Reading short stories can be refreshing. And most of short stories have moral values and messages that we can learn from.
We have discussed books, movies, and poems. Now, in this session we discuss English short stories.
We provide 5 short stories to share. Stay tuned!
1. ROMAN FEVER
Roman fever is a 1934 short story by Edith Wharton, an American writer. It was first published in the magazine Liberty. This story begins with two American middle-aged widows enjoying the view in Rome. With them were their daughters. Mrs. Slade & Mrs. Ansley were talking and reminiscing their memories in Rome while they were young. The story explores their long-time rivalry. This story is intriguing. In the last sentence it is found out that the daughter of Mrs. Ansley is also the daughter of Mrs. Slade’s husband.
2. THE STORY OF AN HOUR
The story Of An Hour is Kate Chopin’s three-page 1894 short story. The story evolves around oppression in marriage.The death of Mr. Mallard brought new life to Louise/ Mrs. Mallard. At first, she wept at the news but then she welcomed freedom she was longing for song long. She had loved him yet she often hadn’t loved him. Now her husband was dead, she felt free. She kept whispering “Free! Body and soul free!” In a shock twist, it was Louise who died after she learned her husband was still alive. They said she died of ‘joy’ of her husband’s return. This story might remind us of Kate Chopin’s famous short novel ‘The Awakening’ that whose theme is about woman and marriage. The difference is that the dreams of Louise remain dreams and die while in ‘The Awakening,’ the woman, Edna, fulfills her dreams.
3. THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE
The Nightingale And The Rose is a short story by Oscar Wilde. The story tells us about true love and sacrifice. The boy who had never fallen in love before cried for a red rose to give to his lover. But there was no red rose to be found. The nightingale that heard his sorrow helped getting the red rose by sacrificing her life. With a red rose on his hat, the boy came to the girl’s house only to get rejection. Disappointed, he threw the rose into the street. The nightingale’s sacrifice was in vain because the boy couldn’t learn from failure. He only saw the world in terms of what he read in the books.
4. THE NECKLACE
The Necklace is a short story by Guy de Maupassant. If we live up to someone’s expectation, we can never satisfy them. This story is about a woman whose desire to climb the social ladder. For Mathilde, the necklace was a symbol of social status. However, the necklace that Mathilde borrowed brought disaster. She lost the necklace & she borrowed money to replace the necklace she lost. She spent 10 years paying back the debt. After ten years living in poverty, it turned out that the necklace she borrowed was fake. This ending is painfully ironic.
5. THE CACTUS
The Cactus is a short story by O. Henry. Trysdale had to experience pain and bitterness after knowing that the girl she loved married to another man. When in fact, the girl had invited him to take her hand. But he ignored the bliss in his life and was too late to realize. A man’s pride is more than anything. But, in the end, it only killed him.
I hope this post is informative and useful.