Analysis Of Kate Chopins Two Portraits - 946 Words

Kate Chopin’s short story â€Å"Two Portraits†, tells about a woman named Alberta. The first story is about Alberta the Wanton, who is a captivating prostitute that is going on a downward spiral towards aging and alcoholism. In the second story, Alberta is a nun who is the most saintly of all the women in the convent. Chopin incorporates many features like dimensionalism and environment to draw a contrast between the two Albertas. As it is the authors intention to examine contrary states of innocence and experience to show the ways that society divides women rather than uniting them. When examining the differences between the two Albertas, its important to examine each of their environments growing up. Like so many women, Alberta the†¦show more content†¦This leads her to enter a convent where she practices her external senses to feel elements of the spiritual world: â€Å"Her ears seem to hear sounds that reach no other ears; and what her eyes see, only God a nd herself know† (Chopin 16). While they both achieve it in different ways, both Albertas reach happiness through love; â€Å"Wonton† finds love through loving herself and her own body, while â€Å"The Nun† finds her love through god. Interestingly, it can be argued that inevitable objectification by a patriarchal world deprives both women in a certain sense. For the first Alberta, her social position makes it her obligation to please men by using her beauty to attract them. This creates an insecurity inside her that makes it impossible for her to build a sense of self that she could be proud of. While for the second Alberta she became a nun to escape the constraints that a patriarchal society aims to keep women. As a nun, Alberta becomes a figure of feminine purity, joining a community of women that is the only socially acceptable way to escape a male-dominated society at the time. When reading the story it could be obvious to say that Chopin is aiming the two portraits to represent two sides of human nature, the good and the bad. But maybe they are simply the roles women play when they are not married to a man in early 19th century. It is important to realize that each portrait starts off with the same paragraph, starting with line â€Å"Alberta havingShow MoreRelatedResearch Paper on Kate Chopin and Her Works2380 Words   |  10 Pages Kate Chopin is best known for her novel, The Awakening, published in 1899. After its publication, The Awakening created such uproar that its author was alienated from certain social circles in St. Louis. The novel also contributed to rejections of Chopins later stories including, The Story of An Hour and The Storm. The heavy criticism that she endured for the novel hindered her writing. The male dominated world was simply not ready for such an honest exploration of female independence, a frankRead MoreAn Analysis Of Armand Aubigny s Desiree s Baby 1538 Words   |  7 PagesArmand Aubigny’s Pride in â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† by Kate Chopin Through history, we have always yearned independence and equality as human beings. Undoubtedly, Kate Chopin is an extraordinary example She has landed a commendable place among American writers worthy of recognition. Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1850, Kate was raised by strong women who taught her the value of an education. Her family gave her a revolutionary vision and a feminist personality, but it was her talented and passionate skillsRead MoreChopin VS Thurber and Relationships2545 Words   |  11 PagesIn the stories â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† by James Thurber (Clugston, sec. h1.1) and â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin (Clugston, sec. h2.1) escapism is a similar theme with in both these stories, yet there is a slight variance in how each of these authors place these characters into their escape from reality, relationships, and everyday chaos. In each of these stories the author shows the characters escaping the realities of the relationship, one through Walter Mitts’ daydreams, and theRead MoreCalculus Oaper13589 Words   |  55 Pagesclosely associated with the infant bond that genuinely satisfying sex relations are likely to be structured primarily around nurturance? I Biologically men have only one innate orientation--a sexual one that draws them to women--while women have two innate orientations, sexual toward men and reproductive toward their young.(1)    I was a woman terribly vulnerable, critical using femaleness as a sort of standard of yardstick to measure and discard men. Yes--something like that. I was an Anna who

Where Are You Going - 1024 Words

Seyi Yusuf Professor Golden English 1301 9 September 2015 Comparing Joyce Carol Oates â€Å"Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?† to the film Smooth Talk Joyce Carol Oates, author of the fictional short story, where are you going, where have you been? Emphasizes a taunting tone to convey Connie s restrained reaction towards Arnold Friend s presence. The film â€Å"Smooth Talk† portrays the visual imagery in the short story â€Å"where are you going?, where have you been?†helps the audience understand each character s personality in the movie. Oates purpose was to make the audience view connie’s personality as a eager fifteen year old girl back in 80’s, who wasn’t really intelligent. Connie’s parent didn’t really care about her, so that also has an influence on her attitude in how she acts around boys. Oates portrays Connie mother as a mean and wicked mother who puts her daughter down. Connie’s sister June was viewed as the favorite child who was always comp ared to Connie. Oates made Connie’s friends as sneaky, and rebellious just as Connie was. Arnold friend’s character is as usual weird personality. Which made Connie uneasy when Arnold started talking to her. Oates establishes the character according to their relationship with Connie. The film â€Å"Smooth Talk† is based on the short story where are you going, where have you been? , had a couple of similarities in charazations. Oates states glance into the mirror checking other people s faces to make sure hers wasShow MoreRelatedWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1021 Words   |  5 PagesWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates A short story titled Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? tells a tale of an adolescent girl who suffers consequences of growing up in the unsupportive environment and the society preoccupied by the media. It is considered to be the most famous work of Joyce Carol Oates, an American writer, the winner of many significant literary awards and a two- time candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The story was firstRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1882 Words   |  8 PagesThrough its contrasting reality and dreamlike scenes, Oates’ â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† uses details from a true American horror story to convey a message about society, youth and a loss of innocence. Arizona native Charles Schmid murdered Alleen Rowe on May 31, 1964. Schmid was considered a serial killer and was subsequently arrested and convicted of the heinous crimes that he was accused of. The profile of Schmid as a short man who wore makeup , wigs and altered boots to makeRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Essay2193 Words   |  9 Pagesshort story â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been?† and Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† readers will dismiss the idea of the existence of any similarity in the stories of a fifteen year old girl and a grandmother. However, upon closer inspection, it is easy to appreciate how these two seemingly polar opposites are actually structured to invoke the same feelings in readers and to explore the same concepts. A close examination of â€Å"Where are you going, where have you been?† andRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1528 Words   |  7 PagesThe Cultural Revolution and Sexual Desires in Oates’s â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† The late 1950s was a time of cultural revolution which had a large influence on the American youth. â€Å"As the next decade drew near, issues such as civil rights, war, women s rights, and the sexual revolution would deeply affect many American teenagers. The conservative family values and morals that predominated in the 1950s were just beginning to be challenged as the decade came to a close† (Moss andRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?717 Words   |  3 PagesJoyce Carol Oates: Where are you going, Where have you been?† The story â€Å"Where are you going, Where have you been?† is about a fifteen year old girl Connie. Connie is like any other teenage girl acting more grown up that she really is. She is obsessed with her look and with boys. â€Å"She was fifteen and she had a quick nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors, or checking other people’s faces to make sure her won was all right†(323). Teenagers are into their appearance andRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?989 Words   |  4 PagesArnold Friend, a main character founded in the short story, â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† by Joyce Carol Oates, is often a debated by many readers to be a demon, a crazed stalker and maniac, or in fact Lucifer himself. After reading the short story and analyzing the details of the characters, Arnold Friend really stands out and leaves many unanswered questions on what the author was intending to do with this particular char acter in identifying who he really is. After thoroughly analyzingRead MoreWhere Are You Going? Where Have You Been?1546 Words   |  7 PagesWhere Are You Going? Where Have You Been? In the short story, Where are you going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates, Connie flaunts her beauty to receive attention from the opposite sex and is lead to temptation. The antagonist Arnold Friend, who symbolizes the devil, shows how simple it is to take away your safe haven through sinister acts. Connie is split between how she acts and portrays herself at home, and how she acts whenever she is with her group of friends. Connie refuses toRead MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?723 Words   |  3 PagesPsycho, Demon, Dreams, Oh My! â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† by Joyce Carol Oates is a short story about a 15-year old girl named Connie that falls in the trap of Arnold Friend. There are many interpretations to this short story, and many arguments have fought back and forth to find out the true inside meaning to find out what the reason was for Joyce Carol Oates to write this story. There are hundreds of analyses for this story out there, but I am going to just be talking about three;Read MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?1131 Words   |  5 Pages Analyzing Connie, the female protagonist in â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?† reveals the character’s journey of rebellion, a search for identity, and the protagonist’s psychological problems. Connie appears to be a seemingly normal teenage female during the first few sentences: fifteen years old, physically beautiful, and appears semi-narcissistic. As one reads on, underlying psychological issues begin to unearth themselves. Connie has a habit of needing to know that she is beautiful;Read MoreWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?843 Words   |  4 PagesIn the short fiction Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? tells a story about a young 15-year-old girl named, Connie. Connie spends her time meeting boys, lounging around the house and going out with her friends. One night an unusual man makes a threatening gesture to her in the parking lot of a local drive-in restaurant. Until, one day the unusual man pulls up in her driveway in a gold colored car. The man introduces himself as Arnold Friend and asks Connie to join him for a ride. During their

Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Free Essays

Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Journal #2 In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman, Lia Lee is a very sickly child, and is now unfortunately a â€Å"vegetable. † Much to the hospitals chagrin, they in fact are the reason why Lia is in a comatose state. The Lee’s argued with the doctors throughout Lia’s entire 4 years of medical strife with epilepsy about the medication and the way they were treating Lia. We will write a custom essay sample on Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down or any similar topic only for you Order Now Fadiman juxtaposes the differences of the Hmong way of healing people: spiritually, and the American way: medicinally. In chapter 18, Fadiman titles the chapter â€Å"The Life or the Soul†, the title portrays a serious debate throughout the reading; is the body or the soul of the person more important. The Hmong’s way of healing the sick, no matter what the sickness is, is spiritually. â€Å"Treatment Plan: The Neng called upon Neng spirits to effect a cure and release the pain†¦ used a bowl of water to spray from the mouth over the infected area†¦ spirits were offered payment†¦ to release the pain and relieve the swelling†¦ Result: Client got better after treatment. (pg 270) Fadiman pulls the report summaries from the txiv neebs healings to convey that it is possible to heal someone spiritually rather than medicinally. In fact, Fadiman uses surprising diction in chapter 17, when Dr. Hutchinson admits the hospitals faults. â€Å"’Driving back to Merced, I was in a state of shock myself. I had known about Lia’s sepsis, but I had always assumed that her seizure disorder had been the root of the problem. The Lee’s were right after all, I thought, Lia’s medicine did make her sick! ’†(pg 255) By using words/phrases such as: shock, right after all, did make her sick, Fadiman shows not only were the doctors surprised by the outcome of Lia’s life, but she herself was, too. It illustrates the idea that not ALL Western Medicine techniques are healthy for the problem. In this case, the best thing for Lia would have been to give her the anticonvulsants and that was it. At the end of chapter 18, Fadiman goes out to eat with Bill Selvidge and Sukey Waller, and she includes Bill and Sukeys conversation in the end to really exemplify the juxtaposition of how certain people feel about life; death, and the soul; and to connect it to the title of the chapter. â€Å"’You have to act on the most vulnerable person in the situation†¦ that’s the child. Childs welfare is more important than the parents’ beliefs. ’† Said Bill. â€Å"’Well,† Sukey said tartly. â€Å"’What if they see†¦possibility of eternal damnation for their child if she dies from surgery? Next to that, death might not seem so important. Which is more important, the life or the soul? ’† â€Å"’I make no apology,† said Bill. â€Å"’The life comes first. † â€Å"The soul,† said Sukey. The name of the chapter is specifically â€Å"The Life or the Soul† because of this passage. Bill, as a doctor, strongly believes that the life comes before the soul, because the life is what’s living. Sukey, on the other hand, disagrees strongly and thinks the soul is of much more importance. Fadiman conveys their feelings and thoughts creatively with Bill and Sukey’s conversation. She also does this by using the verb â€Å"said tartly† implying that Sukey obviously disliked Bill’s idea thinking the life is more important regardless of what the parents have to say. Overall, the Hmong and the Americans have distinguished ideas about how to cure a sickly person; either with a txiv neeb, or with loads of meds to help clear the system and cure the patient. Fadiman juxtaposes the two, showing that the Hmong are neither right nor wrong with their method, and same for the American Western Medicine way. The other difference between Hmong and American is their value for life. Most Hmong believe that the soul is more important, whereas Americans believe the life is more important. Fadiman demonstrates in chapter 19 the complete polar opposites of the two cultures. They are both simply ways of life, and the natural bridge between the two cultures needs to be broken so people understand both sides, instead of choosing the one they know best. How to cite Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Essay examples