Story Of An Hour Women Oppression

Written in 1894, “The Story of an Hour” is a story of a woman who, through the erroneously reported death of her husband, experienced true freedom. Both tragic and ironic, the story deals with the boundaries imposed on women by society in the nineteenth century. The author Kate Chopin, like the character in her story, had first-hand experience with the male-dominated society of that time and had experienced the death of her husband at a young age (Internet). The similarity between Kate Chopin and her heroine can only leave us to wonder how much of this story is fiction and how much is personal experience.

Women have strived hard to gain the treatment as men. In the workplace, society, and even at home women were treated as second class to men. In Kate Chopin’s, The Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard loses her husband, but her reaction is not what is expected from the reader. Mrs. Mallard’s reaction was from the treatment of her husband and now she finally felt free.

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.

Kate Chopin, a writer in the late 1800’s, focused on women’s rights and freedoms. In Chopin’s short story, The Story of an Hour, she uses Irony to convey the connection of emotional, physical and psychological freedom for the main character Mrs. Louise Mallard.

“The Story of an Hour” is a short story in which the author, Kate Chopin, presents an interesting view on women 's feeling in marriages. Louise Mallard is the main character of the story and rather than mourn her husband’s death, she fills with a confuzed joy as she feels freedom from her boring life. Once she finds out that her husband, Mr Brently, is still living, Mrs. Mallard’s heart explodes and she dies from sadness.While the idea that women can feel oppressed in marriages is most definitely true, in the story it does seem a little exaggerated. This is most likely because of Mrs. Mallard’s unnatural depression-like symptoms, as well as her failure to realize woman can be more than just wifes, even at her time.

Kate Chopin used her stories as a way to express her thoughts about society. One major theme Kate wrote about was how women have no freedom or fair treatment. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, Kate expresses her disappointment of how women are treated by their husbands. Kate reveals that she believes that marriage is not always as happy as it seems. In the story, it is revealed

Traditionally, women have been known as the less dominant sex. They have been stereotyped as being only housewives and bearers of the children. Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men. This tension is derived from men; society, in general; and within a woman herself. Kate Chopin‘s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, focus on a woman’s dilemma near the turn of the 19th century. Contradicting the “normal” or sad assumption of death, “The Story of an Hour” illustrates the significance of death representing freedom. The Story narrates about an hour of Louise Mallard’s life, as she tries to understand, and deal with her feelings of her husbands death.

Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour reflects the time in which a woman was forced to abide by the wishes of a man. From keeping the home in order to cater to his every want and need, she was degraded of her real potential, resulting in a hatred toward her spouse, the inability to speak and think freely for herself, and the a desire of independence. Throughout the text, Louise Mallard reveals that she is living in the repressive world of male dominance through her reaction to her husband’s “death” and re-arrival, her longing to be free from her current captivity, and her excitement of her new life as her own individual. The Story of an Hour beings with the acknowledgement of Mrs. Mallard’s heart disease and the depressing news of her “deceased” husband.

She is known for using her stories to depict smart and sensitive women’s lives. “Kate Chopin... focused on women as characters; she revealed the startling discrepancies between them and the men in their lives...and...women's changing identity as they sought social and financial independence and decreased dependence on men.” (Werlock) In The Story of an Hour, Chopin expresses her discontent with how women were treated in marriages, which is shown when the protagonist feels immense relief after the sudden death of her

`The Story of an Hour' was written in the nineteenth century and during this time highly restrictive gender roles forbade women to live as they saw fit. Kate Chopin presents in her story,

Kate Chopin was a feminist and she believed in women's rights and the betterment of women as a whole. Her writings inspires women to achieve more than what men would like for them to have and to become. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," it describes how a woman felt trapped by her husband and how his death set her free, which in turn allowed her to become her own person and to do the things that should wanted to do and achieve. Through the story, Kate Chopin, shows how it is to be oppressed by another being,

“When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-- of the joy that kills.” At the end of Kate Chopin’s short fiction“ The Story of an Hour”, the wife dies from a shock at the sight of her husband, who reported dead in a train disaster, unexpectedly return home. Throughout the story, there are many clues as to the true reason that causes Louise's death, the loss of freedom. Chopin uses irony to reflect a sharp illustration of women’s inferior position in the early century. At the same time, herself as a feminist of the nineteenth century represents women’s desire to gain autonomy and independence.

Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour is a great story that conveys an important message about life and how difficult it can be for women, particularly in previous centuries. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when this story was written, women were quite often mistreated and had to live restricted lives that lacked opportunity. Generally, women weren?t liberated during the 19th century. Traditionally, women did all the hard work in the house and had no opportunities to make their own living or pursue their own personal dreams. Kate Chopin does an outstanding job of portraying a woman living in these times. The Story of an Hour is a good depiction of the unspoken repression that women faced in the past. Kate Chopin's major theme of the

Kate Chopin's short story, "The Story of an Hour" is largely about the forms of repression that women were forced to endure during the epoch in which the story was written (1894) and during much of the time that preceded it. During this time period, women quite frequently had to subjugate themselves to the will of their husbands, or to some other man who had a significant amount of control over their lives. Chopin chooses to address this phenomenon in an indirect manner with this particular short story, although she does so in a thematic manner which, of course, is the ""¦idea that lies behind the story. Every story narrows a broad underlying idea, shapes it in a unique way, and makes the underlying idea concrete" (Clugston 2010, 7.1) The theme that "The Story of an Hour" is based upon is the notion of the liberation of women from the overbearing influence of men. Chopin chooses to illustrate this theme quite dramatically through literary devices of symbolism and metaphor.

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin describes an hour in the life of an oppressed woman bound by marriage in the nineteenth century. It is only when Mrs. Mallard’s husband dies in a sudden railroad accident that she realizes she is no longer tied together by the ropes of man. At first she is shocked and horrified by the tragedy, for she did say “she had loved him – sometimes” (Chopin). However, once the tears were wept, a new bountiful life of freedom was now in the eyes of Mrs. Mallard. Chopin uses imagery, third person omniscient point of view, and concepts of relief and joy in “The Story of an Hour” to convey the true feelings of Mrs. Mallard as she is freed from the strenuous and unjust oppression of women due to society’s expectation of gender roles.