A COMPARATIVE LITERARY ANALYSIS OF THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERs IN hå xu©n h­¬ng’s POEMsAND KATE CHOPIN’s SHORT STORIES

By utilizing qualitative method, thisstudy aimed at comparing the female images in H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s poems “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh là

A COMPARATIVE LITERARY ANALYSIS

OF THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERs IN hå xu©n h¬ng’s POEMs AND KATE CHOPIN’s

SHORT STORIES

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

of the degree of bachelor of arts in tefl

Supervisor : Do Thi Phuong Mai, M.A

Hanoi, April 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

ABSTRACT v

ABBREVIATION vi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

I.1 Rationale 1

I.2 Aims of the study 2

I.3 Scope of the study 3

I.4 Design of the study 3

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

II.1 Social and literary background of H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kate ng’s and Kate Chopin’s time 5

II.1.1 Social background 5

II.1.1.1 Vietnamese social background in H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s time ương’s time ng’s time 5

II.1.1.2 American social background in Kate Chopin’s time 6

II.1.2 Typical features of literature 7

II.1.2.1 Typical features of literature in H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s time ương’s time ng’s time 7

II.1.2.2 Typical features of literature in Kate Chopin’s time 8

II.1.3 Vietnamese and American women’s images in literature 11

II.1.3.1 Vietnamese women’s images in literature 11

II.1.3.2 American women’s images in literature 12

II.2 H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kate ng and her poems 13

II.2.1 H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kate ng’s biography 13

II.2.2 H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kate ng’s writing career 14

II.3 Kate Chopin and her stories 16

II.3.1 Kate Chopin’s biography 16

II.3.2 Kate Chopin’s writing career 17

II.3.3 “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin 19

II.3.4 “Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin 20

II.4 An overview of the two societies and their stereotype about women 20

II.5 Review of previous studies 22

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 25

III.1 Subjects of the study 25

III.2 Data collection instruments 25

III.3 Data collection procedures 25

III.3.1 Collecting data 25

III.3.2 Discussing with supervisor, other teachers and classmates 26

III.4 Personal knowledge 26

III.5 Data analysis procedure 26

III.5.1 Analyzing the selected data 26

III.5.2 Synthesizing achieved results 27

III.5.3 Completing and concluding selected information 27

CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 28

IV.1 Similarities and differences among four main female characters’ images 28

IV.1.1 Similarities among four main female characters’ images 28

IV.1.1.1 Appearances 28

IV.1.1.2 Being faithful wives 29

IV.1.1.3 Undergoing unfulfilled lives 32

IV.1.1.4 Social position 33

IV.1.1.5 Dreams 35

IV.1.2 Differences among four main female characters’ images 37

IV.1.2.1 Marriages 37

IV.1.2.2 Responsibilities 40

IV.1.2.3 Hidden resentments 41

IV.1.2.4 Ways to confront the difficulties 44

IV.1.3 Concluding remarks 45

IV.2 Cultural stereotype of Vietnamese and American women reflected in selected works 47

IV.3.1 Cultural stereotype of Vietnamese women reflected in “Bánh trôi nước” and “Cảnh làm lẽ” 48

IV.3.2 Cultural stereotype of American women reflected in “The Story of an Hour” and “Désirée’s Baby” 49

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 52

V.1 Recapitulation of the main ideas 52

V.2 Implications to language teaching and learning 52

V.3 Limitation of the study 53

V.4 Recommendation for further studies 53

REFERENCE 54

WEBSITES FOR REFERENCE 56

APPENDICES 1

First, I wish to manifest my extreme sincere gratitude to Mrs Do ThiPhuong Mai, M.A at Faculty of English, Hanoi University of Education for herpersistent guidance, comprehensive advice and endless encouragementduring my process of producing this graduation thesis

Secondly, I also profess my deepest thank to my literature teachers atLuong The Vinh high school, Hanoi who have informed me a lot withVietnamese and American literary background knowledge

Finally, I would like to present my acknowledgements to myunderstanding family due to their great support to me in this challengingtime

Of all female Vietnamese and American authors, who shared the sameinterest on women, H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng and Kate Chopin were considered themost magnificent in their literary period By utilizing qualitative method, thisstudy aimed at comparing the female images in H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s poems

“Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ” ảnh làm lẽ” and Kate Chopin’s short stories “The Story of

an Hour,” “Désirée’s Baby” in order to explore the similarities and differences

among those images in terms of appearances, faithfulness, marriage,responsibilities, unfulfillment, social position, hidden resentments anddreams Based on the analysis of the aspects above, the cultural stereotype

of Vietnamese and American women reflected in the four selected workswould be discussed

F.O.E : Faculty of English

H.N.U.E : Hanoi National University of Education

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION I.1 Rationale

Literature is always considered a tool covering not only the works butalso the real life reflected in those ones, as literature itself cannot beseparated from reality On the first hand, literature is greatly inspired byhuman’s lives On the other hand, literary works make contribution to thereaders’ understanding about life and human values As C.S Lewis (1978)stated that:

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.”

Being a Vietnamese student in Faculty of English, Hanoi NationalUniversity of Education studying American literature, the author tried tomake use of what she has learned The author aimed to hold attraction onboth the beauty of language and of the women’s images, whose lives anddesires are demonstrated via the most delicate language Via the franklydepicted portrayals of those women, the writers in the previous timeskillfully drew such an outstanding picture of the whole society

It is indisputable that Kate Chopin (1851 – 1904) is one of the mostsuccessful writers depicting American women’s portrayal in such vivid and

riveting novels and stories like “Désirée’s Baby” (1982), “A respectable woman” (1894), “The Story of an Hour” (1894), “The Awakening” (1899).

Kate Chopin’s challenging life had a great impact on her distinctive writingstyle Despite her arduous life, a dream of freedom not only for her but alsofor all American common women was harbored Also being inspired withwomen’s images, taking experience from her own up and down life andsharing the same desire like Kate Chopin, H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng, a Vietnamesefemale poet, was famous for her trenchant works in the late 18th and early

19th century, such as “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ,” “Cái qu t” ảnh làm lẽ” ạt” and so on.

H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s conception which concerned the women’s rights anddesire to escape from the ruling society was far ahead from that of othersame period authors Her poems were about 100 years earlier than KateChopin’s stories, and even they came from diverse culture, they both paidspecial attention to the women who are usually looked down on and notrespected as they actually deserve.

There are a lot of articles and research which share the same interest

in the topic related to the female images in Vietnamese and Americanliterature respectively, such as H ng, L.T.T (2013)’s which did emphasize onằng, L.T.T (2013)’s which did emphasize onthe women’s beauty in such various aspects like appearance, characteristicsand talent under the unfair feudal Vietnamese society Other study is My, N.T(2009)’s, which mainly aimed at discussing the female images in Vietnamesesociety from diverse points of view and explaining for the origin of thisimages during this time Jasdomin Tolentino (2008) assumed that KateChopin’s unconventional and matriarchal family as well as the 19th century’ssociety had a great impact on her works as well as her main female

characters in Kate Chopin's Life and Personal Influence Nevertheless, there

has not been much absorption paid to comparison between H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Katengand Kate Chopin’s great writings, especially in assimilating their conductedfemale images

Concerning this matter, this research focuses on the women in twodisparate cultures, Vietnamese women via H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s poem “Bánh trôi

n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” and “C nh làm lẽ” c” ảnh làm lẽ” in comparison with American ones in “The Story of

an Hour” and “Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, especially on how they suffered

and dealt with their social obstacles

I.2 Aims of the study

The study aims at:

(1) discussing the similarities and differences between four femalecharacters’ images in four selected works;

(2) identifying the concept of cultural stereotype and how thewomen’s images in the works revealed the stereotype of women;

To fulfill these goals above, the research aim to address the followingresearch questions:

1 What are the similarities and differences among four female characters in “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ” by H Xuân H ảnh làm lẽ” ồ Xuân Hương’s time ương’s time ng and “The Story of an Hour,” “Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin?

2 How do cultural stereotype affect female characters in these selected works?

I.3 Scope of the study

This research focuses mainly on the women in two diverse cultures,the Eastern women in H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s poems “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm ảnh làm lẽ” lẽ” compared with the Western ones in “The Story of an Hour,” “Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin Though H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng and Kate Chopin were not inthe same period, they shared the same interest in women’s destiny,especially in how women put up with and overcame their social obstacles toexpress their strong wishes Furthermore, these two authors did leavebehind considerably valuable writings, however, due to time limitation, theresearcher chooses two notable poems or stories of each artist to compare

and analyze Of all their works whose topic is about women, “Bánh trôi

n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ” ảnh làm lẽ” by H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng and “The Story of an Hour,”

“Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin are fascinating to readers who have concern

about Vietnamese and American Literature

I.4 Design of the study

The thesis comprises three main parts as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction – explaining why the author chooses this

topic, the aims, the scope and the design of the study

Chapter 2: Literature Review – providing an overview of H Xuânồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate

Hương’s and Kateng and Kate Chopin’s lives and their writing careers; covering an

overview of “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ,” ảnh làm lẽ” “The Story of an Hour” and

“Désirée’s Baby” and specifying the women’s images This dominant

background knowledge is prepared for readers to conciliate the maincontent in chapter 4: Findings and Discussion

Chapter 3: Methodology – mentioning the research methods

employed in shaping this thesis

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion – comparing, analyzing and

summarizing data collected to give answers to the research questions

Chapter 5: Conclusion – synthesizing the study’s main ideas and

concluding what the author has done in this thesis; including implicationsfor teaching and learning; giving some limitations of the study andproposing some suggestions for further studies

Finally, the references and reliable sources which have been used inthis study were also presented

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW II.1 Social and literary background of H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kate ng’s and Kate Chopin’s time

To American Literature and Vietnamese Literature particularly or anynational literature generally, connecting texts to their social, cultural andhistorical contexts or literary traditions is so important That social andcultural backgrounds have powerful influence on the development ofliterature is unquestionable Any changes in society can bring acorrespondence in literature as literature is a mirror that reflects exactlywhat is going on in every community It can be assumed that works are theproducts of many influences that affect the ways in which writers write andthe ways in which people read and interpret their works The social andliterary background can consist of a variety of simple factors, such asthe historical period in which a work was written or the ways in whichthe language used in the work reflects the time when it was conducted,however, being aware of the background information not only can help tounderstand and appreciate the works but also can support to recognize thesimilarities as well as differences between these works

II.1.1 Social background

II.1.1.1 Vietnamese social background in H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s time ương’s time ng’s time

H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s period was the time of social turmoil, which lastedfrom late 18th century to early 19th century By the end of Lê dynasty, theConfucian social order had calcified and was crumbling Vietnam, at thattime, had to experience continuously both the inner and the outer war,caused by domestic forces and foreign invaders After the death of KingQuang Trung, there were a lot of farmers’ revolutions but they all fell infighting for their rights Major of the Vietnamese during this epoch weredepending on agriculture, suffered from strict feudal rules while the barriersbetween Cochi-China and Tokin – two areas of the country were stillunbreakable

Moreover, Vietnam’s current government followed Feudalism, whichled the country to be back to obsolescence While the Nguy n Dynasty wasễn Dynasty wassatisfied with the fogginess learned from China, there were few sages whoseprogressive thought urged them to apply Modernism from the Westerncountries However, these progressive ones were not supported by theimperial court, as it was afraid that the new things learned as well asbusiness coming from Western countries would push the country to beinvaded

As the backward transformation to the obsolescence together withdraconian ruling that Vietnamese people had to suffer from, Vietnamesewomen could not avoid life in which they were dependent and could notcontrol their own destiny It was recorded that, because of the war, major ofwomen in lower class had to deal with much more difficulties in lives, whilesome others, despite living in upper class’ families, became tools in politicalmarriage, in which they were goods to be exchanged for men’s power or thecountry’s extension Vietnamese women were not as respected as men, wereimposed on many social strict regulations and inequality and were justconsidered the men’s shadow However, at that time, there still appeared afew outstanding women who had done things that often had been done bymen before and got out of the shadow of the men They served their lives forthe nation such as Princess Ng c Hân, General Bùi Th Xuân; they wereọc Hân, General Bùi Thị Xuân; they were ị Xuân; they werefamous authors writing excellent works, like Mrs Huy n Thanh Quan, Đoànện Thanh Quan, Đoàn

Th Đi m, H Xuân Hị Xuân; they were ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng The women’s lives were still harsh, but some ofthem were able to be the representatives and raised their little voices toexpress women’s wishes via literature

II.1.1.2 American social background in Kate Chopin’s time

Kate Chopin was born and lived in the late 19th century and the early

20th century This period is one of the most pivotal to American societycalled “Transformation,” in which the country turned a significant step

These political, economic and social changes consequently pulled along a lot

of adjustment in all American fields, regardless of literature

Moreover, hardly did the American Civil War (1861-1865) betweenthe industrial North and the agricultural slave – owner South happen when

it turned the U.S history into Victorian era, a new era with the elimination ofslavery and the promotion in human rights In this period, the women'ssuffrage movement for their rights and equality in both education and otherprofessional fields were considered most remarkable progresses Thesemovements were parts of the development in one of the longest socialreform movement in American history During this reform period, thefoundation of The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the largestorganization of women all over the world, became a great milestone in theinternational woman’s rights protest

On the positive sides, there were lots of respectable changes, whereas,

to be truthful, the concept of women’s social position in the Victorian eraremained really harsh Many young women worked as servants or in shopsand factories until marriage, then typically became full-time housewives.Throughout the 19th century, approximately ninety percent of marriedwomen still stayed at home and did the household chores Most of themwere Southerners, who were brought up in a patriarchal society In spite ofthose positive changes, the journey to seek for women’s equality was still onthe long way at the turning mark in the late 19th and early 20th century

In short, three main phenomena in Kate Chopin’s period comprising

“Transformation” period, the American Civil War as well as the women’smovements for equality have urged her to produced prominent works

II.1.2 Typical features of literature

II.1.2.1 Typical features of literature in H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s time ương’s time ng’s time

To Vietnamese literature, the period of late 18th century and early 19th

century was the most brilliant time of literary works in feudal society.Because of its vivid development, many researchers called it “Vietnamese

classical literature stage,” which was inherited many achievements from theVietnamese folklore and also was challenged from time to time However,the most decisive factor was for the influence by remarkable changes insociety this time.

The authors in this literary stage both criticized a society full of crises,and showed their sympathy to badly-treated people, two of the mostbrilliant features of humanitarian inspiration Via those works, also thestrong wills to be released from draconian yokes was praised, whichindirectly encouraged people to raise their voice to protect their rights.Those draconian yokes, in spite of being invisible or tangible, all resulted indeadlocking lives, so that people had to find out any exits in literature It wassupposed that, in the world of art, there would appear a hero solving all thesocial problems, and all the wishes, especially from little women, about a fairand progressive society, in which they would not suffer from any challenges

or difficulties would become truth

Until the end of the 18th century, Vietnamese folklore had beenflourishingly developing in variety of literary types, from proverbs to longstory poems, jokes and so on During that time, literary works written inNôm Script reached its peak, respecting Truy n Ki u by Nguy n Du as oneện Thanh Quan, Đoàn ều by Nguyễn Du as one ễn Dynasty was

of the masterpieces Not only Truy n Ki u, but other works in the sameện Thanh Quan, Đoàn ều by Nguyễn Du as oneperiod also shared the same ideas about social injustice and iniquity underfeudal government system, the miserable fate of typical characters insociety, especially the poor or the women No longer had the female’s imagesbeen someone mentioned in a general and blur way than in the late 18th

century and early 19th century, the images become much more detailed, evenwere the most focus of this period’s literature The image of women withmany fair qualities appeared in a lot of works composed by Nguy n Du,ễn Dynasty wasNguy n D , Đ ng Tr n Côn, Đoàn Th Đi m, Mrs Huy n Thanh Quan, Hễn Dynasty was ữ, Đặng Trần Côn, Đoàn Thị Điểm, Mrs Huyện Thanh Quan, Hồ ặng Trần Côn, Đoàn Thị Điểm, Mrs Huyện Thanh Quan, Hồ ần Côn, Đoàn Thị Điểm, Mrs Huyện Thanh Quan, Hồ ị Xuân; they were ện Thanh Quan, Đoàn ồ Xuân Hương’s and KateXuân Hương’s and Kate They used their own works as a sharp weapon to deeplyngsatirize the feudal government, advocate women’s value in the society

Never before were the women in every class in praise of their beauty andvirtue Even these praises appeared only in literary works, that was such agreat achievement, a big step to alter in conventional conception aboutwomen and their position in community, regardless of upper, middle orlower class women

Vietnamese Literature in the 18th century – 19th century variously andprofoundly reflected the current life of contemporary society along withchanges in minds, emotions and aspirations of Vietnamese people

II.1.2.2 Typical features of literature in Kate Chopin’s time

Kate Chopin’s time was the literary epoch of Realism, which “is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material”

(William Dean Howells, 1891) Writers in this period were consideredthemselves taking responsibility for criticizing and interpreting any socialchanges from various viewpoints Thus, what happened in the society wasadequately and faithfully reflected in American Literature 1860 – 1914 AsAmerica experienced such a rapid change in every aspect, literature was not

an exception with a shift from Romanticism to Realism Rebecca HardingDavis, Sarah Orne Jewett, Ambrose Bierce, Henry James, Mark Twain,William Dean Howells and Kate Chopin were the most outstanding authorsthat supported this movement, made the realistic works become a sharpweapon

Realism concerned with the commonplaces in daily life, in whichhumans are in control of their own destiny and are superior to theircircumstances Via those circumstances, the works were produced toemphasize morality and intrinsic, relativistic value between people andsociety Realists were also accepted to depict and evince rather than tell thereality in society precisely by focusing on psychological, optimistic tone,details, pragmatic, practical, slow-moving plot, thus, there was very littleemotion demonstrated in their works Also in those realistic works,representative people living in ordinary towns did representative things, as

a result, it was quite fluent for writers to exteriorize the major themes,which were about people from lower class and their struggle against barrierand difficulties in life, especially weak people having few rights such aswomen and children

In addition, almost all of the characters who were extracted from theirfull images were apparently the most ordinary and desiccating Also, thereappeared no heroes or heroines giving any clear solutions to any problems

in those works, despite clear description about social problems or thecontrast among higher and lower class Consequently, realists often hadpessimistic point of views in life and left their stories’ ending open

Remarque (1939) believed: “It's not much You begin by thinking there is something extraordinary about it But you'll find out, when you've been out in the world a while longer, unhappiness is the commonest thing there is.”

Influenced by Southwestern and Down East humor, from the CivilWar till the end of the 19th century, local color or regionalism marked its stamp in American literature Hart' (1941) assumed that,

“In local-color literature one finds the dual influence of romanticism and realism, since the author frequently looks away from ordinary life to distant lands, strange customs, or exotic scenes, but retains through minute detail a sense of fidelity and accuracy of description.”

This mode of writing followed the rapid growth of population towardurbanization and industrialization, as well as the war and the concurrentdiminishing of regional differences Two authors from different regions ofthe country kept their colorists apart from others, particularly via severalburning issues of the society, such as racial injustice, sexual inequality ordiscrimination Together with Sarah Orne Jewet and George WashingtonCable, Kate Chopin was one of the most outstanding writers

As the turn of the century, in late Victorian society, the traditional

“True Woman” was being challenged by the emerging paradigm of the “New

Woman.” The transition between the two alternative viewpoints was frompious, submissive and restricted women to the home to sufficiently educatedand social mobilized women From their original appropriate sphere, womengradually defined a greater sexual freedom, although in their journey findingtheir self – definition, they still had to encounter the obstacles raised by race,

by class, by social unfair prejudice or by conventional views of women’sproper place There was an expanding growth in female writers whose novels,poems and even humorous pieces were becoming popular, such as EmilyDickinson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Finally, it can be presumed that literature had a huge business during1890s Books and magazines were produced on a national scale with thepopularity of publishing The foundation of many big publishing houses, theappearance of many gifted writers and the increase in literacy of Americanpopulation at that time have led literature to a remarkably potential anddynamic period

For all features mentioned above, American social as well as itsliterature had considerable and great influence on Kate Chopin’s literacydevelopment, which led to the birth of fascinating works

II.1.3 Vietnamese and American women’s images in literature

It is evident that women are vital half of the world, the unique andvivid ones not only in reality but also in literature In fact, the portrayal ofwomen conducted by male authors completely disparate from femaleauthors’ view of women, also different women’s portrayal from distinctsocieties would be depicted in various ways

II.1.3.1 Vietnamese women’s images in literature

Vietnamese traditional women in literature were beautiful andrespectable with highly noble virtues from the early time to present,particularly in the 18th – 19th century

Under social injustice and iniquity of feudal government system, themiserable fate of typical characters in society, especially the oppressive and

exploited women No longer had the female’s images been someonementioned generally and faintly than in the late 18th century and early 19th

century, the images become much more detailed, even were the most focus

of this period’s literature

It is evident that in literature, the female ones who came from lowerclass, particularly those living in the feudal time as well as in war time, oftenlived a life of virtue In this period, most of the writers like Nguy n Du,ễn Dynasty wasNguy n D , H Xuân Hễn Dynasty was ữ, Đặng Trần Côn, Đoàn Thị Điểm, Mrs Huyện Thanh Quan, Hồ ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng had such a forthright view on women’s life,consequently they could depict them vividly and sensitively As the wholecountry was engulfed completely in the feudal system, most Vietnamesepeople had to suffer from a similar miserable fate, especially women whowere the subject of oppression and exploitation However, Vietnamesewomen in literature still kept their great dignity including faithfulness,devoting all of their lives to family in spite of variety of difficulties they had to

cope with Take the wife in “Chinh ph ngâm” ụ ngâm” by Đ ng Tr n Côn (1741) as anặng Trần Côn, Đoàn Thị Điểm, Mrs Huyện Thanh Quan, Hồ ần Côn, Đoàn Thị Điểm, Mrs Huyện Thanh Quan, Hồexample, she faithfully and patiently confronted the hardship when the onlyfamily man served the war, leaving her with the children and the worries ofhis coming back when the country was in peace

In addition, by presenting the ruling class that supported the feudalsystem against their own people, Vietnamese writers in the current timegrabbed a good chance to deeply criticize and expose the truth about this

“social ulcer.” Remarkable changes in Vietnamese literature again honoredthe female images as the focus of this period’s works However hard thedifficulties were, Vietnamese women in literature still kept their greatfaithfulness and devoted all of their lives to family

In conclusion, women’s images in Vietnamese literature in the 18th –

19th century were depicted in a complex and vivid way as they really were.Most of female characters were inspired by the author’s own experience,which makes them real and closer to the current Vietnamese society

II.1.3.2 American women’s images in literature

Unlike the unified portrayals of women in Vietnamese works onecentury earlier, American literature built various images of women in theperiod of the 19th – 20th century As the turn of the century, changes of rolesand positions in American society was represented when American womenbecame a new theme for many authors to explore, especially their roles inthe womanhood and motherhood

Firstly, although American Realism women changed their views aboutthemselves, they dare not break the social norms They realizedtransformation frankly inside their minds, yet accepted to be in thebackground to support their husband and children as well as guarded their

morals Mrs Baroda in “A respectable Woman” by Kate Chopin (1894)

illustrated this the most clearly Mrs Baroda recognized she had devotedprovisional desire for love with her husband’s friend; however, shecontrolled her feeling prosperously and became a respectable woman, whoamong all American women was still a conventional and faithful wife andmother

On the other side, there were also some featured portrays of “NewWomen,” which was altered from the images of “True Woman” in the turn ofthe century In American Realism, that those women struggled for the ideal

of freedom in passion, sexuality and marriage was a prevalent andoutstanding theme They strove for their personal freedom, yet could notcontrol their passionate desire and then became unconventional women,

which were portrayed in “The Story of an Hour,” “The Awakening” and “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, “The Yellow Wall-paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Women at this time seemed to have more chances to gradually define

a greater sexual freedom, although in their journey finding their self –definition, they still encountered the obstacles raised by race, class, socialunfair prejudice or by conventional views of women’s proper place

II.2 H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kate ng and her poems

II.2.1 H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kate ng’s biography

There is no doubt that between a writer’s life and his or her laterwritings, there is a close relationship Most writers, especially female ones,have to experience a sophisticated and miserable life before finding thepassion for writing in order to confide their thoughts as well as feelings Hồ Xuân Hương’s and KateXuân Hương’s and Kateng is among those whose life had a great deal of trauma

There has been doubt in H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s biography, as researchersare having little information about H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s life However, it can besupposed that H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng was born H Phi Mai inồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate the late 18th century

in Quỳnh L u, Ngh An H Xuân Hư ện Thanh Quan, Đoàn ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kate , which was her pen name, was suchng

a famous writer in the same period with Nguy n Du ễn Dynasty was (1766 -1820), Ph mạmĐình H (as known as Chiêu H , 1768-1839ổ (as known as Chiêu Hổ, 1768-1839 ổ (as known as Chiêu Hổ, 1768-1839 ) Her father was Mr H Phiồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate

Di n, an education got married with H Xuân Hễn Dynasty was ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s mother, who was just

a concubine Her father died when she was only 13 years old, H Xuânồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate

Hương’s and Kateng then moved to Thăng Long, one of the most prosperous areas in theTokin at that time, experienced peaceful childhood years, despite thedistempered society full of political crises in the end of the 18th century 3years after her father’s death, her mother got married with another man.Though she was under less strict family rules than other girls in the sameperiod, H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng was brilliantly demonstrated herself as a gifted,intelligent and studious woman

It was thought that H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s life would be kept in peacewhen she got married H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng was too romantic, liberal to desire tobreak all harsh cultural walls of feudalism, but she could not avoid hermiserable marriages, in which the women always received less happiness Inher two sad-ending marriages, her husbands were both fond of her talent inwriting, however, she was only concubine, had to share the same husband atthe same time with another women There might be much unfrank reasons

for her unhappy marriages, but maybe it was for her husband’s prematuredeath or as she could not stand being a mistress

During her challenging life, H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng kept writing as shepassionately found literature as a friend, in which she could express all hercomplicated feelings, especially about the women and their positions in theunfair society She lived alone the remainder of her life in a small house nearthe West Lake in Hanoi until her death in the early years of the 19th century,left Vietnamese literature such respectable and featured pieces of works

II.2.2 H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kate ng’s writing career

H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng was brought up in the fluctuate period of the feudalsociety in the end of Lê-s Dynasty and in the beginning of Nguy n Dynasty,ơng’s and Kate ễn Dynasty wastherefore, she had the most valuable experience when observing theinequality in the community In her period, the women were not asrespected as the men, however hard they tried to take care of the wholefamily, particularly when the men were away from home to serve the war.The ancient feudal concept did not allow the women to do things as men did,

to be educated, or to benefit what they deserved for, even forced them tobear the most disadvantages in their lives These observations played such

an essential role in creating H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s writing style, her theme orlanguage

H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng was talented and creative enough to build her ownstyle of using literary language, which could not be replaced or mistaken.While other authors in the same period try to harmonize Vietnamese andChinese, H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng only used native Vietnamese language – the NômScript, which made the national color in her style the most distinguished.Alliterations were actively and cunningly used, which caused such a stronginvisible vitality in her poems Moreover, that she employed various idiomsresulted in the popularity in her writings She also made use of the artisticmeasures in literature, such as comparison, metaphor, metonymy, satire,spoonerism and so on

The way H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng chose themes for her works was alsounique Instead of the great heroic themes or great national images likeother writers, she recklessly wrote about snail, jackfruit, fan, betel, swing,any common things that surrounded her life could be her topics, which wereconsidered taboo in current time She seemed to break the mandatory canon

in choosing a topic of Tang poetry – which originated from China, although

H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s poems still followed the strict rules in the number ofsentences in a poem and the number of words in a sentence

Despite the fact that H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s poetry has been published andrepublished hundreds of time in a wide range of texts, collections, foreducation purpose and for the general readers during the last century, heroriginal poems are still involving scholars in the dark The most ancientdocument that recorded some of H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s works was “Qu c vănốc văntùng kí,” collected by H i Châu T Nguy n Văn San in 1833 Most of herải Châu Tử Nguyễn Văn San in 1833 Most of her ử Nguyễn Văn San in 1833 Most of her ễn Dynasty wasworks were gathered in “Xuân Hương’s and Kateng thi t p” and “L u Hập” and “Lưu Hương Ký” together ư ương’s and Kateng Ký” together

with other authors Of all her works, “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “Cái qu t gi y,” “C nh ạt” ấy,” “Cảnh ảnh làm lẽ” làm lẽ,” “Đánh đu,” “M i tr u,” “Qu mít,” “T tình” ời trầu,” “Quả mít,” “Tự tình” ầu,” “Quả mít,” “Tự tình” ảnh làm lẽ” ự tình” are the most famous.Since these poems were not collected until roughly 70 years after her death,her entire oeuvre, about over 130 works, was circulated orally Althoughcontinuously beloved by the public, all H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng poems were deemedtoo loutish to be taught in high schools by the 1960’s, only to be restored tothe curriculum in the 90’s Today, many Vietnamese still know at least a few

H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng lines by heart

In short, in a Confucian society, H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s works showed her

to be independent-minded and resistant to societal norms, especiallythrough her socio-political commentaries and her use of frank sexualhumor and expressions Her irreverent, full of double entendre, and eruditepoems endlessly inspired next generations and the modern poet Xuân Di uện Thanh Quan, Đoàncalled her “The Queen of Nôm poetry.”

II.3 Kate Chopin and her stories

II.3.1 Kate Chopin’s biography

Thomas O’Flaherty, a respectably successful Irish businessman andEliza Faris O’Flaherty, a beautiful daughter from a Creole family got marriedand borne Catherines O’Flaherty on February 8, 1850 in St Louis Kate’sfather and great-grandmother greatly influenced her They noticed andexhorted her passion, taught her the language and the freedom of the Frenchthat many Americans disapproved during this time However, that Mr.O’Flaherty died in a traffic accident prematurely resulted in Kate’s growth

up in a household dominated by women: her mother, her grandmother, hergreat-grandmother For her great-grandmother’s related stories includingmany common themes about women struggling with molarity, freedom,convention and desire, Kate consequently believed in women’s strength,independence She spent a lot of time reading works by Jane Austen, CharlesDickens and the Brontë From 1855 to 1868, she was sent to a St LouisCatholic girl’s school, Academy of the Sacred Heart for a formal education

At the age of twenty, Kate Chopin met and got married to OscarChopin on June 9, 1870, which made her life turn to a new stage Kate

merrily confided in her commonplace book, “I am going to be married, married to the right man It does not seem strange as I had thought it would–I feel perfectly calm, perfectly collected And how surprised everyone was, for I had kept it so secret!” The couple settled in New Orleans, in which Oscar

founded a business After Oscar closed his New Orleans’ business because ofhard financial time, the Chopins moved to Cloutierville, a small Frenchvillage in northwestern Louisiana, where Kate selected many usefulmaterials for her writing later In 1882, Oscar died of malaria, left Kate with

a failing business and six small children needing taking care of She managedthe property, paid off the debt for two years before moving back to St Louis

to live closer to her mother with the hope of supplying better educationalopportunities for her children

After one peaceful year coming back to her motherland, Kate wasshocked the most by her mother’s death Seeing Kate struggling withdepression, her obstetrician and family friend, Dr Frederick Kolbenheyersuggested that she should write as a mean of emotional therapeutic healingand also as the financial support Kate continued her writing occupationuntil her death at the age of 53.

In conclusion, Kate Chopin’s challenging life was full of ups and downsand had an intense and special impact on her writing style, particularly herway to depict her main female characters, which based much on her ownexperiences

II.3.2 Kate Chopin’s writing career

Kate Chopin’s writing career was assumed to last for fourteen years,and during that brief time, via her special theme, style, language, sheproduced many brilliant works

In her works, Kate Chopin was succeed in exploring and describing alltypes of current literature’s taboo subjects, including race discrimination,abolition of slavery, or women’s desires of holding their own independence.She composed a kind of autobiography and described her societies; she hadgrown up in a time when her surroundings were the abolitionist movementsbefore the American Civil War, and their influence on freedmen educationand rights afterward, as well as the emergence of feminism Sheconcentrated on women's lives and their continual struggles to create anidentity of their own within the Southern society of the late 19th century

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Emory University presumed, “Kate was neither a feminist nor a suffragist, she said so She was nonetheless a woman who took women extremely seriously She never doubted women's ability to be strong.”

Not many writers during the mid- to late 19th century were bold enough toaddress subjects that Chopin took on Her ideas and descriptions were notreporting, but her stories expressed the reality of her world All the

achievements mentioned above made Kate Chopin become “a pioneer in herown time.”

According to Le Marquand, Jane (1996), Chopin's writing style wasinfluenced by her admiration of the contemporary French writer Guy deMaupassant, known for his short stories as she mentioned:

“I read his stories and marveled at them Here was life, not fiction; for where were the plots, the old fashioned mechanism and stage trapping that in a vague, unthinkable way I had fancied were essential to the art of story making Here was a man who had escaped from tradition and authority, who had entered into himself and looked out upon life through his own being and with his own eyes; and who, in a direct and simple way, told us what he saw.”

Going beyond Maupassant's technique and style to give her writing itsown flavor, Kate Chopin had a special ability to perceive life and creativelyexpress it Her living in a variety of locations, based on disparate economiesand societies were sources of insights and observations from which sheanalyzed and expressed her ideas Chopin took strong interest in hersurroundings and wote about many of her observations Marquand (1996)indicated that Chopin undermined patriarchy by endowing the woman with

an individual identity and a sense of self to the lessons she left behind eachstories’ voice Marquand also supposed that the official version of her life,that constructed by the men around her, was challenged and overthrown bythe woman of the story Besides that, in her hundred short stories, twentypoems, two novels, eight essays of literary criticism and one play, shedepicted people in Louisiana by her use of language of Southern citizens,therefore she was considered a Southern colorist writer

In 1889, accepted for publication by Vogue, “Wiser than a God” and “A point at Issue” were Kate Chopin’s two first stories portraying the resolution

of the woman artist with utter confidence They contained Chopin’s most

outspoken demonstration of the self-sufficient woman sought to build amarriage that let them find balance in their lives, which gave them a chance

to bond with a partner while maintain their individuality

In 1890, Kate’s first novel, “At fault,” was published privately.

Introducing two daring topics: divorce and alcoholism, the book was about a

thirtyish Catholic widow falling in love with a divorced man “At fault”

offered a compelling glimpse into what Kate was concerning about Then shecompletely shifted to focus on short stories and was well-known for two

collections of her short stories “Bayou Folk” (1894) and “A night in Acadia”

(1897)

In 1899, she wrote her third collection, “A Vocation and a voice,”

however, it was canceled by the publisher and did not appear as a separatevolume until 1991 Even when the collection was rejected, Kate continuedwriting, and aside from her short stories, she produced poems and

submitted essays to several St Louis periodicals In this collection, “The Story of an Hour” was one of her most famous short stories about woman

and marriage After its first appearance in Vogue in 1894, it received manyreviews as well as criticism by critics and scholars

Also in 1899, “The Awakening,” her most famous novel, which was

about a strong, unconventional woman involving in adulterous affairs, waspublished This novel concerned with the issues of passion, identity andmorality However, it created a tremendous controversy: many reviewersdeemed it a worthy novel, whereas some others condemned it because of itsunseemly subject matter of sexual openness Finally, it was rediscovered in

1950 and has been highly regarded by its modern, critical view and the

beauty of its writing “The Awakening” is now one of the five most read

novels in American colleges and universities

All things considered, this talented and eminent writer wasconsidered the forerunner of feminist author of the 20th century Althoughfor the five remaining years of life, Kate Chopin only wrote a few short

stories, she had been suceessful in pushing the social boundaries of her time

by writing about women’s lives in a revealing way Even today, her worksare still a part of the cannon of American literature

II.3.3 “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

“The Story of an Hour” is a short story about an hour in Mrs Mallard’s

life Louise Mallard has heart trouble, so she must be informed carefullyabout her husband’s death Louise’s husband’s friend, Richards, learnedabout a railroad disaster and saw Louise’s husband, Mr Brently, on the list

of those killed Louise begins sobbing when Josephine, her sister, tells herthe news Alone in her room afterwards, she notices the signs of the spring:the trees, the sky, the birds singing… She begins repeating the

word “Free!” to herself over and over again

The front door unexpectedly opens, and Mr Brently comes in Hehadn’t been in the train accident or even aware that one had happened.Josephine screams, and Richards tries unsuccessfully to block Louise fromseeing him Doctors arrive and pronounce that Louise died of a heart attackbrought on by happiness

II.3.4 “Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin

Désirée had been abandoned, but was adopted then by the Valmondé,

a rich white family, who lacked children of their own Years later, thereappears a young man named Armand Aubigny, who does not care forDésirée’s unknown origin because he is so much in love and soon they aremarried then give birth to a baby Three months after the baby is born, thehusband gets mad as he notices the baby is black and that his wife, Désirée isblack, too Despairing, Désirée takes her son and walks not to back to theValmondés but to the deserted bayou, where she disappears After coldlykicking her out of the house, Armand finds a letter from his mom to his dadsaying that his mom is a black woman

II.4 An overview of the two societies and their stereotype about women

Stereotypes dominate human life especially in multi-ethnic countries,where they are transformed into prejudices and then into acts of racism It isconsidered the most commonly known barrier to accurate judgment ofothers In 1992, W Lippmann constructed the definition of stereotype as

pictures in our heads, which means that, “Stereotype is result of subjective discovery processes based on knowledge concerning outside world.” In other

words, stereotype is a generalization about a group of people, thus makingthem distinctive from other groups Stereotype about women of twosocieties in two periods may have their own typical feature

To be located in the obsolescence together with draconian,Vietnamese women were dependent and could not control their owndestiny From late 18th century to early 19th century and then, almost women

in lower class had to face up with difficulties raising their family, whereassome upper class’ ones became tools in political marriage for men’s mastery.This tragedy of almost Vietnamese women was indicated by Nguy n Du inễn Dynasty washis masterpiece “Truy n Ki u:” ện Thanh Quan, Đoàn ều by Nguyễn Du as one “Đau đ n thay ph n đàn bà!/ L i r ng b c ớc,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” ận đàn bà!/ Lời rằng bạc ời trầu,” “Quả mít,” “Tự tình” ằng bạc ạt”

m nh cũng là l i chung.” ệnh cũng là lời chung.” ời trầu,” “Quả mít,” “Tự tình” Even male writers had to discontentedly stateVietnamese women’s misery when witnessing them being trampled on bythe society, which was major controlled by men In this duration, womenwere not as respected as men because of the Confucius ideology’s genderprejudice Đ ng Tr n Côn exclaimed in his lines of “Chinh ph ngâm khúc:”ặng Trần Côn, Đoàn Thị Điểm, Mrs Huyện Thanh Quan, Hồ ần Côn, Đoàn Thị Điểm, Mrs Huyện Thanh Quan, Hồ ụ ngâm khúc:”

“Thu tr i đ t n i c n gió b i/ Khách má h ng nhi u n i truân chuyên.” ời trầu,” “Quả mít,” “Tự tình” ấy,” “Cảnh ổi cơn gió bụi/ Khách má hồng nhiều nỗi truân chuyên.” ơng’s time ụ ngâm” ồ Xuân Hương’s time ều nỗi truân chuyên.” ỗi truân chuyên.” tomanifest his profound compassion to the women’s fade Not only malewriters, some of the women tried to raise their little voices to express alltheir wishes and advocate their own value via literature as they were unable

to stand being imposed on too many social strict regulations and inequality.Women’s images with many fair qualities appeared in a lot of workscomposed by well-known writers, including H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kate The authorsng

tried to put the women in praise of their beauty and characteristics despite

of the harsh reality That was such a big step in effort of altering commonsense about women’s position in community, regardless of upper, middle orlower class ones, even these praises appeared only in literary works

On the positive sides, there were lots of respectable changes inAmerican literature of Kate Chopin’s period whereas to be truthful, theconcept of women’s social position remained harsh Many young women,most of who were brought up in a patriarchal society, worked as servants or

in shops and factories until getting married, then typically became full-timehousewives and part of the background and setting This fact was

conspicuously portrayed in “A Respectable Woman” by Kate Chopin (1894).

Mrs Baroda successfully controlled her indecent feeling when she wasaware of her temporary desire for love with her husband’s friend andbecame a respectable woman This evinces that American women wereregarded as conventional and faithful wives and mothers As the turn of thecentury, there was a transition between the two alternative images: “True

Woman” and “New Woman.” In “The Yellow Wall-paper,” Charlotte Perkins

Gilman (1982) depicted unconventional women with intense appetite forfreedom against being enslaved by the patriarchy Women at that timeseemed to have more chances to gradually define a greater sexual freedom,although in their journey finding their self – definition, they stillencountered the obstacles raised by race, class, social unfair prejudice or byconventional views of women’s proper place

II.5 Review of previous studies

This following section’s aims are to revise several studies which have

a relationship to the images of women in both American and Vietnameseliterature

Regarding the poem “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ” ảnh làm lẽ” and H Xuânồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate

Hương’s and Kateng, the author would mention two representative studies Firstly, in

“Vietnamese women’s condition in late 18 th century - early 19 th century via

outstanding works,” My, N.T (2009) indicated the new focused characters in

literature that period: the women In this study, the female images inVietnamese society from various points of view were analyzed in a tightrelationship with the recent cultural context of the times Also theexplanation for the origin of this image during this time which was forchanges in concept and for the modes of reflection was mentioned Yet, theauthor found that there was little examination on women’s hidden dreams,

especially in both “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c” and “C nh làm lẽ.” ảnh làm lẽ”

Sharing the same opinions with My, N.T., in “The women’s images in

H Xuân H ồ Xuân Hương’s time ương’s time ng’s poems ,” Lê Th Thu H ng (2013) briefly described theị Xuân; they were ằng, L.T.T (2013)’s which did emphasize ongeneral female images in feudal society and the particular ones in H Xuânồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate

Hương’s and Kateng’s poems She did emphasize on the women’s beauty in many aspects:appearance, characteristics, talent The images analyzed were even fairerwhen the women raised their voices to mock the collapse society andstrongly requested for their appropriate rights in unfair marriages and aniniquitous society However, readers could not get a deep understandingabout difficulties that the women had to confront, in both family and thesociety, where they were always required to take much responsibilities butjust a part the background setting In a condition where the social prejudicehad such great influence on every literary works, the social barriers to thewomen should be depicted to honor the main characters then

In addition, concerning “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, Xuemei Wan (2009) in “Kate Chopin’s View on Death and Freedom in The Story of an Hour” tested the way how Kate Chopin built the conflict between life and

death to self-aware women living in a limited social living space Moreover,

in this study, Xuemei Wan paid attention to the dramatics in which strongdesire to freedom was at the same time killed together with the maincharacter’s sudden death As the dissension and the boundary between lifeand death were too frankly mentioned, the author could not explorewhether the role of women under the social’s view had been tested or not

Before Xuemei Wan, Jasdomin Tolentino (2008) demonstrated thatKate Chopin’s unconventional and matriarchal family as well as the 19th

century’s society had a great impact on her works then in “Kate Chopin’s life and Personal Influence.” Kate Chopin’s background comprising her family,

living condition, and some close people dying in her life was all mentioned inorder to find out the relationship between Kate Chopin's biography and hermain female characters Although the way Kate Chopin used her own life

experience to embody her feminist views in “The Story of an Hour” and “The storm” was also analyzed, Jasdomin Tolentino had not given readers a

glimpse into the stereotype of women along with their role in society or

used “Désirée’s Baby” as a salutary literary resource

Furthermore, in terms of Vietnamese and American literature, a lot ofarticles and research share the same interest in female images, especiallytheir similarities as well as differences based on the diversity of styles,

periods, areas or social influence, such as Comparing main female characters’ images in Kate Chopin stories and Ngo Tat To’s novel “Tat den” (Nguyen Thi Van Anh, 2012), Cutural features reflected in women-related American and Vietnamese proverbs (Pham Thi Yen Dan, 2016), A comparative literary analysis of the wives in Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story

of an Hour” (Luu Thi Huong, 2016) Nevertheless, there has not been much

absorption paid to H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng and Kate Chopin’s great writings

In a nutshell, after exploring some related research, the author has

made a decision to conduct the thesis on the image of women in “Bánh trôi

n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ,” “The Story of an Hour” ảnh làm lẽ” and “Désirée’s Baby” for several

reasons There are certain studies on the four separate works; however,these works just concentrated on the symbolism analysis in the work itself.Some available studies demonstrated the comparison between two stories

of the same authors instead of different artistic works of two periods in twocountries, consequently, it was unsuccessful to lay emphasis on the changes

of social stereotype in women’s images in the turn of the ages and also onthe cultural differences.

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

This section’s aim is to map out the methods employed to conduct thewhole paper Consequently, the subjects of the study, data collectioninstruments and data analysis procedures are presented in this chapter

III.1 Subjects of the study

This thesis is designed with an objective to figure out similarities anddifferences between the main female character’s images conducted by Hồ Xuân Hương’s and KateXuân Hương’s and Kateng and by Kate Chopin To achieve these purposes, the imageswere analyzed, synthesized and compared to see how the four main female’simages remained their own color, being the representatives for the socialwomen As a result, the subject of this research is limited to four works:

“Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ,” “The Story of an Hour” ảnh làm lẽ” and “Désirée’s Baby.”

III.2 Data collection instruments

This thesis embodied the qualitative method as the main approachduring the process of conducting The utilization of this method isundoubtedly favorable in various academic disciplines, especially in thesocial science as utilizing the qualitative method is able to get the issues betested in depth In addition, with the assistance of this approach, the authorconveniently complies with some data collection and data analysisprocedures to carry out the thesis carefully

III.3 Data collection procedures

III.3.1 Collecting data

It was unsuspicious that reading was the most popular and effectivechoice to gather various materials for the research since the characteristics

of the study was to compare the images of female main characters in fourworks In order to implement this study, the writer consults various reliabledata sources such as books, theses or research articles, published writings,and prestigious online sources One of the outstanding advances ofemploying online websites from the Internet was its up-dated, abundant andauthentic information It also helped the author search for information more

quickly and economically Additionally, it was even more impressive that theInternet was an ideal instrument when finding the data unavailable in booksfrom the libraries After being collected, processed and analyzed, theinformation continued to be used to help the researcher answer the givenresearch questions clearly and convincingly.

III.3.2 Discussing with supervisor, other teachers and classmates

Most importantly, the wise and valuable guidance of the supervisor isextremely necessary in the processes of forming the outline, selecting thematerials, writing the paper and checking it Besides working independentlywith the materials and data analysis, the author also talked to someliterature teachers at the author’s high school and some friends at Faculty ofPhilology at H.N.U.E to have a thorough view on H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng and KateChopin along with their four selected works to increase reliability of thestudy In addition, all the suggestions from other teachers and friends atF.O.E, H.N.U.E are really useful for the fulfillment of this research paper

III.4 Personal knowledge

The author’s personal knowledge also plays an important role incarrying out the thesis By taking American Literature course in the 7th

semester’s curriculum at F.O.E, H.N.U.E, the writer has learned thedevelopment of American literature and a number of literary characteristics

as well Furthermore, she also used her own knowledge to read the selectedworks carefully and analyze four female’s images in terms of differentaspects of women’s daily life

III.5 Data analysis procedure

III.5.1 Analyzing the selected data

After integrating, categorizing and arranging data into a suitableorder of ideas, the images of female characters was examined in terms ofappearances, characteristics, responsibilities in family and society as well,social position, hidden resentments, dreams and so on, relying on theauthor’s background knowledge of Vietnamese and American Literature and

also on the selected data from prestigious sources This stage suppliedrelevant information for synthesizing and comparing process to get the mostaccurate and valuable results.

III.5.2 Synthesizing achieved results

By organizing the collected information, the author couldexpeditiously manage and retain the data, afterwards she was capable offiguring out the need for further information, or discarding unneeded one,finally synthesizing disparate pieces of information into new knowledge Toget information organized, an outline was designed to identify main pointsand detailed ones in order to sequentially arrange materials Onceinformation was managed, the author combined the distinct elements toconstruct a coherent understanding of the images of women to comparethem more easily

III.5.3 Completing and concluding selected information

After the researcher synthesized data, she compared four female characters’images in terms of several criteria from the analytic approach the culturalstereotype about women and the changes in their role in society It came tofinal task when the author spent time writing the thesis and figuring outsome findings and conclusions for her research on purpose of providingreaders a comprehensive look at the similarities and distinctions betweenfour male female characters in four selected works; therefore, she needed toemploy her critical thinking to convince the readers through analyzing the

central characters in “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ,” “The Story of an Hour” ảnh làm lẽ” and “Désirée’s Baby.” The author had to try hard in this step to accomplish

her study and check the whole writing to avoid unexpected mistakes

CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

This section presented the consequences in comparing the femaleimages in H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s poems “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ” ảnh làm lẽ” and Kate

Chopin’s short stories “The Story of an Hour,” “Désirée’s Baby.” The

similarities and differences among those images were motivated in terms ofappearances, faithfulness, marriage, responsibilities, unfulfillment, socialposition, hidden resentments and dreams Also, the cultural stereotype ofVietnamese and American women reflected in the four selected workswould be discussed

IV.1 Similarities and differences among four main female characters’ images

IV.1.1 Similarities among four main female characters’ images

It is indisputable that all four female protagonists though owned bothbeauty and faithfulness, they still lived in such unfulfilled marriage lives andwere put at low positions in their societies; consequently they silentlybrought up their own dreams, their strong inspiration of happiness andfreedom

traditional cake called “bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” ” Apprehending that cake’s c

characteristics, H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng creatively made use of the meaning in afigurative way “Bánh trôi nước” is always white and round, and neverc” is always white and round, and neverbefore has this shape altered, compared with the stability of Vietnamesewomen’s beauty That consistent beauty would always stay the same even in

difficulties Via “tr ng” ắng lại vừa tròn.” and “tròn,” Vietnamese female image in general

which was drawn with the healthy white skin and curvaceous shape wasconsidered pretty one following the country’s traditional beauty standards.Those women whose mien was curvaceous would easily give birth to manychildren, which brought the happiness to her whole family

In “The Story of an Hour,” Mrs Mallard’s appearance was not much demonstrated The very first information about her was “Mrs Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble,” which came to a conclusion of her effeminate

heath condition Together with her feeble health status, Mrs Mallard maynot involve in much household chores with her inanimate hands as the

narrator described her “two white slender hands.” Also, Kate Chopin depictured Mrs Mallard as a young woman, “with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength,” which finally illustrated

her as a beautiful vulnerable woman in her youth

Similarly, Mrs Désirée in “Désirée’s Baby” was delineated as a young

beautiful mother at her age of twenties Since her girlhood, she had been

appreciated by her cherish and genuine beauty, “For the girl grew to be beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere - the idol of Valmondé.” Her

affectionate pulchritude attracted Aubignys so much that he desired to getmarried to her, desired to give her every best things he could, regardless of

her obscure origin: “That was the way all the Aubignys fell in love, as if struck

by a pistol shot.” Finally, though it was Mrs Désirée overwrought saying to

convince that her appearance was of the white, her portray as an attractive

woman was most clearly depicted: “Look at my hair, it is brown; and my eyes are gray, Armand, you know they are gray And my skin is fair,” seizing his wrist “Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand,” she laughed hysterically.”

Overall, though living in two societies where women’s beautystandards might different, the female characters in four selected works wereconsidered quite beautiful in their society

IV.1.1.2 Being faithful wives

A housewife is always supposed to be faithful and supportive for thewhole famil; wherever she lived, even in Western countries or in Easternones The women in their nation’s challenging times had to confront manydifficulties, some of the women could not stay fidelitous while others

successfully kept their dignity In “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” c,” “C nh làm lẽ,” ảnh làm lẽ” “The Story

of an Hour” and “Désirée’s Baby,” H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng and Kate Chopin used theirown unique style to draw the most riveting images of the faithful mainfemale characters in their times

With regard to the poem “Bánh trôi n ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” ,” Vietnamese women, c

especially the ones depicted in H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng’s poem kept their dignitystaying the same in whatever condition The poem’s last line focused on

confirming the women’s highly appreciate dignity “Mà em v n gi t m lòng ẫn giữ tấm lòng ữ tấm lòng ấy,” “Cảnh son.” It was the wife’s faithfulness that every Vietnamese woman was

supposed to have and remain until the end of their life She was obedienthousewives who devoted all her life to take care of the whole family, kept

her “t m lòng son.” ấy,” “Cảnh The phrase “t m lòng son” ấy,” “Cảnh was used to highlight the mostappreciate dignity of the woman, which was her faithfulness and adherence

The word “Mà” started the last line as a strong confirmation of the woman’s

virtue, even under a feudal system, in which she had to follow family men’sdecisions, including her father’s, her husband’s and her son’s In the 18th –

19th century, personality of a woman was the most essential as it was thesocial standard that the whole community used to evaluate her If thewoman refused to follow this standard, she would be punished in draconianand painful ways, which easily led to women’s suffocant feeling and also thedesire to be released from that miserable life

Furthermore, the Vietnamese women in “C nh làm lẽ” ảnh làm lẽ” shared thesame harsh social condition with the former one when the nation was

experiencing the disorders and instability The line “Thân này ví bi t d ết dường ười trầu,” “Quả mít,” “Tự tình” ng này nh ” ỉ” was a lament for her misery when the woman was just a concubine,

coeval the woman’s awareness of her valuable dignity Via “Thân này” which

was familiar in Vietnamese traditional folk-song and originally the profess ofwomen’s grievous fades, H Xuân Hồ Xuân Hương’s and Kate ương’s and Kateng creatively looked up to the beauty

in not only woman’s appearance, but also woman’s virtue, especially heradherence Even when she had to share her happiness with another woman,she still devoted her love and her sacrifice for her husband and her family.Although it was for her tragedy, she accepted to be a concubine, accepted to

take care for the family unconditional by “m ước,” “Cảnh làm lẽ” n không công” to execute awomen’s highest responsibility

Kate Chopin also depicted Mrs Mallard in “The Story of an Hour” as a

docile and faithful wife, convinced by her death at the end of the story Whenthe thought of being free were coming to her, she did not want to admit it

immediately and also considered it a crime: “A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.” Moreover, before getting the news of her husband’s death, Mrs Mallard accepted her life as a respectable woman, “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death.”

She was intensely aware that her husband deserved for being anguishedrather than anything Mrs Mallard could not release herself from theunhappy marriage; otherwise, she might not able to be against the society’scriticism Eventually, her death turned out to help her keep her decorousimage and noble virtue

Sharing the same appreciated characteristics as three other main

female ones, in “Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, Mrs Désirée was considered

a decent wife as well Mrs Désirée spent conscientiously her love to herhusband, which was frankly externalized via her speech, her eyes, her smile:

“This was what made the gentle Désirée so happy, for she loved him desperately When he frowned she trembled, but loved him When he smiled, she asked no greater blessing of God.” Even since the moment her husband found her “not white,” she had still loved Armand desperately She