The Swimmer” show that marriage is not what it appears or portrayed to be. Therefore, this means that the journey to freedom is always dangerous as in both stories the freedom of the Neddy and Louise depend on the death of their partners. Similarly, Chopin and Cheever show that “the love of partner in marriage as not inductive as in a mutual relationship” (Kirszner and Stephen). Moreover, marriage is crucial in both stories as indicating that the joy of one partner is not critiqued to her marriage to her lover but to the whole institution of marriage. Work CitedCheever, John. The swimmer. New York: Stein and Day, 1967.Chopin, Kate. The story of an hour. Blackstone Audio, 2013.Kirszner, Laurie, and Stephen Mandell. COMPACT Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Nelson Education, 2015.

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