The Power Of Freedom By Kate Chopin

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.

As seen through a critical analysis through the Feminist Criticism of the short story, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, women are expected to be weak, emotional and reliant on their husband, the dominant one, due to the oppressive gender roles imposed by a patriarchal society. In the story, women are expected to be weak and emotional, and such expectations are seen in the actions of other people, but also the women affected as well, as many, including Mrs. Mallard, the main character, act accordingly to the expectations. However, upon realizing the positive implications of a husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences a freeing revelation that she no longer has to be dominated and controlled by her husband and can live for herself, revealing

Anyone who receives notice of a loved ones death is never expected to take it lightly. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Mrs. Mallard is informed of her husbands “death” as gently as possible, and immediately she understands the enormous significance this loss will have on her life. Unlike many widow’s, her feelings of utter devastation do not last. Mrs. Mallard’s sobs of loss turn to cries of joy after she reflects upon her own character and discovers truths about her marriage.

Chopin addresses emotional freedom through small waves of fear and insecurity which are ironically surpasses by great waves of joy. When told about her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard “did not hear the story as many women heard the same, with paralyzed inability to accept its significance” (Chopin 65) instead she was immediately filled with grief. The idea of her husband being dead was not unbelievable, possibly because she had thought, or even fantasized about it before. Mrs.Mallard

Courage…dedication…persistency…fearlessness…these are the words that may abruptly come knocking into an individual’s mind, when we hear the compelling word heroic. Over the course of the novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, I’ve come to discover that these adjectives do not fairly denote who a hero truly is. Can you ever consider an outcast a hero?... living within the norms and ideas of society that may reject his/her own philosophy, an outcast that may just be eagerly fighting, both physically and mentally to convey what others cannot see. It’s time we realized that a hero can be derive from distinctive ideas or norms build within society, but the characteristic that one must contained to truly be derived or look upon as a hero… is love… the love that empowers one to fight for the belief that many others may just be oblivious to. This same love stimulated Edna’s awakening to a reality she knew she did not belong, a realm that she fought to escape by understanding who she is and who she needs to be inside the social hierarchy of the 1890’s.

As humans, we live our life within the boundaries of our belief systems and moral guidelines. Yet, one unexpected event can suddenly knock us out of our comfort zone and thrust us into a completely different arena. Such is the case of the central character in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” Louise Mallard, upon hearing the news of her husband’s tragic death then subsequent revelation of its fallacy, finds herself quickly moving from grief, through a sense of newfound freedom, and finally into the despair of the loss of that freedom.

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” explores the depth of a woman’s reaction to her husband’s death. The story begins with Mrs. Mallard learning of the death of her husband. Her reactions is that of a typically woman which is, sorrowful. Later, as she sits looking out a window in her room, she then goes into deep thought about her situation and discovers that she can now live life in a way that pleases her. Only to be disappointed, an hour later she finds that her husband is yet alive and immediately clasped at the sight of her husband and dies from a heart disease condition called “joy that kills”.

The 1800’s. A time of elitism, frilly dresses, and unfortunately...sexism. Kate Chopin was a young feminist writer who had a lot to say about sexism and chose to speak her mind through literature. The Story of an Hour, which was written in 1894, is a tale about a woman with a weak heart being told with the sudden news that her husband has died, and while at first she is rather upset, she soon realizes that she wasn’t happy with him at all, and that now that he was gone she was finally free to live her life with a man controlling her. But then it turns out that he is actually alive, and after seeing him walk through the door she dies from shock. This story is an example of Situational Irony and Dramatic Irony, and this essay will explain it.

After Louise heard that her husband died she ran to her room and she saw the window open next to a chair. So she goes to sit onto the chair and looks out the window “ When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under the breath: "free, free, free!"(Chopin 148) She beginning

In the 1800's married women had to submit to their husbands. Woman who got married had no voice with the law. This meant their husbands would have to take legal action for them. But these started to change when the women have more rights and more voices in the society. Even though the feminist movement started in the 1960's, earlier in Chopin short story, "Story of an Hour", Chopin explores the themes of women rebellion against their husbands, and women become more independent from their husbands. Mrs. Mallard, is not a free woman and like any woman in the 1800's has to obey her husband. She loves her husband, but for Mrs. Mallard freedom is more important than anything else. "She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome." (Chopin 1) Mrs. Mallard is sad when her husband dies, but at the same time, she is also happy because she will be free and she would not have to be submitted to her husband anymore. "Story of an Hour" describes exactly the way that Chopin fells when her husband dies. She’s about thirty years old at that time, and this is a very hard time for her when she has to carry her

The Story Of An Hour by Kate Chopin is about Mrs. Mallard and her husband Brently Mallard and the idea of her being free. In the nineteenth century marriage was viewed as total authority being given to the husband and the woman would have to obey. Since Mrs. Mallard had a heart condition she was not able to leave the house because, if she would have been shocked it could have killed her. Brently Understood this and told her to never leave the house and therefore, she would have to view the world and see through his eyes unless something would happen to him.

The Story of an Hour, first published in 1894, is a short story by Kate Chopin. Kate Chopin was an American author born in St. Louis in 1850. She started writing at the age 39 were most of her themes were about class relations, relationships, and feminine sexuality shocked in her 19th century readers. During this time period women wasn’t entitled to power or a say so in anything like women do today. The average woman during this time stayed at home, took care of the family and tended the house all while the men were out working. Even though females had feelings, their feelings were never heard because women lived their lives in silence. Since Kate Chopin lived

Kate Chopin's short story The Story of an Hour focuses on equal rights for women during the late nineteenth century. The Story of an Hour is a short ironic story about a woman, Mrs. Louise Mallard, who had just learned about the death of her husband, Mr. Mallard. Although Mrs. Mallard loved her husband; for they have traveled the world and built a stable comforting life together it seemed, she felt terrified after hearing of the tragic train accident that her husband was involved in. But at the same time, she also has a feeling of liberation and freedom from marriage for the first time. She may finally look forward to her upcoming days instead of dreading them. After later realizing that her husband was

Analysis of “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a deep and intriguing short story. The author of the story was an independent woman who lived in the 19th century. The story is about a young woman who seemed to become free from marriage responsibilities when her husband died.

Every time that I’m hearing the word “Freedom”, I’m seeing a lot of things going on with it. If someone has it, he or she could do a lot of things in the world because they have power to do things to make themselves better. There are three short stories, which the protagonists of the story have the freedom, but they used it in different ways in their different situations. One of the stories, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin that talks about Mrs. Mallard experienced freedom in just a moment. Second, the “A&P” by John Updike, which talks about Sammy who discovered freedom after he saw himself having more and better opportunities after he quits his job. The last is the story of Tillie Olsen “I Stand Here Ironing”, which talked about Emily