A Woman Who Is a Person in Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour

Louise Mallard began to grief her husband’s death in Josephine’s arm. When alone in the room the sobbing had stopped. She then reveals great joy as Louise realizes

In my research paper I want to discuss the concept of freedom for a woman in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, and how the wrong news can make the happiest person in the world and then cause her death.

Kate Chopin is known for being criticized for empowering the subject of female sexuality and independence. In Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, it is placed in a time where men were known as being the head of the household while women were only in charge of raising the children and caring for the home. In the 1890s, women didn’t have so much power to themselves compared to today’s society where female empowerment is frequently encouraged. Chopin’s story narrates a sequence of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions that goes within the motion of the story. As she overcomes the sudden death of her husband, her emotion of grief soon turns into the sudden feeling of freedom, later on emerging into a strong independent woman.

At the beginning of the story no one wished to tell Mrs. Mallard about the death of her husband due to her heart condition. Her heart trouble is a symbol for the way she feels crushed or hurt by her marriage. During this time period women were expected to live under the control of their husbands, so while being married to Brently, she begins to lose her identity. In the story, she is only referred to as Mrs. Mallard she isn’t referred to as Louise until after her husband’s death. She is an accessory to her husband is forced to live in the shadow of her husband and as a result of this she has lost herself over the years. Louise’s character is used as a symbol to represent the women of this time period and show the sacrifices they make for their husbands and the troubles that come along with the inequalities they experience in marriage.

In the beginning, Louise Mallard is referred to as the wife of Brently Mallard instead of her own name. Showing us the she doesn't get to be her own person. Once she heard about his death she "went way to her room alone", and she began to think about the life she has waiting for her.

Mallard underwent can also be demonstrated when the story says “She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!”. This demonstrated that Ms.Mallard was under oppression, probably from all the restrictions women had during this era. This can be concluded because Mallard did state the love she once felt toward her husband. Throughout this era, women had a stereotypical role, which included duties of a housewife. Throughout the story it is clear how Louise felt suppressed under this title. Mallard finally had the feeling of independence, which affected her not only emotionally, but physically as well “The vacant look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her

Kate Chopin describes in "The Story of an Hour" a short story, a opposing point of view of marriage by giving the reader a woman, the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard who is somewhat unruffled and calm by the news of her husband, Brently’s, death. After she learns that her husband is still alive, it caused her heart to give out and she died. Though the “The Story of the Hour” was published in the eighteen hundred, the opinions of marriage in the story could correspond with this day in age as well. Louise felt trapped in her marriage. The lines of her face "bespoke repression" (paragraph 8) expresses her hidden feeling of entrapment.

The earliest waves of feminism came to rise in the late 1800’s. The oppression of women and limited freedom is illustrated in Kate Chopin’s, The Story of an Hour. In this story, a woman loses her husband and grieves at first thought. Later however, she realizes the death of her husband may actually be a blessing. Chopin is able to illustrate her message through the emotions of Louise Mallard and through the language of the story.

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin makes one ask themselves “why”. The story is a very thought provoking. It is about a woman, Louise, whose husband “died” in a train accident. When she finds out, she thinks of herself as free. Why would she be so happy when she just found out that her husband, Brentley, had died? She then finds out that her husband did not die. She then dies after seeing him. Why would she die after seeing him and seeing that he is alive? One would think, why would Kate Chopin write a story so different? In those days, those types of stories were very frowned upon. The real question is, where did she get

Kate Chopin is best known to focus on sensitive women and “accept passion as a legitimate subject for serious, outspoken fiction”. Most of her work makes herself known as one of the well-known feminists because most of her main characters being women. In most of the writing, the main character usually falls hopelessly in love and it ends with a tragedy. In the “The Story of the Hour,” the theme is no different causing most of her writing to go unnoticed due to the fact that her work was “revolting against tradition and authority”. These writings earn her the title of “pioneer in the amoral treatment of sexuality, of divorce, and of woman’s urge for an existential authenticity.”

So, the death of Mr. mallard is showing Louise is living freedom in her thoughts like a prison-freed bird. She claims, “spring days, summer days, and all sorts of days that would be in her own (63-64). The death of her husband gave her a fresh look of life in her future. She now does not have to run according to her husband’s will.

Jamil asserts “the fact that Louise passes away in the closing stages of a mere heart disease, which doctors consider having come about due to her joyful emotions after seeing her husband, is a symbol of the marriage disease” (210). The narrator also uses imagery to spice up the story. Following Louise’ learning of the death of her husband, she goes to her room and sits while gazing out of the window. The twittering of birds is an image that the author uses to represent a new season, spring, which stand for renewal, as well as birth. This shows the new lease of life, a sense of freedom, that Louise feels that the death of her husband has brought to

In the beginning of the story, Louise Mallard faces what should be one of the most difficult situations during her lifetime—the death of her husband. You can only imagine how incredibly heartbroken she was, but that does not turn

Kate Chopin (1850–1904), an American author, wrote two published novels and about a hundred short stories in the 1890s. Most of her best-known work concentrates on the lives of sympathetic, intelligent women. Many stories ended up being published in high-status magazines such as Vogue and American Press Association. Chopin’s novels were mostly forgotten after her death in 1904, but several of her short stories appeared within five years after her death, some were reprinted and people started to read her stories again. Since 1969, numerous scholars have written about Chopin’s life and work. Feminist critics have had a massive influence. Most of what has been written about Kate Chopin since 1969 is feminist in nature or is focused on women’s

People who judge or moralize others and their experiences often are found judging themselves as well. The ones guilty of judging another individual will often find themselves moralizing their own life because they are living the same way. In the nineteenth century, there were many inequalities between men and women; therefore, the moralizing of women was a regular practice of most society in that day. The author Kate Chopin, a literary novelist who produced many works throughout her life in the 1800’s and early 1900’s, was a woman who did not shy away from writing the many truths of the women of this era. She writes about many instances that were not always deemed proper for the public during her time; however, she continued to produce stories nonetheless. Kate Chopin’s background heavily affected the writing style and content of all her literature; therefore, one must know the life of Chopin in order to understand why she has chosen to write the stories she wrote. Kate Chopin went through many trials throughout her life, and these experiences have been reflected in her writing. Because Kate Chopin has experienced the same situations as many of her characters, she presents her characters and their situations without judging or moralizing.