The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin

In the “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, is about pleasure of freedom and the oppression of marriage. Just like in Kate Chopin’s story, inside most marriages, even the ones that seem to be the happiest, one can be oppressed. Even though, one might seem to be happy deep inside they miss the pleasure of freedom and living life to the fullest. Just like, in this story Mrs. Mallard feels trapped and when she hears about her husband’s death she first feels distraught, but ultimately realizes that she has gained her freedom. This news leads her to an inner battle within herself, as she tries to keep those feelings from coming out. The story culminates when she dies of a heart attack, because she realizes that her husband is not dead and she would be returning to her old pointless existence. This story has many great literary elements that keep the story interesting throughout its plot, by using great foreshadowing and symbolism.

Commonly explored throughout her works, the idea of marriage inhibiting a woman’s freedom is the driving force behind Kate Chopin’s contextual objections to propriety. In particular, The Awakening and “The Story of an Hour” explore the lives of women seeking marital liberation and individuality. Mrs. Chopin, who was raised in a matriarchal household, expresses her opposition to the nineteenth century patriarchal society while using her personal experiences to exemplify her feminist views.

“The story of an hour” by Kate Chopin was a story that was ironical yet profoundly deep. As a student I have been asked to read “a story of an hour” many times, and every time I’m surprised by how I enjoy it. People can read thousands of stories in their life times and only a handful will every stand out to them, stories that can draw out an emotion or spark a thought are the ones that will standout more. For me and “a story of an hour” the thought of freedom is what draws me the most as a teenage I would feel a deep and heavy cage that traps me in its invisible snarl. It is hard to explain why one feels that way many a times feelings are just a way of showing frustration. Mrs. Mallard I assume has many frustrations, and she associated her imprisonment with her marriage to her husband. In many versions Mrs. Mallard says he is not a mean man and she did have feelings. It is just an unexplainable blanket of depression that anyone can fall through. Like a cold or an unsuspecting wounds one cannot prevent what one does not know of until it becomes apparent .as the story progresses I add more of my own emotion and slowing I draw a bridge that connects me to the basic feel of the story. In the begging I am just an outsider looking in not yet connected with their feeling, then the realization hits one and so does mine, and finally when Mrs. Mallard freedom from her is taken yet it is not. This is what make the story believable the unchained freedom of feelings that is taboo for

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” was published in 1894 in Vogue, during a time when women do not have any legal rights. They have low education level and have no opportunity to work; what they can do is stay at home and manage the family. All their lives, they rely on their husband. Women at that time do not think about why they should be treated this way; they were being silenced by society. Kate Chopin uses the character Mrs. Mallard as the representative of all women who wants freedom at that time, and she criticizes the way society treats them, yet the difference of Mrs. Mallard’s values compared to society’s makes her become egotistic and her death end up not changing people’s mind of how to treat women properly.

Feminism is played out in a major way in Kate Chopins’ “The Story of an Hour.” The story portrays a story about the lack of freedom that all woman had in the 1800’s. The word feminism as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. A woman’s job and duty in the 1800’s was to tend to the needs of their husband’s needs. In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard, one of the main characters, was told about her husband’s death and she was initially very emotional. Her sadness was quickly turned into a burst of joy because she felt a sense of freedom. The story takes a very weird and ironic twist because her husband was really not dead and when Mrs. Mallard finds out about this she regretted abandoning her moment of freedom. If we were looking at this story through the historical and feminist lenses one would suggest that this story is about a male dominated society in the 1800s. This male dominated society caused the woman to have a lack of freedom and really made it hard for woman to have a self-identity.

Everyone who reads a story will interpret things slightly different than the person who reads it before or after him or her. This idea plays out with most every story, book, song, and movie. These interpretations create conflict and allow people to discuss different ideas and opinions. Without this conflict of thought there is no one devoting time to debate the true meaning of a text. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” tells about a woman who is informed of her husbands death, processes the emotions, and becomes content with this new status as an individual person – losing all the expectations that society expected her to live by within a marriage. This story however is written in a way that the reader has the final interpretation of the text. There are many different interpretations on not only the reason for the main character’s death, but also on the overwhelming emotions that she faces.

Considered one of American’s foremost feminist authors, Kate Chopin addresses issues challenging to the social and gender roles of the late 1800s. She celebrates women who seek their own identity and focuses on individual journeys of self-discovery. Her short story “The Story of an Hour” has a unique structure in that it adheres to a realistic premise, yet contains a protagonist who represents idealism. Faced with the news that her husband has died, Mrs. Mallard takes ownership of her own emotions and strength to control her life. However, her emotional revelation emerges only upon her husband’s supposed death. Chopin juxtaposes physical death with emotional freedom, suggesting actions and feelings are determined by social, psychological, and emotional forces instead of individual will. In order to show the fragility of Mrs. Mallard and her idealism, Chopin creates a microcosm in Mrs. Mallard’s bedroom of solidarity; a world of freedom and choice within the bedroom and the world of deterministic forces on the other side of the door. Through the setting, Chopin explores the dichotomy between the desire to change one’s situation and the possibility to change one’s situation.

The Story of an Hour Over years the roles of women and their rights have drastically changed. They have been dominated, trapped and enslaved by their marriage. Womens have slowly evolved into individuals that have rights and could stand for their own. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin might be a short story, but it showed and explained how women's felt obligated to live and be with their husbands, despite the fact that they were unhappy with them.

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin involves a woman, Louise Mallard, with heart disease discovering news of her husband 's death in a train accident. At the end of the story, as Mrs. Mallard is walking down the steps with Josephine and Mr. Mallard walks through the door. Mrs. Mallard died as a result of stress on her heart. The narrator reports, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-- of joy that kills” (181). Chopin makes this quote the last line of the play; this leaves readers with the question of what actually killed Mrs. Mallard.The doctors think that Mrs. Mallard died because of the joy of seeing her husband again. However, Mrs. Mallard dies because of the shock of seeing her husband and sadness from realizing that the joy she felt was over. So in reality, Mrs. Mallard died of heart disease—of sorrow that kills. Some reasons Mrs. Mallard felt so much sorrow when she saw Mr. Mallard are the time period, her loveless marriage, and her being robbed of the joy she felt.

Death is a common concept with common reactions. Society expects the response to the death of a spouse to be one of tears, depression, and years of mourning. However, the first time someone feels relief or happiness at the news of his or her spouse’s death is suddenly viewed as inappropriate, so it must be kept on the inside. The problem is that the reason behind the happiness is often forgotten to be analyzed. What was happening behind closed doors? What was the marriage representing? Mrs. Mallard is an important example of this in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour. She just received the news of her husband’s death and is obliged to weep at once. Nevertheless, once she gets away from the pressure of the onlookers, she finds more happiness than sadness in which she cannot fully express outside of her room. Therefore, the main conflict originates with the gender issues shown throughout the text. These issues include a married woman’s identity loss, entrapment, and feeling of being unloved.

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” tries to shed light on the conflict between women and a society that assign gender roles using a patriarchal approach. Specifically Margaret Bauer highlights, that most of Chopin’s works revolves around exploring the “dynamic interrelation between women and men, women and patriarchy, even women and women” (146). Similarly, in “The Story of an Hour” Chopin depicts a society that oppresses women mostly through the institution of marriage, as women are expected to remain submissive regardless of whether they derive any happiness. The question of divorce is not welcome, and it is tragic that freedom of women can only be realized through death. According to Bauer, the society depicted in Chopin’s story

The story, “The Story of An Hour” was written by Kate Chopin. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1850. She wrote several stories for kids and adults. The story took place in Mr. Louis’ and Mrs. Mallard’s home in nineteen century. The major characters of the story were Mr. Louis the husband of Mrs. Mallard, Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister and Mr. Richards, Mr. Louis’ friend. The conflicts were between Mrs. Mallard and her husband Mr. Louis.

“The Story of an Hour” is arguably known as Kate Chopin’s best short story. Those who have read the story, can agree that Louise Mallard, receives tragic information of her husband, Brently Mallard’s death. Mrs. Mallard then accelerates through a sequence of emotional reactions of “new spring life” and “elixir of life” (476-477), but she receives another shock that her husband is actually alive. This shock is so devastating that it is fatal. Chopin’s depiction of open windows and spring setting, can be described as a new type of freedom that Louise Mallard has never explored before. Describing “new spring life” can acknowledge the existence of freedom. Mrs. Mallard’s freedom is finally embraced and achieved, as her husband death is sanctioned. Once Brently is pronounced dead, Chopin then refers to Mrs. Mallard by her first name, Louise. However, does her new embrace of freedom make Mrs. Mallard a selfish woman or is she benevolent?

Kate Chopin, born in 1850, was one of the prominent feminist writers of the twentieth century. Her works focus predominantly on life, love, marriage, social issues and women. Her husband’s unexpected death was a tragic event in her life. However it led her to a great realization. Based on her own experience, Kate Chopin wrote a short story “The Story of an Hour” on April 19, 1894. Kate Chopin told the story of Mrs. Mallard reacting to the news of husband’s death. The story addressed women issues in marriage. Through Louise Mallard, Kate Chopin addressed women issues in marriage and gave readers a close view of what women’s lives were like during a time where it was the norm for women to submit to their husbands.

Kate Chopin provides her reader with an enormous amount of information in just a few short pages through her short story, “The Story of an Hour.” The protagonist, Louise Mallard, realizes the many faults in romantic relationships and marriages in her epiphany. “Great care [is] taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin 168). Little do Josephine and Richards know, the news will have a profoundly positive effect on Louise rather than a negative one. “When she abandoned herself,” Mrs. Mallard opened her mind to a new way of life. The word usage shows that the protagonist experienced a significant change. This life wouldn’t be compromised by her partner’s will, which will enable her to live for