An Analysis of Kate Chopin’s Use of Symbolism.docVIP

An Analysis of Kate Chopin’s Use of Symbolism 　　Introduction:Kate Chopin was one of the women writers who tried to make themselves recognized by the world. She wrote many famous short novels especially the story of an hour. In this short story, she portrayed the figure of Mrs. Mallard, a new female who pursued personal freedom and independence and ended with a tragedy. Throughout the novel, Chopin conveys her ideas by using crafted symbols. Thus, the symbolism perspective is adopted to analyze the Story of an Hour. 　　1. Literature Review 　　Kate Chopin (1851-1904) was an American author of short stories and novels. She is now regarded as a forerunner of feminist of 20th century. A story of an hour was regarded as Chopin’s one of unprecedented works about feminist. This short story was written after the first high-tide of feministic movement in America. It described Mrs. Mallard’s emotional reaction about an incident in an hour. Symbolism and Kate Chopin’s Thought. 　　1.1. A Brief Introduction to Symbolism 　　Generally speaking，symbols in fictions are inanimate objects. But sometimes actions and gestures with extended significance than its literal meaning are also symbolic. Raising arms may imply surrender; nodding head with a smile denotes agreement. In a word, an abundance of symbols exists in fiction as well as in life. 　　1.2. Kate Chopin’s Writing Thought 　　To thoroughly understand Chopin and her writings, the first general principle which seems helpful is that we have to make clear what views she holds of feminism. 　　In the early stages of Chopin’s career, she had tried to follow the literary examples of others. By the end of the nineteenth century, she came to believe that the true artist was one who defied tradition, who rejected the respectable morality and the conventions and formulas of literary success. Chopin did not wish to write a didactic feminist novel, Instead she would try to record, in her own way and in her own voice, the inward life of the w