Naler 1

Rebekah Naler

Ashley Skidmore

ENG 161

September 19, 2017

Evolution of Women

Women have emerged since the 19th century of biting their tongues and following the

stereotypical manner and expectations of women. Women have evolved from sitting under the

thumbs of men or high ranking officials such as government into having a voice and being

independent in society. Women started emerging into public jobs, education, and government

involvement, the emergence of woman allowed for understanding that gender shouldn’t be the

determining factor of a society. Kate Chopin and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman show the evolution

of women in the 19th century as suppressed, with lack of voice and opinion women to

independent and self-sufficient women in society.

Kate Chopin writes from the perspective of women in a controlling house like Ms.

Mallard in “The Story of an Hour (1894)” to allow readers to experience first-hand how women

were thought of in society portraying them as weak and fragile, Chopin shows the controlling

nature of the household as, “Physical exhaustion” (Chopin 54), the state of mind that Ms.

Mallard shows the reader evolves from silent sadness to exaggerated happiness with the news

following her husband’s alleged death. Chopin shows explains the exhaustion with the,

“Paralyzed inability to accept its significance” (Chopin 54), the life of a woman in the 19th

century revolved around men and making them happy from taking care of children to having a

“perfect” marriage. In “Striving to Be Selfish (2000)” by Ruthann Robson, the usage of different

“self” references the mindset of Ms. Mallard during the time she is struggling on whether she
 Naler 2

should be in mourning or happy that she is, “Free, free, free!” (Chopin 54) and “Free! Body and

soul free!” (Chopin 55), which allows the reader to think as they may about Ms. Mallard. Robson

explanation of the word selfishness with the capital “S” and the lower case “s” mean different

things, “Call it “S” Selfishness. For the Self involved in this instance is the capital “S” Self…I

would prefer to think of this Self as being the drive to connect with something higher and

grandiose than daily life” (Robson 29-30), Robson goes on to elaborate that “practicing this kind

of Selfishness adoxically takes one out of that crabbed and insecure self” (Robson 30), allowing

female readers to connect to Ms. Mallard during her time of need. The need and want to be

Selfish in the world pushes the reader to expand his/her wings and become bold, independent,

and wholesome during the development of finding themselves without the approval of society or

men. Chopin continues with describing Ms. Mallard as “goddess of Victory” (Chopin 55), the

victory to the freedom from the societal standards to please her husband and freedom from the

controlling means of her own life during the 19th century, Robson says, “These practices forge a

connection between the daily self and the expansive Self” (Robson 30), breaking the bond of the

domestic lifestyle that she can live freely in. Chopin shows the evolution of women in the 19th

century in, “Desiree’s Baby” when the societal standards of marriage emerges into the racial side

of time with not allowing interracial marriage and the act of slavery still broad and wide

throughout the world. Chopin explains Desiree as a loving mother that will do anything to make

her husband happy, Chopin shows Desiree submissive and controlled, like Ms. Mallard,

“Desiree’s face became suffused with a glow that was happiness itself,” (Chopin 15), the

happiness doesn’t seem to last long after the baby is born when Armand accuses Desiree of not

being white. Without thinking about it, Desiree does what is best for her and the child and leaves.

Desiree can be explained as the Lesbian in Robson story, “Softer more socially acceptable
 Naler 3

version…in the context of political rights” (Robson 32), the Lesbian is someone that will allow

those around her to determine the outcome of her life and make her expectations of the world

impossible to reach, if she were a woman of color. When Desiree leaves her husband the broken

bonds of marriage releasing her from the controlled state of her world, even though she knew

that he “belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery” (Chopin 60), the love that

Desiree still has will always remained but evolving into something that is stronger than her

previous self to take a stand and start over completely shows that the power than men have over

women is nothing compared to the mentality that women have when they break free from the

bondage of marriage allowing for independent growth.

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman shows the evolution of women during the 19th century, “The

Village Singer” shows the evolution of women gaining a voice in society. “The Village Singer”

allows the reader to feel the sadness of Candace Whitcomb when she is told that she is “too old”

for singing in the church choir due to the fact, “The audience considered that her voice had

grown too cracked and uncertain on the upper notes” (Freeman), Candace is ripped away from

the one thing that made her happy in her later years. Candace emerges into her voice when Mr.

Pollard, the minister, made a visit to Candace Whitcomb’s house to talk to her about singing

during the church meetings because no one could hear Almay May’s voice over hers, the

minister; “This morning, during the singing by the choir, you played and — sung a little too —

loud. That is, with — the windows open. It — disturbed us — a little”, Candace Whitcomb; “I

ain't disturbed at it,” said she. “I did it on purpose; I meant to” (Freeman). Candace starts

standing up for herself when she told that she needs to stop by a man during the time so the

younger, Almay May, could sing and be heard since that she was the lead in the choir now.

Candace emerges from a submissive woman into an independent woman with just one event that
 Naler 4

happened in her life that mentally crushed her more than people realized, “When they'd gone I

found this photograph album on the table, all done up as nice as you please, an' directed to Miss

Candace Whitcomb from her many friends, an' I opened it, an' there was the letter inside givin'

me notice to quit” (Freeman), the pushing aside of a women that found happiness during her later

years prevents her from expressing herself. Charlotte Perkins Gilman in “The Yellow

Wallpaper”, the husband hides away his wife from the world because she is just having a

“temporary nervous depression” (Gilman 56), just like Candace those around her think that they

know what is best for her during her later years when she just needs someone to be there for her

during the transition from lead singer to someone that just sits in the service. The “rest cure”

from Gilman’s story explains the way Candace is feeling, “Never to touch a pen, brush, or pencil

again” (Gilman 56), which summed up to locking away his wife because she wasn’t acting in the

“correct manner” for women during the 19th century. Candace is the figure stuck in the wallpaper

in Gilman’s story, when she was locked away it seemed that someone was watching her every

move, “The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out”

(Gilman 62), Candace shakes society with her inability to follow the rules to allow others to sing

and be happy when her happiness was taken from her, she also wants to get out of the world, to

escape somewhere that she is happy and no one will judge her on the singing aspect of her life no

matter how old she is getting.

Kate Chopin and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman show the evolution of women in the 19th

century with adapting into a new mindset that allows them to think and talk freely. Both authors

break the societal stereotypes with the emergence of women that want to be heard in the world

independently. Chopin and Freeman, along with other authors, show the evolution of women
 Naler 5

from standing behind men and following very command to self-sufficient women that have an

independent voice to stand up for themselves.

 Naler 6

Works Cited

Gwynn, R. S. “The Story of an Hours.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology, Pearson, 2015, pp. 54–

55.

Gwynn, R. S. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology, Pearson, 2015, pp. 56-

68.

Primamore, Elizabeth, and Delores DeLuise. “Striving to Be Selfish.” Literature and Gender,

Longman, 2011, pp. 29–32.