Marriage in "The Story of an Hour" and "A Sorrowful Woman"

Hi. I am writing- well,barely started writing- a paper on how marriage inhibits/destroys intimacy in both the Gail Godwin and Kate Chopin stories. I have some sources, that are intellectual but not all that helpful. Perhaps anyone with knowledge of these stories could give me a starting point for this 3-5 page paper? I have an opening paragraph, but it's pretty shoddy and needs work.

"A naïve assumption is that once a couple is married, love will overcome all problems. But the marital bonds of intimacy, respect, and trust must be developed, nurtured and enforced. When this fails, most couples are given a chance to make important changes. Unfortunately, many times couples gloss over these core issues with nonchalance, inhibiting them. Both "A Sorrowful Woman" by Gail Godwin and Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" can be seen as parables of the negative ideologies of marriage that show how stultifying marriage can be if it is not nurtured properly."

Thank you so much for your help.

A common, naïve assumption is that, once a couple is married, love will overcome all problems. However , the marital bonds of intimacy, respect, and trust must be developed, nurtured and enforced. When this fails, most couples are given a chance to make important changes. Unfortunately, many times couples gloss over these core issues with nonchalance, inhibiting them. Both "A Sorrowful Woman" by Gail Godwin and Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" can be seen as parables of the negative ideologies of marriage that show how stultifying marriage can be if it is not nurtured properly."

These two works also show how marriage can be inherently oppressive to women. It is a tradition from a time when women were considered inferior, and not even allowed personal freedom. Many people believe that marriage is incompatible with modern society, because it is basically unfair to women. It needs to be changed drastically, or eliminated!

Good luck!