There is a surprising relationship between James Joyce's "Exiles" (1914) and Kate's "The Story of An Hour" (1894) Chopin. In fact, they share different themes: for the first, themes such as suffering, betrayal and personal freedom are represented throughout the text while for the second, themes such as death, marriage and the aspiration for emancipation through independence are observed. In "Exiles", there are four characters which include Richard, Robert, Bertha and Beatrice. Richard and Bertha are common-law husband and wife, but Bertha at the same time kept seducing Robert to have a more intimate relationship while Beatrice also had extramarital affairs with Richard. On the other hand, in “The Story of an Hour”, he portrays different emotional states especially because of the joy that Mrs. Mallard had felt after losing her husband. Therefore, a common theme of the two works is the desire for freedom as female protagonists such as Bertha and Mrs. Mallard try to pursue what their hearts simply desire without conforming to the society which at the time is full of traditional values. However, both works could imply sexism which includes prejudice or discrimination based on sex or gender as both texts include unequal situations of placing women in a patriarchal society through means such as different symbolic motifs, acts of female protagonists and ironic observed social phenomenon in marriage. Therefore in the following essay I will analyze each of the elements of the texts respectively. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Comparing both “Exiles” and “The Story of an Hour,” both depict individuals’ desires for freedom along with sexism through different symbolic motifs within the text and I will focus on TWO of them. In the first act of "Exiles", Richard and Robert continued to discuss their perceptions and attitudes towards women and Robert suddenly noticed a stone on the table that Bertha had brought from the beach. It is in fact a form of symbol that exemplifies Robert's theory of what qualities an ideal woman should have. Literally, stone is a kind of solid and hard mineral matter that could be used as a building material. However, when applying the word "stone" to the text, it may be a form of symbolism consisting of the male mentality of what characteristics women should possess which implies sexism as it includes the prejudice against women that men think that women are fragile and manageable. Furthermore, the stone is extremely hard and indicates that women should be persevering, tenacious and independent, which men expect. Bertha's act of carrying him from the beach to the house could mean and imply to men that she would like to have stone-like features. Also, for “The Story of an Hour,” “the open window” in paragraph 4 is a symbol. Literally, windows commonly seen in classrooms or homes can be opened for better air circulation. However, when we apply this to the text, Mrs. Mallard looks out the window a lot and represents the freedom and opportunities that awaited her after her husband's death. In paragraphs 5 and 6, Mrs. Mallard could foresee joy across the sapphire sky, fluffy clouds and treetops from the window, she could even hear the songs of people or birds. These could make her feel truly ecstatic and once she fully basks in the resulting euphoria, she could regain vitality in her life. Also, the window openit also represents independence in her new life, which is now no longer hindered by her husband's demands. Two symbolisms could reflect the dominance of the male in a hegemonic society that takes control over women. Men accentuate their power along with personal freedom and are inconsiderate of women's emotions. Although women long for freedom, the ideologies and conformism of society had unfortunately labeled and constrained them spontaneously. Furthermore, by having female protagonists as the common ground for both “Exiles” and “The Story of An Hour,” the rebellious acts performed by them could embody a nature that fulfills their internal desires in the text. In “Exiles,” Bertha did not fulfill her role and obligations as a wife as she did not obey the commands of Richard, her common-law husband. In fact, she has simply followed where her heart takes her by involving herself in an intimate relationship with Robert. In the first act, Robert asked Bertha's permission to kiss her hand, her eyes, and even her mouth. Surprisingly, Bertha allowed him to do so with pleasure and commitment. They also commit adultery later in "Exiles", although Bertha's acts only seek to make Richard feel jealous to fulfill his sense of existence and security in marriage. Also, for “The Story on An Hour,” in paragraph 11, Mrs. Mallard yelled, “free, free, free!” and paragraph 13 mentioned that “There would be no one to live for in the years to come; she would live for herself. Indeed, Mrs. Mallard longs for individual freedom as she feels determined and content after her husband "died", believing that she could regain her sense of self and survive with just herself with joy and dignity without anyone getting in the way back into his life. . She is sure that she will live well without the accompaniment of her husband who offers her torment and constraints. Both texts could show their aspirations for personal freedom through the rebellious actions performed by them, their situation of being trapped as “wives” in marriage and how they are trying to change their destiny in the male chauvinistic society. Last but not least, both stories could imply women's desire for freedom along with marriage in a patriarchal society with the ironic social phenomenon. In "Exiles", Bertha possessed the individual freedom and bargaining power to leave Richard or continue flirting with Robert. However, she still accepted Richard's proposal after all the incidents like fights, cheating and doubts happened and still wanted to possess this man with all her heart, it's a kind of irony of the situation since we expect Bertha to leave Richard since Richard the she devastated by engaging in a fling with other girls, but in the third act, they still chose to be joined to each other in body and soul, finally in complete nakedness. The result is very absurd as it is contrary to the expected results. On the other hand, Mrs. Mallard was completely perplexed after becoming attached to her husband as she suffered from losing her sense of self after marriage. In paragraph 21 she even died from too much joy - "of the joy that kills" to be able to live without her husband in order to enjoy maximum independence. This scene is very ironic and subtle because it was not the joy that killed, but rather the form of oppression towards her role as wife that killed. This may be a form of dramatic irony as the characters in the story do not truly understand Mrs. Mallard's death. We readers might notice that feminism is presented in Mrs. Mallard's death while she could leave her husband for eternity to break the patriarchal limitation that.