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黑龙江外国语学院
2012-2013
学年
第
1
学期
Term 1
2012-20123Academic Year
Heilongjiang International University
A Study into
Feminist Consciousness of
The Story of
an Hour
Abstract
：
According to interpretation of the
social background of the American South at the
end of the 19
th
century and the Kate Chopin?s life
experience in the illustration of the text and
analyze
the
historical
background
of
the
leading
role
?s
self
consciousness,
uncovering
American society ignored the value of
women and the shackles of a free spirit. With the
help of
the analysis of the writing
technique, we can better understand the theme of
freedom and death
in the story.
Key words:
Women
?
s
consciousness; Kate Chopin;
The Story
of an Hour
I.
Introduction
Kate Chopin is one of
American?s most important women writers of the
19
th
century. His
representative work “Awakening” is
re
cognized for performance pioneer of
feminist thought.
“The Story of an
Hour,” published in 1894, is a boutique in
Chopin?s short story.
In
this novel,
a young woman learned that
her husband died in a railway accident. She wept
returned to the
room. Slowly,
she began to realize their soul
changes: “she whispered, ?free, free, free! ?...
she
know in spent a long time after the
pain, she will complete her own.” Then, without
warning,
she did not take the train?s
husband, open the door came in. When she saw
him
, her heart stops
beating. Around her everyone thinks she
was happy will like this.
Is she really
happy to hear
the news that her husband
is dead?
This
article
is
a
feminist
novel.
Male
chauvinist
led
to
sexual
inequality,
feminism
advocates
also
should
avoid
too
extreme
tendency
(such
as
novel
transcendence
of
male
fantasy). We even
western social feminism and the ultimate goal of
equality for all (real sense
of
equality). Not any party surpassed and superior.
II. The social
background of
Feminist Consciousness
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黑龙江外国语学院
2012-2013
学年
第
1
学期
Term 1
2012-20123Academic Year
Heilongjiang International University
Overall, the
United States in the 19
th
century, legal, religious and traditional
practices strict
restrictions on women,
especially Southern women?s rights.
总的来说
，在十九世纪的美国，
法律、宗教、传统实践严格束缚着女人，尤其是南部女人的权利。
They could not
vote, cannot make their voices heard in the
political sphere; most of the
work
refused to hire female staff, the majority of
women can only perform household chores;
proportion of educated women is far
lower than that of men.
她们不能投票，
< br>不能在政治上发
声，大多数公司拒绝雇佣女性员工，以致大多数女人只能做一些家
务琐事，而接受过教
育的女性所占比例远低于那些女人。
Ethical, Southern women are more bound
and repressed. According to Southern tradition,
women are the incarnation of virtue.
道德上讲，南美女人要受到更多的约束和压抑，根据
南美的传统，女
人是贞操的化身
They are full of
compassion, tolerance, patience, loyalty
obedience. They are bound in the
moral
paradigm throne, worshiped by others.
她
们充满着同情、宽容、耐心、忠诚顺从，她
们束缚在榜样的王座上，被他人敬仰
For married women, the society
has given them more bondage. For example: many
states
expressly provide that married
women have no right to sign contracts, and cannot
own property,
cannot even dispose of
their own income.
对于结婚的女性，社会给了她们更多限制，比如
说，很多国家明确规定结婚的女人没有权利签订合同，不能有她们自己的财产，甚至不<
/p>
能处理她们的收入
Whatever
the reason, if the couple divorce, the wife cannot
get custody of the children.
The
perfect wife should be submissive, gentle, pious,
and therefore not suitable for the complex
and volatile political and business,
the best choice is a wife, mother.
无论什么原
因，如果一对
夫妇离婚，妻子无法拥有对孩子的抚养权。完美的妻子应该是顺从的、温柔
的和尽责的，
因此她们对于复杂和不稳定的政治和公司来说是不合适的，最好的选择是一
个妻子、母
亲
From the
mid-19th century, American society has experienced
ethnic conflicts, the Civil
War,
the
abolition
of
slavery
and
the
highly
developed
capitalist
economy,
people
?
s
thinking
has also happened
unprecedented transformation.
十九世纪中期，
美国社会经历了民族斗争、
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黑龙江外国语学院
2012-2013
学年
第
1
学期
Term 1
2012-20123Academic Year
Heilongjiang International University
市民战争、奴隶制的废除还有资本
主义经济的高度发展，人民的思想也得到了空前的转
变
The
women
began
questioning
traditional
practices
imposed
on
the
role
of
a
woman,
issued a challenge to the values of the
patriarchal society.
女性开始质问传统社会对女性的
定义，发起了一个对男权社会价值观的挑战
Northern women first began to fight for
equal rights to work, education. They believe that
women
and
men
should
be
equal
access
to
political,
economic,
religious
status,
which
completely changed the
ideological built in the male dominated society.
南美女性第一次发起
了对要求工作、受教育权利平等的斗争，她们认
为女人和男人应该在政治、经济、宗教
地位上平等，这些完全的改变了男权社会的思想意
识形态
The
Civil
War
and
the
abolition
of
slavery
greatly
changed
people
?
s
ideology,
the
northern
growing
feminist
movement
gradually
penetrated
into
the
political
and
economic
activities in the
South, Southern women also began to demand work
and education.
市民战争
和奴隶制的废除很大
影响了人民的思想，从南美发展起来的女权运动逐渐渗入到南美的
政治经济活动中，南美
的女人也开始对工作和教育有了需求
They
called
for
social
reform,
to
get
rid
of
the
shackles
of
women
?
s
stereotypes
in
a
patriarchal
society,
against
the
rules
and
prohibitions
imposed
by
society.
More
and
more
women with high social
status are knocking at the door to the career
which a man who once
ruled. Women began
to move out of the shadow of the man, in all
aspects of social life as an
independent individual.
她们呼吁社
会改革，去摆脱在男权社会里对女性老套束缚的镣铐，
反对社会强加于女性的规则和禁止
。更多有较高社会地位的女人敲开了曾经限制女人的
事业之门。女人开始摆脱女性的音乐
，在社会生活的各方面成为独立的个体。
Kate
Chopin is a writer of this era. Of course, her
feminist ideology is inextricably linked
with her family environment. She was
born in 1850 in St. Louis, Missouri. His father is
Irish
descent and his mother was French
descent. When she was five years old, his father
died in an
accident when traveling.
凯特肖邦就是这个时期的作家，当然，她的女权意识与她的生活
环境有
着密切的里阿尼，她生于
1850
年密苏里圣路易斯，她的父亲
是爱尔兰人，她的母
亲是法国人，在她五岁那年，她的爸爸在一起旅行中意外去世。
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黑龙江外国语学院
2012-2013
学年
第
1
学期
Term 1
2012-20123Academic Year
Heilongjiang International University
Since
then,
the
young
Kate,
who
lived
with
a
widowed
mother,
a
grandmother
and
her
grandmother.
Their
wisdom,
independent
and
strong,
had
a
tremendous
impact
for
the
Kate
character and future creation.
< br>从那之后，
年幼的凯特和她的寡妇母亲，
外公外婆住在一
起，
他们的智慧，独立，坚强，对凯特的个性和未来创作有了很大的影响
Kate has been gender equality in
education and the impact of feminist ideas in this
family.
In the process of
growing up, she showed
a
strong rebellion, and out of tune with the social
requirements for women.
凯特在家
中要求教育上的男女平等，受到女权思想的影响，在她
成长过程中，她展现出了很强的叛
逆，与社会对女性的要求唱反调
At
age
20,
Kate
married
Oscar
Chopin
who
was
born
in
a
rich
family.
Oscar
Chopin
appreciates
Kate
?
s
sense
of
independence
and
intelligence
very
much,
doubly
respected
her
concept
of
freedom
and
equality.
Unfortunately,
proper
middle-aged,
Oscar
Chopin
died
of
malaria, Kate began his
literary creation in the short-term management of
her husband's legacy
business and was a
great success.
在她二十岁那年，凯特与奥斯卡结婚了，奥斯卡出生在富
有的家庭，他非常欣赏凯特的独立感和智慧，同时尊重她对于自由和平等的观念。不幸<
/p>
的是，奥斯卡中年死于疾病，在短暂的管理丈夫遗产的公司后，凯特开始了她的文学创
作之路并取得了成功
In her works, Kate continues to explore
the idea of women liberation road, challenge the
concept of equality and pursuit
individual freedom. This freedom is not just
physical liberation,
and spiritual
independence and resistance for the feudal concept
in the male dominated society.
在她的工作中，凯
特继续探索女性解放之路，挑战平等和追求个人自由的观念，这种自
由不仅是肉体的自由
，还有精神独立和在男权社会中封建观念的阻力
“The
Story of an Hour,”
while not directly
accountable to the reader the social background
of the story takes place. But from the
context, we can determine Louise is a housewife in
high
society,
and
In
real
life
has
always
been
to
suppress
her
individuality.
Before
she
heard
her
husband?s
death which is
misinformation, she did not have the opportunity
to express views on
their
marriage,
just
obedience
and
tolerant.
When
she
heard
this
rumor
which
as
the
opportunity wake her
feminist consciousness. Let her know, though she
loved their husbands,
but
most
of
the
time
in
her
marriage
is
not
love.
Combined
with
the
social
reality
of
the
American South in the 19th century, and
the author?s spiritual
pursuit
, the sudden awakening of
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