Marriage in Chopin´s Literature

In my opinion, Louise’s marriage was bringing her down and making her character feel old. Again, I feel sympathy for Louise due to the struggles she had with herself and her marriage. Chopin portrays Louise as a prisoner of her husband. This was not strange at the time Chopin was writing the story. Marriages were not always about being devoted to your spouse. We see this when Louise thinks “There would be no powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature”(Chopin). It was as if neither women, nor men had their own personal freedom.

At first Chopin has us thinking that Louise is an old character, but when we continue reading, Chopin tells us differently: “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (Chopin). Now the widow sees all her possibilities at a new life and her youth is beaming through her. Chopin tells us in the quote that Louise’s awareness of new possibilities is giving her strength. I got the sense that Chopin writes from a feminist point of view and so she wants her readers to understand that the death of Louise’s husband was a burden off her shoulders. Who would really want to be in a marriage with someone they did not love?

Another thing that is positive is the fact that she is open to new things and gaining new freedom. When Louise goes upstairs after she has heard the news, she sees “the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair” (Chopin). I found this being symbolic of how Louise was going to live her life now that her husband is gone. Her character is going to be open to new things, comfortable with herself and her life. She has the room to live and be herself instead of living under rule of a man.

I felt like the references to the “new spring life” (Chopin), “delicious breath of rain” (Chopin), “patches of blue sky” (Chopin), indicate her freedom. Louise is being shown infinite opportunities to become a new person. She saw all these things as if for the first time. This tells me that her marriage kept her in the dark about life, and now she is becoming this open person with no limits. All this brings you to see Louise as a stronger character.