Kahlil Gibran's 'The Prophet' and Kate Chopin's 'The Story of an Hour'

The Prophet’s ‘On Marriage’ and Life of Mrs. Mallard in 'The Story of an Hour'

                                          Kahlil Gibran, a famous Lebanese writer, philosopher and a visual artist; in his well-known prose poetry ‘The Prophet”, had written spiritual and philosophical verse under twenty-six topics. In this work, he is literally prophesizing on ideal friendship, marriage, love, work, etc. When Almitra requests her Master Almustafa speak on Marriage he says,

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.

You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.

Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. 

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. 

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

                         In the first four, the author emphasizes that in a marital bond a man and a woman should be together, until death with its “white wings”, scatter “their days”, that they wanted to live for themselves. But then, the main essence that the author emphasizes on marriage in these lines on marriage is that; though the couples are united in their body, mind and soul; there should be some space in their ‘togetherness’. This space that Gibran demands may denote the private space that both the husband and wife should have for themselves, to assert their individuality. This space may also denote the real identity, which an individual should have for himself or herself, in spite of being united in marriage. The author then says that, they should love each other but should not make a ‘bond of love’. The literal meaning of ‘making a bond’ is a deed by which a person is ‘committed’ to make payment to another. Here the author means to say, either a husband from his wife or a wife from her husband must not ‘demand’ each other, to reciprocate the unconditional love that one shows on another. Because, this may lead to lack of self-assertion and self-identity, due to the unconscious possessiveness of either of the couple.

                                            By emphasizing this attitude of having a private space between for themselves, the author have slightly hinted at the term ‘life-partner’; a soul-mate with whom one lives his/her life together, but with their own way of living it, which is accepted by both of them. To emphasize this, the author gives the instance of the ‘strings of the lute’ that are ‘alone’ producing a single harmonious music.

                                 

                                In the short story ‘The Story of an Hour’ by Kate Chopin, the character of Mrs. Mallard’s married life contradicts this view of Gibran. In the story, Mrs. Mallard, on hearing the news of her husband, Brently Mallard’s death in a railroad disaster, burst into tears with grief. But then, in her room, being alone, she experiences a kind of ‘monstrous joy’, for which she is scared initially, but then believes that it gets hold of her mind and soul. She senses a kind of freedom and happiness, on her husband’s death, believing that she would live the rest of her years for herself. This ‘monstrous joy’ is the sweet fruit of freedom and joy that doesn’t get hold of her but the thing that she wishes to taste. This sounds to be deviant from the typical temperament, which a society demands from a wife at the death of her husband. But this conforms to the psychological attitude of a woman, whose real identity and individuality is lost, at the cost of her husband’s suffocating love and care on her. This attitude is evident with the words,

                       “Free! Body and soul free!”

                            This lack of self-assertion and self-identity shows that there is this lack of private space between them in their ‘togetherness’, that Gibran emphasizes as the important element that adds harmony to the music of life. This makes her to repress all her passion and desires, to live for someone who is said to be united in marriage with her. She does not explicitly hate her husband because she is aware that, he would have, had this unconditional love for her perceiving that it would make her feel good. But it only provoked a sense of suffocation in her; that pushed her to the unconscious state of despair, to get away, not from him, but from his possessiveness; to live her life to the fullest. It is very much symbolic in the story; initially she is addressed as Mrs. Mallard by the author but as the story unfolds her inner sense of freedom, she is addressed as Louise by her sister, Josephine; thereby emphasizing her individuality, with which she would continue to exist in the remaining years. 

                                                This despair need for freedom to live life, leads to the tragic end of Mrs. Mallard’s death at shock, when she sees her husband back at the threshold; unaware of the railroad disaster as well as the psychotic disaster that would put his wife to death. But I would say, that the soul of Louise had broken the bondage of imposed upon her as Mrs. Mallard; releases itself for the search of unconditional love with a private space, at least in in Eternity, with the help of Omniscient Power.