The Dilemma of Women Essay

The story of an Hour by Chopin is about Louise Mallard desire for freedom. Throughout her life Mrs. Mallard was incapable to leave her home due to a heart illness. The doctor explained how although a sudden shock could kill Louise she would be able to leave the house. Louise was beyond happy to finally be given the chance to leave her home. Brently Mallard did everything in his power to stop her from leaving by using the sickness as a justification. Mr. Mallard would only dedicate little time and affection to his wife. The newspaper had reported a railroad disaster in which Brently Mallard’s name appeared. Louise sister’s Josephine and Brently’s friend knowing of her heart condition gently broke the devastating news to her.

In the short story “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin, the character Mrs. Mallard is a grieving wife who pictures her life by herself. While grieving her husband’s death, she is thinking about being free and independent. Mrs. Mallard and women in the days where they depended on their husbands to provide for the family, while they stayed home and took care of the house. “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would be hers absolutely.” (Chopin 548) She was a sympathetic character who loved her husband but is ready to be free. Mrs. Mallard’s reactions to Mr. Mallard’s death is justified by the way she grieves for him. The way she is dealing with the loss of her husband is admirable, even though in the end it kills her.

     Relationships seem to be the favorite subject of Kate Chopin’s stories. As Margaret Bauer suggests that Chopin is concerned with exploring the “dynamic interrelation between women and men, women and patriarchy, even women and women” (Bauer 146). In “The Story of an Hour” Chopin deals with the subject of marriage. She illustrates the influence of family alliance on individual freedom. According to Wohlpart,“The Story of an Hour” describes the journey of Mrs. Mallard against the Cult of True Womanhood as she slowly becomes aware of her own desires and thus of a feminine self that has long been suppressed”(Wohlpart 2). The Cult of True Womanhood in the XIX century included “purity” and “domesticity”. The former suggested that women must maintain their virtue. The latter – denied them their intellectual and professional capabilities (Papke 12). Being the victim of this Cult, Louise Mallard was a good example of a wife without “her own desires and feminine self”.

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.

The Story of an Hour represents a single hour in Mrs. Louise Mallard’s life, in which a woman who has a weak heart due to emotional distress, experiences the momentary joy of freedom after hearing that her husband Brently Mallard had been killed in a railroad accident. Mrs. Mallard’s initial reaction, upon hearing of her husband’s death, is not far from what readers expected; she is deeply grief stricken, crying uncontrollably and wants to be left alone. However, during the hour she spent alone in her room, her state of mind changes dramatically. Sitting in the armchair motionless, she sees the blossoming

In The Story of An Hour, the main characters are Mrs. Mallard (Louise) and Mr. Mallard. The other name characters are Richards and Josephine. The story began with her sister Josephine who told Louise the news about her husband died in a railroad accident. Louise was very sad, and sometimes she wept at once. She went away to her room alone. No one followed her. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver

It is a fantasy, a dream, and “A Story of an Hour” was indeed first published in Vogue magazine in 1894 under the more revealing title of “The Dream of an Hour.” Given her dissatisfaction with the best that life has to offer her and her unrealistic expectations of absolute freedom, therefore, there is no other option for Louise expect death. The conclusion of the story follows logically upon Louise’s specifications of her deepest wishes. Chopin’s expose of the fanciful dream of Louise is richly subtle, and is an exquisite example of her remarkable ability to present an untenable view in a seemingly sympathetic way.” In “The Story of an Hour” Chopin projects with delicately incisive irony what would happen if an immature and shallow egotist were to face the earthly consequence of an impossible dream of her afflicted heart” (Berkove

Mallard, the protagonist in “The Story of an Hour” lost her husband, she began to feel a sense of relief and hope that she would finally be able to have the freedom to do what she wanted. Upon receiving the news of the death, Mrs. Mallard looked outside her house and started to notice a “delicious breath of rain” and multiple “patches of blue sky” that were beginning to “[meet] and [pile] one above” each other” (Chopin 1). While Mrs. Mallard was in her room thinking about the death, she imagined “a long procession of years” that would “belong to her absolutely” and was excited to begin living this new era of her life (Chopin 3). It is evident how the setting Chopin uses in this story goes along with the feelings of Mrs. Mallard, as the setting outside is depicted as wonderful and hopeful with “patches of blue sky,” which ultimately goes along with Mrs. Mallard’s hope she felt in the future without a husband (Chopin 1). The fact that Mrs. Mallard felt a sense of hope and joy in response to her husband’s death demonstrates how women did not even feel like they would have the opportunity to succeed at their ambitions unless they were without the influence of

Who is Kate Chopin exactly? Notably, people acknowledge Chopin for her novel “The Awakening”, in which she is vocal about women gaining independence, but society did not particularly like her vocalizing her opinion. Hence, Chopin was a feminist, who wrote short stories and some novels. “The Story of an Hour” written by Chopin is an exhibition of a woman coming into her own independence. Chopin wrote this poem around a time when women were inferior to men, although Chopin’s message is clearly heard throughout the poem. In particular, Mrs. Mallard is the main character in “The Story of an Hour”, and she is waiting for the moment that she will have the privilege as a woman. Knowingly, when Mrs. Mallard got married, she lost her identity, represented by the open window, her name, and heart trouble, which are symbols of her newfound freedom.

Patriarchal ideals in “Story of an Hour” enforce the inferiority of women, and breaking the patriarchy liberates womankind. Kate Chopin sheds light on the deadly results that patriarchy can bring. From the very first line, patriarchal ideals are expressed by letting the reader know that “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, [and] great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin). Mrs. Mallard is too feeble to hear of her husband’s death, and keeping this news from her means that her truth is being withheld. While not explicit, this is an example of patriarchy at work. Mrs. Mallard is not strong enough for her truth, so a man must tell her sister, who then tells Mrs. Mallard. This extensive filtration supports the notion that women are inferior because they cannot handle the stress of bad news. In a turn of expectations, Mrs. Mallard sees the news of her husband’s death as a beacon of liberation. By her lonesome, Mrs. Mallard assures herself that “there would be no one to live for during those coming years [after her husband’s death]; she would live for herself.” (Chopin). Patriarchy laid down upon Mrs. Mallard so much that the breaking of it frees her. She discovers her truth for herself, not a filtered truth by a man, which is a result of the patriarchal forces in her life being dissolved.

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a short yet complex story, describing Mrs Mallard’s feelings. It focuses on the unfolding emotional state of Mrs Mallard after the news of her husbands death, and has overflowing symbolism and imagery. It is an impressive literary piece that touches the readers’ feelings and mind and allows the reader to have a connection to Mrs Mallard’s emotional process. Although the story is short, it is complete with each word carrying deep sense and meaning. It is written in the 19th century, a time that had highly restrictive gender roles that forbade women to live as they saw fit. Mrs Mallard experiences something not everyone during this time has the luck to have; the happiness of freedom that the reader only

A Woman Far Ahead of Her Time, by Ann Bail Howard, discusses the nature of the female characters in Kate Chopin’s novel’s and short stories. Howard suggests that the women in Chopin’s stories are longing for independence and feel torn between the feminine duties of a married woman and the freedom associated with self-reliance. Howard’s view is correct to a point, but Chopin’s female characters can be viewed as more radically feminist than Howard realizes. Rather than simply being torn between independent and dependant versions of her personality, “The Story of an Hour’s” Mrs. Mallard actually rejoices in her newfound freedom, and, in the culmination of the story, the position of the woman

In the story The story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is about a woman named Mrs. Mallard and her conflict about her husband dying and the conflict that she has to face after she hears the news. Mrs. Mallard had an internal conflict with her independence that she now has. But with this independence comes the opinions of the society and how they think women should act and what they think women should do.

The focus of the “The Story of an Hour” is on Mrs. Mallard, who is the quaint and seemed to be frail women with a heart condition. Mrs. Mallard is told that her husband was killed in a tragic train accident. As she processes this devastating news, she realizes that she is free from the chains of her marriage. That she can finally be the woman

After reading “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin the reader can see that the text reveals a major theme about freedom with the use of a few characters, a basic setting, and plot. This text was written to address the crisis of the restricted lives women were forced to live during that time period. In the beginning of the story, the narrator is discussing how they were being careful to break the news of Louis husband’s death because she had a heart problem. In the middle of the text, we learn how the news was accepted. Finally, in the end of the text, the author adds an interesting plot twists that brings the meaning of the story together. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” is the best story because it developed the theme of the loss of freedom can be detrimental through her use of plot, setting, and character.