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.

The man ruled the home and the marriage. The woman's purpose was to take care of the house and serve the man in all ways. In Chopin's time, getting married was the normal path of men and women as they grew up and made their way in life. It was assumed that everyone wanted to marry, raise a family, and stay together, until death did they part. If this story was written today, death wouldn't be the only acceptable escape from marriage; one would just get a divorce. However, "divorce was quite rare in the 1800s, and if one was to occur, men were automatically given legal control of all property and children"(Hicks). Today, many women still view marriage as the natural outcome of their futures; the difference is that, at least in America, you can marry for love. In Kate Chopin's lifetime, many marriages were still arranged. Which could have been why Mrs. Mallard felt so tied down, it may not have been her choice and this is why freedom is so desirable to her in the

In the past many decades the definition of what a marriage means changed dramatically in some areas. For the author of both stories, Kate Chopin, she wanted the reader to get something out of the story. She likes to explore all types of themes in her stories such as, racism, the roles of women, and adultery. With these themes and messages she struggled to have most of her stories published. In many of her stories she passed along these messages through the manner of a marriage. In her short stories “The Story of an Hour” and “Desiree 's Baby” she showed just how different marriages could be as well as how similar they can be. Chopin portrays the lives of the main characters, Louise Mallard from “The Story of An Hour” and Desiree Aubigny

     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”.

Mallard’s welfare by Richards and Josephine is immediately apparent. This concern is emphasized through the external narrative perspective used by Chopin as displayed in the first sentence when “great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (74). Josephine treats her as you would a child by breaking the news to her “in broken sentences” (74) and “veiled hints” (74). The external perspective is effective in visualizing how Mrs. Mallard reacts to the news of her husband’s death when she immediately brakes down as “she did not hear the story as many women had heard the same”

In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is a woman with a heart problem that gets horrifying news that her husband has passed away in a train crash. When she starts thinking about her freedom, she gets excited; she is happy to start her new, free life. However, a few hours later her husband walks in the door and she finds out it was all a mistake. When she realizes her freedom is gone her heart stop and she then dies. In “Desiree’s Baby” Desiree is an orphaned woman who married her loving husband, Armand, and they are very much in love. In Kate Chopin’s short story is says, “"He was reminded that she was nameless. What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?" (24-26). When they finally have a baby, they notice that the child is showing marks that he is a mix of two races. The husband blames the wife because of her unknown past and sends her and the baby away for good. Later, as he is cleaning out their old stuff, he finds a letter that says, in fact, he is the one of mixed race and not her. The husband then realizes he gave up everything he cared about over a silly mistake. Both of these stories show the women struggling in their marriages. It is typical for Kate Chopin to show the dominance in the male characters, especially in the marriages as it was in the “Old South”, when women were meant to serve their husbands. Rena Korb says, “In certain ways, "Desiree 's Baby" is

"There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and woman believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Chopin 182). Chopin makes her strong statement in this quote from the story here. Mrs. Mallard has no one to answer to but herself now, she feels liberated that her husband can no longer control her.

“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

Mrs Mallard's awkward attitude after learning of her husband's death establishes an irony- somebody who is really happy in marriage will not enjoy nature in peace and have mixed emotions; the person will feel genuine grief upon hearing of the death of her husband. Here, Mrs Mallard's reaction portrays the extent to which her thirst for freedom was strong. Kate Chopin allows us to visualise the moment that Mrs Mallard is able to shed the bondage of marriage: "free, free, free!." She feels liberated through her husband's death. Much emphasis is laid on her joy upon finding freedom- "there would be no one to live for." The author also points out that "she knew that she would weep again.....folded in death." This only highlights the fact that it is not an expression of love but seems more like a duty that

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.

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a wonderful short story bursting with many peculiar twists and turns. Written in 1894, the author tells a tale of a woman who learns of her husband’s death, but comes to find pleasure in it. Many of the elements Kate Chopin writes about in this story symbolize something more than just the surface meaning. Through this short story, told in less than one thousand one hundred words, Kate Chopin illustrates a deeper meaning of Mrs. Mallard’s marriage with her husband through many different forms of symbolism such as the open window in the bedroom, Mrs. Louise Mallard’s heart trouble, and Chopin’s physical description of Mrs. Mallard.

Chopin shows the suffering of women through the irony of the story, Louise Mallard’s heart condition, and Mr. and Mrs. Mallard’s relationship. She was hoping to show a reflection of the society as a whole because she believed that men and women are equal. Although Kate Chopin’s stories were written during a time where women were not given many rights, her writing mirrors the hopeful liberation that women will

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