Women should not be locked in marriages, or else love will become a burden. They would feel depressed, too heavy to withstand heavy load, until suffocation. There is a woman she rather dies than face losing her freedom. This is the message Kate Chopin brought to readers through The Story of An Hour. Chopin was a forerunner of American feminist author. She used a tragedy to demonstrate the restraint of women, social situation and realizing her freedom. The Story of An Hour introduced a series of emotion changes and actions of Louise Mallard when she got the news of her husband’s death in an accident. The story is set in the 19 century in the Mallard residence, the home of Bentley and Louise Mallard. In …show more content…
“She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength”(Chopin 1). “…as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been”(Chopin 1). We can see she is strong-willed under a weak and gentle appearance. She makes self-repression, but she never wants to resist to be free. After her husband is pronounced dead. She found her freedom. “free, free, free!” “Free! Body and soul free!” “Go away. I am not making myself ill”(Chopin 1). She only said three phrases in the whole story. The speech is in a simple description, but Chopin closely described Louise’s psychological activity. As we could see, Louise’s hope in finding freedom becomes desperate. She weeps when she knows the death of Bentley. She locks herself alone in the room. She looks out the opened window. Then she feels that “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully”(Chopin 1). She wants to beat it back, but she cannot. Her will is as weak as her hands. She begins to recognize that she has a chance for freedom and a new life from her husband’s death. “Free, free, free!”(Chopin 1) she repeats. The feeling possesses her gradually. She is controlled on exalted perception, so she keeps whispering “Free! Body and soul free!”(Chopin 1). Meanwhile, she feels guilty, because no one can accept that a woman feels happy when her husband is dead. However, she thinks that to be herself is more important than
(Chopin 8). Her desire for freedom was so that she could live everyday without any influence from her husband. With her husband dead, she could now finally have the independence that she has always longed for. Throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of an Hour” we, as the reader, see how oppression by husbands during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries resulted in their wives, quietly longing for freedom. This freedom would be monumental to achieve, but simple in nature.
(Chopin 338). Unexpectedly, joy and happiness consume her with the epiphany she is “free, free, free!” (Chopin 338). Louise becomes more alive with the realization she will no longer be oppressed by the marriage as many women of her day were, and hopes for a long life when only the day prior, “.she had thought with a shudder that life may be long” (Chopin 338).... ...
Chopin depicts marriage as a prison institution that confines women to life. In the story, there is no possibility of divorce and death seems to be the only way out. Evidently, since marriage is dictated by society, women do not seem bothered by their lack of freedom since they feel it is their obligation to run their homes without complaining. From the story, Mrs. Mallard does not seem perturbed by her present situation until she gets a taste of freedom after receiving the news about her husband's death. Precisely, we are told that she was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been.
“There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air. Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "Free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body” (Chopin 39).
Mrs. Mallard is the example of a typical housewife of the mid 1800’s. At the time, most women were not allowed to go to school and were usually anticipated to marry and do housework. During that time, the only way women could get out of a marriage was if they were to die or their husbands was to die. In that time period, the husband had control of all of the money, so it would not be wise if the wife were to leave the financial freedom that was provided by the husband. This is most likely why Mrs. Mallard never leaves her husband’s death, she is sad at first but then experiences an overwhelming sense of joy. This shows that she is not in a fulfilling marriage as his death means she will finally have own individual freedom, as well as financial freedom being the grieving widow who will inherit her husband’s wealth. In the words of Lawrence I. Berkove he states, “On the other hand, Chopin did not regard marriage as a state of pure and unbroken bliss, but on the other, she could not intelligently believe that it was desirable, healthy, or even possible for anyone to live as Louise, in the grip of her feverish delusion, wishes: to be absolutely free and to live totally and solely for oneself.” (3) Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death is Chopin’s way of expressin...
Free! Free!” (Chopin 1) escape her lips. Although she does this in a holding back manner, she seems to be happy that she is finally free from a life that was belittling and oppressing. To Mrs. Mallard, her husband’s death meant that she was free from obeying another person’s rules, free from a name that did not originally belong to her, a commitment that she had made some time back and free from living with a person that she did not fully love. It 's not until later in the story that we find out that her first name is Louis. Her last name became so part of her that she almost forgets her real identity. After her husband 's death while in her room, she is referred to as Louis her first name. This symbolizes that she is slowly trying to get back her first identity that she abandoned when she got married. The sense of freedom and independence is slowly settling
When looking out the window "she was drinking in a very elixir of life” (Chopin). The short story comes to an end with her husband walking through the door and Louise falls dead at the sight of her diminishing dreams. This well known short story is comprehended in many ways deciding the reason of Louise’s death and what “freedom” she experiences.
First, through Chopin’s choice of diction, she creates empathy, which helps develop the theme. In the story, Chopin writes, “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon
Marriage oppressed her, she needed freedom, freedom to grow and do what she wanted to do, and marriage took that away from here. Chopin didn't believe that one person should take away another's freedom.
The entire action happens in the "spring" (Chopin 69) of a year in the 1890's. Spring means hope. But woman are restricted by the society in 1890's. The two time settings create a conflict between Louise's expectation and reality. Secondly, the author uses a lot of place setting.
“Free! Body and soul free!”(Chopin 206). Louise realizes she does not have to wait on her husband for anything. She can think for herself and say what
To start off, this short story is packed with an abundance of symbolism that further highlights the emotions that Mrs. Mallard was feeling after hearing the devastating news of her husband’s death. Although she is instantly overcome with grief upon hearing the news, there were ‘’patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds…” (Chopin 476). These patches of blue sky represent the plethora of opportunities that await Mrs. Mallard now that she has been given a fresh start, with total and unrestricted freedom. Shortly after, Louise begins to comprehend how her husband’s death has in turn completely changed her life for the better. In addition, Mrs. Mallard’s heart troubles also bear a symbolic significance. Her physical heart complications symbolize her discontent with her lack of freedom in her life and marriage. In contrast, when Mrs. Mallard initially realizes the liberty and independence that she now possesses, “her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood w...
Mallard. Her self-assertion surpassed the years they were married and the love she had for him. She is beginning to realize she can now live for and focus on herself. The text insists “There would be no one to live for 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 women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.” (Chopin 477.) Finally she can live freely and no longer worry about being confined in her marriage and inside her own home. She has come to realization that she is now independent and can think freely and achieves happiness and freedom. She is no longer held down or back by her marriage. She will no longer be someone’s possession she will be free and respected. Her husband Brently returns and he is alive the happiness and freedom she once possessed briefly with the mere image of her deceased husband were quickly torn away. “When the doctors came they said she died of heart disease of joy that kills” (Chopin 477). She was free but still confined without the knowledge of her husband who wasn’t dead. Chopin illustrates at the end that she was free because joy killed her. She was joyous because she was finally set free but she is now once again confined by the grief knowing her husband was not killed
In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin expresses many themes through her writing. The main themes of this short story are the joy independence brings, the oppression of marriage in nineteenth century America, and how fast life can change.
... her true feelings with her sister, or talking to her husband or reaching out to other sources of help to address her marital repressed life, she would not have to dread living with her husband. “It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin 262). Her meaning for life would not have to mean death to her husband. In conclusion, her lack of self assertion, courage and strong will to address her repressed life made her look at life and death in a different perspective. When in fact there is no need to die to experience liberation while she could have lived a full life to experience it with her husband by her side.