In "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin sounds like it sound be a very sad story- a woman learns that her husband was in an accident, and the reader immediately expects a lot of predictable sadness and angst. Instead, there is immediately a twist in the story, and the woman is actually relieved that her husband died. She is not really sad at all, but is thankful that he will no longer be able to control her life however he pleases and manipulate her every move (Chopin "The Story"). This immediately strikes me as Realism because a man controlling his wife in this way seems to be pretty accurate to the time period (Campbell "Realism"). Before the women's rights movement actually made any sort of impact on the country, men really were in charge of their wives and families and could technically exercise complete control over women. The woman in the story is rejoicing about finally being free of her husband...until there is yet another twist. Her husband comes back home, the woman is gripped with immense sadness, and she then dies (Chopin "The Story").
Along with being an example of Realism, the story has some bits of Naturalism in it as well. There are a lot of sad emotions in "The Story of an Hour" that tend to tie in with the ideas of Naturalism and the philosophical and psychological aspects of it (Campbell "Naturalism"). The woman in the story is actually going through a very difficult time and after she finally finds freedom, it is all taken away from her again and she dies (Chopin "The Story"). This story is very descriptive as well, detailing facial expressions, the settings, and other little details. Regionalism does not seem to have much of a presence in this story apart from the fact that common language is used.
In the excerpt from "The Awakening", also by Kate Chopin, the main character is also a woman, albeit a much more emotional one. She is sobbing uncontrollably, but she does not really know why other than the fact that she just needs to good cry. Eventually the reader realizes that the story is another work from the Women's Rights Movement because the woman in the story is simply overwhelmed by oppression from both her husband and from society, and although her husband is very kind to her, she is stifled by his kindness for some reason. Just like "The Story of an Hour", this story carries obvious traits of Naturalism in it because all of the emotions that are being conveyed to the reader from the main characters, who are pretty similar if you look at the big picture. And again, human nature and psychological aspects of the story fit into the Naturalism spectrum as well (Campbell "Naturalism"). "Fate" is also present in the story, because the woman accepts what has come her way (Chopin "Awakening"). Regionalism does not seem to play a part in this story either, just like "The Story of an Hour".
Realism is, however, obvious in "The Awakening" as much as it is in "The Story of an Hour". The time period is accurate for what is happening with women's rights and this is obviously an issue in the story (Chopin "Awakening"). Again, this is very realistic and plausible and therefore fits in with the basic principles of Realism (Campbell "Realism").
Both of these stories could have happened in real life, which is a ringing endorsement for Realism. Women cry to themselves all the time. Many have good reason to. Also, people's husband's could be mistakenly reported dead, it's happened often enough. Society at the time was very realistically portrayed in both of these stories. Government, religion, and nature are not very prominent in these stories. The American Dream is present in the form of the Women's American Dream. Both of the main women want to be free from the oppression of the men in order for there to be "no one to live for her... she would live for herself." (Chopin "Story" 555). The heroines of these stories would, in my opinion, be able to live such a life quite comfortably. It sounds like they have already been through so much, so they deserve to have their American Dream come true.
Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature. " Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Web. 11 Feb 2011.
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm
Campbell, Donna M. "Realism in American Literature, 1860-1890." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Web 21 March 2010.
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm
Campbell, Donna M. "Regionalism and Local Color Fiction, 1865-1895." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Web. Feb 10 2011.
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/lcolor.html
Chopin, Kate. "The Awakening." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 491. Print.
Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 554-555. Print.
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