How are Walter Mitty and Mathilde Loisel similar? How are they different?

James Thurber’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is a short story that was written in 1937. The story features an elderly man who drives his wife into town for beauty parlor visits and regular weekly shopping. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” was published in 1894. In this short story Kate Chopin presents her perspective of the repressive role of marriage in the lives of women. This is shown by the fact that the main character, Louise Mallard, thinks that she will find freedom in the death of her husband. Both short stories share common theme of gender roles and marriage. Gender roles are defined as the behavior and attitudes that are strengthened by the stereotypical identity of an individual. The relationships among the form, style, and content of the two stories help us to understanding the essence of gender roles and marriage in the society today and back then. In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Walter Mitty is an elder American man who has retired and has nothing else to do except follow his wife around. Walter daydreams about the life he wishes he could have. The main focus of the story is to present a fantasy world rather than a realistic one. “The Story of the Hour” takes on a more dramatic effect.

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