Louise Mallard in The Story Of An Hour Essay

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.

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” grabs its readers from the start and creates an unexpected twist at the end of the short story. Louise Mallard is given the news that her husband has died in a terrible train accident. To her surprise, he arrives home and “did not even know there had been one” (Chopin, 607). Upon the death of Louise who once believes she was a widow only to find that her husband is still alive, the confusion begins. The death of Louise is questioned by many critics as a state of shock, depression, and sadness. However, Mark Cunningham’s criticism of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” states that her death was instead a discovery of freedom from the physical strains of her marriage with her husband and societal views

Throughout this short story, Louise Mallard’s personal strength becomes apparent to the reader. Mavis Chia-Chieh Tseng states, “the text indicates that Louise’s life is extremely restricted because of her domestic confinement and also suggests that she must have been secretly yearning for a life of her own” (29). This statement reveals Louise’s strength in the short story because she dealt with her husband, even though he took away much of her personal freedom. By taking away her independence, Louise’s husband, Brently, set the tone for her profound outlook on life. Kate Chopin wrote, “and yet she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being” (237). This statement confirms that Mrs. Mallard became aware that her well-being should place higher than her fading love for her abusive husband.

Kate Chopin is best known to focus on sensitive women and “accept passion as a legitimate subject for serious, outspoken fiction”. Most of her work makes herself known as one of the well-known feminists because most of her main characters being women. In most of the writing, the main character usually falls hopelessly in love and it ends with a tragedy. In the “The Story of the Hour,” the theme is no different causing most of her writing to go unnoticed due to the fact that her work was “revolting against tradition and authority”. These writings earn her the title of “pioneer in the amoral treatment of sexuality, of divorce, and of woman’s urge for an existential authenticity.”

In Kate Chopin’s the “The Story of an Hour” the prominent theme is that the truth shall set a person free. This theme fuels the central conflict by showing that freedom is presented in a variety of forms, so be careful when asking for freedom. In “ The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin the narrator tells the readers that the truth of Mr. Mallard’s death made Louise become selfish and joyful of the new that she was “free.” However, as the plot continues to go along and reveals that Mr. Mallard is alive; Nobody expected what would happen next. Mrs. Mallard dies.

Ashley Fouquet Dr. Bellah English 1302-010 3/10/2015 Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”: Marriage That Kills Marriage is a strange, complicated, chaotic, and wonderful partnership that we choose to partake in. Marriage and the roles within a marriage, husband and wife, have changed drastically within the last fifty years; therefore they have taken a one hundred and eighty degree turn from marriages in the nineteenth century. Upon learning that her husband did not, in fact, die in a train wreck, Louise Mallard has a sudden heart attack. Having had a glimpse at the possibility of a life of her own, her husband’s survival ironically caused her death. “The Story of an Hour” is a late nineteenth century feministic shout-out, and a twisted look into the minds of the oppressed women in the late eighteen hundreds.

Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour represents female desire for autonomy that many women around the world can relate to today. It is a story of a woman who receives news that her husband has died. She excuses herself to her bedroom and slowly admits that the death of her husband may be a good thing after all. Chopin uses words, perspective, and character development to make a statement on women’s lack of freedom and identity. Analysis of selected words proves this theme of lack of identity.

The short story, “The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin depicts on the dramatizing news that the protagonist, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is notified with. Chopin uses a wide amount of different rhetorical devices such as Symbolism, Imagery, and Allegory to help the reader fully understand the reading and see what Chopin is trying to set the story as. Throughout the story, Chopin sets a certain tone that lasts from beginning to end. The narrator 's portrayal of Mrs. Mallard shows someone who brushes off the ideas of love and even the finest of marriages for the magnificent thought of unadulterated lack of restrictions.

Kate Chopin, a female author in the mid 1800’s, gives her readers insight to the lives women, specifically, living in that era. Chopin’s writing style continues to emphasize the way the restricted society in that period enabled women to achieve no individuality and ultimately live a life too narrow and structured for one’s soul. An analysis of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” published in 1984, displays the use of the themes grief, confinement and freedom. Chopin integrates these elements into her writing to shine light on the internal struggle of a woman who wants to be independent, yet lives in a world where she can’t be. One of the main themes Kate Chopin incorporates into her writing is grief. Mrs. Mallard, the main character of

That is why Louise found so much freedom in her husband’s passing. Kate Chopin’s story is a story of feminism and self-fulfillment. Chopin never considered herself a feminist, although many

Author Kate Chopin is famous for some of the most influential feminist stories and novels in the Western canon. “The Story of an Hour” is one such text. In this story, Chopin tackles many of the concerns that are essential to feminism, including the willpower and expression of a woman’s distinctive identity separate from the identity of her husband and the right of a woman to identify and experience her own interests. While there is an aspect of this story that is provocative, namely, that Mrs. Mallard feels excited after learning that her husband has died, the reader can empathize with Mrs. Mallard’s feelings and support her.

Written by Kate Chopin in 1894, “The Story of an Hour” gives us a glimpse into the past where women were without many legal or fiscal rights. Men were the head of the household and took care of all “domestic affairs.” (128) In the first part of the story, Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband’s supposed death. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment. (128) As she shuts herself away into her room to contemplate the news she had just heard, there is a sense of fear. Perhaps fear of independence? She was waiting for it, fearfully. Throughout “The Story of an Hour” there is a central theme of freedom that Chopin presents but also a theme of oppression which has now seemingly been lifted by the death of Louise’s husband. Mrs. Mallard has long been oppressed and caged from her freedom as many women were back in the years of patriarchal code.

Women’s role in society has greatly changed since the 19th century, which is the time period that “The Story of an Hour” and “A Respectable Woman” are set in. In these stories, Kate Chopin describes the emotions of a woman after discovering that her husband is dead, as well as the internal conflict within a woman who is tempted to cheat on her husband. They are both centered around independence in a setting that does not typically promote such things for women. Therefore, with such outlandish concepts for that time period, it is greatly indicative of the author’s beliefs. Thus, “The Story of an Hour” and “A Respectable Woman” reflect Kate Chopin’s beliefs about marriage, societal expectations, and female independence through the characterization of her female leads.

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.