Female Independence in 'The Story of an Hour'

During the time period of “The Story of an Hour,” the main role of a woman is to marry and have children. The husband is expected to take care of their wife, but in return, they receive all the earnings of their spouse. The concept of marriage is that women have to stay dependent on a man, just like they did as a child. Therefore, women are not allowed a freedom of their own. As a matter of fact, life as a slave is often compared to the life as a women. In “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin expresses the idea of feminine independence through the death of Brently, Louise’s husband. Even though it is assumed that the marriage is abusive, details in the story suggest that the marriage of Louise and Brently is not an abusive relationship at all. For example, the narrator states that Brently “...never looked save with love

For example, it is very shocking that while sitting in her big, cozy chair, “[Louise] could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that [are] all aquiver with the new spring life” (paragraph 5). This is symbolic because typically, after a death, it would be expected to rain with a sky that is gray and ominous. However, since it is not stormy outside, this is considered a foreshadow about Brently’s “death,” and Louise’s soon-to-be “freedom.” Louise spends all of her time inside of the house during the story such as “When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone” (paragraph 3). Louise is inside this house which is separate from the outside world that she hopes to experience someday, and the only sliver of the outside world she sees is through the “open window.” However, between Louise’s room and the door to the outside world stands Brently, and Louise loses all her wishes of freedom once and for all. The setting and foreshadows help give Louise a glimmer of hope for the future as an independent