Feminist and Pessimist Existentialism in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”: A Systemic Functional Grammar Analysis

Bima Iqbal Khadafi

doi:10.30870/jels.v6i2.10419

Abstract

This article interprets Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” using systemic functional grammar analyses (genre, transitivity, mood structure, and thematic structure) and thus implements the view that textual or linguistic justification is crucial for a credible literary reading. The SFG analyses result in the textual symptoms signifying that the short story deals with existential and feminist issues pessimistically that calls for a reexamination of Sartre’s and Beauvoir’s existentialism –especially on the notion of freedom, intentionality, and desire. However, the implementation of SFG itself raises a problem since the interpretation can be achieved without even implementing it in the first place. This research, therefore, highlights the question of the position that linguistic analysis has in literary reading; re-addressing the fundamental philosophical problem on the notion of credibility, objectivity, and methodology. However, the application of SFG is very useful in understanding Kate Chopin’s literary style and the proof of the non-existing line between language use and gender.

Highlights

The fact that Kate Chopin was one of the forerunners of twentieth-century feminism (Nilsen, 1990) leads the majority of literary scholars to postulate that “The Story of an Hour” is purely a feminist text (Larsson, 1981; Papke, 1990)
The genre system that is used in the interactive method is the one proposed by Martin & Rose (2008) which classifies the stages of the analyzed text as the domain analysis
In scrutinizing the structure of the short story, one must note that the point of departure in interpreting the text is to view it as Louise Mallard’s psychological journey

Summary

Introduction

The fact that Kate Chopin was one of the forerunners of twentieth-century feminism (Nilsen, 1990) leads the majority of literary scholars to postulate that “The Story of an Hour” is purely a feminist text (Larsson, 1981; Papke, 1990). Berkove (2000), for instance, interprets this story as an illustration of how an exaggerated and egoistic self-assertion can destroy one’s soul while Chong-yue & Li-hua (2013) read it as an illustration of an ungrateful and unfaithful wife. How can one be unsuspicious about the marital system, for example, that most of the time is used to justify the exploitation of women by ‘othering’ them into an object of a patriarchal desire or as a mere technology that should carry out certain functions in the society? I ask, how can one develop a noble academic reputation in the twenty-first century by justifying the system of oppression? How can one be unsuspicious about the marital system, for example, that most of the time is used to justify the exploitation of women by ‘othering’ them into an object of a patriarchal desire or as a mere technology that should carry out certain functions in the society?

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Results