Fridenmaker !

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Megan Fridenmaker
Dr. Detmer-Goebel
ENG 250
6 October, 2016
Individual vs. Together:
Comparing and Contrasting The Story of an Hour and I Carry Your Heart With Me.

Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour is widely regarded as a short story with a lot to
say. Set in the late 19th century, Louise Mallard has just been notified of her husband Brentleys
sudden death. Her sister tries to comfort her, concerned for her weak heart, but Louise retires to
her room. There, she experiences an overwhelming feeling of joy rather than the sorrow one
would expect. Instead of mourning the death of her husband, she rejoices over the fact that she is
now free to do what she pleases and can escape the dominance the reader supposes he imposed
on her. However, this monstrous joy (Chopin 90) she feels is short-lived when in walks
Brentley, alive and unharmed. Louise ends up dying of what the doctors call heart disease- of
joy that kills (Chopin 91), giving her true freedom in death.
While The Story of an Hour portrays a woman with a longing for freedom from her
partner, other works portray a very different image of marriage and love. One such example is
the poem I Carry Your Heart With Me by E.E. Cummings. First published in 1952, this poem
paints a vivid picture of a couple so in love that even when they are apart, they are truly never
without each other. The speaker says that he always has her love with him, and anything he does
in her absence is also done by her. This poem conveys to the reader what most people want for

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their life: to find love so deep that two people become one. Cummings beings and ends the poem
with two very similar phrases: I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart) and I carry
your heart (I carry it in my heart).
Both works seem to be opposite in many ways: the writing style, time period, and
message each conveys reside on opposite ends of a spectrum. However, when taking a closer
look at the world of each author, it becomes apparent that the short story and poem can be
applied to the issue of a womans place in a relationship. The Story of an Hour, when paired
with I Carry Your Heart With Me, creates an interesting contradiction within the confines of
marriage: where I Carry Your Heart With Me focuses on the aspect of the two people
becoming one, The Story Of An Hour highlights the main characters want for a much more
individualistic life. However, both comment rather liberally on the place of a woman within the
relationship for their respective time periods.
First, and perhaps most obvious, is the difference in writing style. While the difference
between a short story and a poem seems almost unnecessary to state, both writing styles are
different for their use of wording. Cummings poem uses simple language that a child could
understand, often restating important words or entire phrases to make them that much more
powerful. Chopin, on the other hand, is much more liberal in her use of large words. Though she
is descriptive in her writing, she does not repeat herself to the extent that Cummings does.
Another difference is the time period in which both pieces were written. I Carry Your
Heart With Me was published in the early 1950s, a time when women married after high
school and fell into their traditional roles right away (A Woman's Role in the 1950s). While
most were usually content in their roles, someone looking at it from todays society would find it

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absolutely appalling. "The Wife Your Husband Needs: Marriage Counseling, Religion, and
Sexual Politics in the United States, 19301980." by Doctor of Psychology Rebecca Davis points
out several factors that began to push women towards fighting for more rights. In this
dissertation, she looks at how marriage itself changed in the early-to-mid 1900s. She points out
that a common theme in her research was that, when speaking about marriage within something
like marriage counseling, a lot of importance was placed on how comfortable the man felt in his
marriage. There was very little to no focus on what the woman needed from her partner; the
primary focus was on what she could do to make him more physically and psychologically
comfortable.
During this time, however, a debate was beginning to form about how women should be
treated in the home. Davis takes a particular look at this when she tries to make sense of how
men thought at the time: were women housemaids or equals? However, this dissertation makes a
strong point that women had far more rights than those of their predecessors. Women had begun
believing that they were equal to men, just different. Given time, women would begin to fight
more and more for their social rights as they began to see themselves as equal to men.
In contrast to the mid-1900s, life in the late 1800s (when The Story of an Hour was
published) was bleak for a woman. Rather than being seen as an individual person with rights,
women were considered bound to their husbands in more of a contract than a marriage. Due to
their lack of rights and equality, a women were emotionally and psychologically dependent on
their husbands (Adams 36). When a womans husband died, she may have been able to get a
low-paying job in something like industry or business, but most all of the well-paying jobs went
to men. Without the means of supporting herself, a woman would have to either rely on the

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charity of relatives or try to get by with the measly sum of money she could make. Womens
rights were beginning to pick up momentum, but would not come to a head until the 20th
century.
One large social barrier women had to overcome was the idea of coverture. According
to Doctor of Psychology Michele Adams, coverture was the notion that, upon marriage, a
woman gave up her own identity, which was subsumed under the identity of her husband. (34)
This archaic idea, which originated in England, provided the foundation on which most of the
disadvantage experienced by married women was justified. (34) This gave men complete
control over their wives in their marriages and women in the workforce, and ultimately was what
kept women down for so many years.
The final major difference between I Carry Your Heart With Me and The Story of an
Hour is the message they both convey. I Carry Your Heart With Me gives a complete sense of
togetherness that the speaker longs to share with their partner. Rather than going through life
alone, the speaker wishes to do everything together even of they are not physically there. In
contrast, The Story of an Hour depicts a woman who longs for an individualistic life. While
there is no textual evidence that she is going through any abuse, she is overcome with a joy when
she discovers that she can now have some freedom away from the patriarchal home she lives in.
While there are many differences between both texts, they both share one similarity
within their histories: both comment on the place of women rather liberally for their times. First,
I Carry Your Heart was written by a man who speaks of his partner as an equal rather than
simply a homemaker. For a man to be speaking to his wife in this manner in the early 1950s was
a huge step towards womens equality both in the home and in society. He speaks very

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passionately to a lover that, by the tone of his voice, is perceived as his equal. Whether
Cummings meant for his poem to convey this message or not, it is still an important piece of
evidence that the movement for womens rights in the home and in society was making headway.
The Story of an Hour also comments freely about how unfair the role of a woman was
during her time. Louise could see a life all her own now that her husband was dead, a thought
that at the time would have been borderline scandalous. She brings up the idea of coverture,
exalting that there would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which
men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellowcreature. (Chopin 90-91) As a woman challenging the roles that men had imposed on them for
years, Chopin was thinking very liberally for her time and making a statement that would soon
be agreed upon by men and women alike in the coming years.
At first glance, E.E. Cummings I Carry Your Heart With Me and Kate Chopins The
Story of an Hour seem very different. The writing style, message, and time periods are
completely different and influence the readers thoughts on the story. However, both works share
a similarity that isnt obvious at first glance: they both comment on the issue of womans rights
quite liberally for their times, whether they mean to or not. In looking at the histories associated
with both pieces, it is notable that both Cummings and Chopin were taking part in seeing women
as equal to men.

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Works Cited
Adams, Michele Ann. "Constructing the Essential Family: A Comparison of 19th and 20th
Century Marriage Reform Movements." Order No. 3100611 University of California,
Riverside, 2003. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 29 Sep. 2016.
"A Woman's Role in the 1950s." Colorado.edu. N.p., 17 Nov. 2005. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.
Berkove, Lawrence L. "Fatal Self-Assertion in Kate Chopin's 'The Story of an Hour.'." American
Literary Realism 32.2 (Winter 2000): 152-158. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary
Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 127. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center.
Web. 29 Sept. 2016.
Davis, Rebecca Louise. "The Wife Your Husband Needs: Marriage Counseling, Religion, and
Sexual Politics in the United States, 19301980." Order No. 3214200 Yale University,
2006. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.
"I Carry Your Heart with Me by E.e. Cummings." I Carry Your Heart with Me by E.e.
Cummings. All Poetry, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.
"Women Suffrage in the Progressive Era - American Memory Timeline- Classroom Presentation |
Teacher Resources - Library of Congress." Women Suffrage in the Progressive Era American Memory Timeline- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of
Congress. The Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.