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Writings from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s often depict husbands as controlling. This would lead to the demise of their wives. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman the husband’s insistence upon control, leaves their wives longing for the freedom of simple expression. “The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” illustrates how the husband is the controlling figure in the marriage. The two short stories also expose how the oppression put on them by their husband leaves the women unfulfilled and unhappy with their lives.

And a monstrous joy appears, she knew that there would be no powerful will bending her and she could be free no matter in body and in soul. Kate Chopin wanted to show us a long term marriage can “kill” the romance. For example, in “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. and Mr. Mallard loved each other before they married. But after their marriage, Mrs. Mallard didn’t love Mr. Mallard anymore, maybe sometimes she did. But in most of the time, their marriage became a trap of Mrs. Mallard.

A little after, Mrs. Mallard finally sees an opportunity of freedom from her husbands death. She is crying in her bedroom, but then she starts to think of the freedom that she now has in her hands. “When she abandoned herse... ... middle of paper ... ...dition, so the doctor thought that this weakness was the reason she died.What really killed her was being put back into the role that was forced and expected of her. When her husband walked in, all of her feminine freedom vanished. Women weren’t given the same rights as men.

Once she heard about her husband 's death she imagines a whole life of freedom and a way out of a loveless marriage. Symbolism and imagery plays a huge role in this story because it used to describe the new life appearing before Louise Mallard 's eyes. First, Louise Mallard suffers a heart trouble. When Louise believes that her husband died, her heart trouble is representative of her mixed feeling about her marriage and the lack of freedom that causes her. The heart beats strongly and she embraces the idea of finally being free from her marriage.

However, when she descends the stairs with her sister and discovers that her husband is still alive it kills her. She could not handle losing everything she thought she had just gained. Louise only just realized all that she could do with her new life and had previously shuddered at the thought of living a long life with Brently. Now that she had a taste of freedom, she could not go back to the life she lived before and the crushing disappointment kills her. Chopin uses “The Story of an Hour” to demonstrate her belief not only in the shackles of marriage in that time, but also the cruelty of warping someone to suit your needs.

The irony of the ending is that Louise Mallard doesn’t die of joy as the doctor claim, but actually from the loss of joy. Specially, her husband’s death gives her a glimpse of a new life, and when that new life is swiftly taken away, the shock and disappointment kill her. The joy Mrs. Mallard actually felt was the idea of relief of being free from the bonds of marriage and the hope of living her life for her o... ... middle of paper ... ...ndreds, women were not allowed to be persons of their own, but were looked up as a shadow of their husbands. In those days, they were to be stay at home mothers and to abide by the rules that were set by their husbands. The writer brought out the truth of what married women were expected to abide by in the late eighteen hundreds.

As Cathryn Hunter mentions, “The serious and wide-ranging negative effects that relationship distress can have on individuals”(55). The relationship distress played a toll on Mrs. Mallard mainly because although she was sad that her husband death, she could not help but feel free. In “The Story of an Hour”, freedom was only allowed in your private thoughts. Meaning that you could of only dreamed of being free or finding yourself. In American society, marriage is seen as a time of your life where you do not live for yourself but for someone else.

Her husband had control over her 'body and soul';. She felt that he lived her life for her and did 'not believe that anyone had the right to impose a private will on a fellow creature'; (Chopin 13). This control caused both women to long for freedom from their husbands' oppressive behavior. In 'The Yellow Wallpaper'; it seems that the narrator wishes to drive her husband away. She explains, 'John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious.

Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” comprises clashing expectations and desires in an ironic fashion. The protagonist, Louise, mainly desires to live life free from the will of others—to “live for herself.” Her brief liberation comes from the news that her husband had died that morning in a train crash. From that moment onwards, the story revolves entirely around the idea of freedom, including several metaphors and visual images depicting free will, eventually culminating in the protagonist’s ultimate freedom--death. However, the idea of freedom cannot form without having experienced bondage in some form. I argue that the focus of this work lies in its theme and symbolizations of both liberty and subjection.

In The Story of an Hour, Katherine Chopin composed, “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.” (Chopin, 369) The main character of the story was joyful to live alone instead of living with her husband, whom she did not love. This quote is meaningful to the novelist because she lost a large portion of her family to death. Chopin was fearful she would have to live her life all alone in the Realism Literature Period. The Realism period in America lasted from about 1860-1890 and believed that characters were more vital than the setting, the writings were about everyday life, and the authors write about their personal experiences.