The death of a love one usually fills people with grief, ironically for Mrs. Mallard, the emotion she felt about her husband’s demise is quite the opposite. In the story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, Louise. Mallard, a newly widowed housewife has been informed that a railroad accident have killed her husband, Mr. Mallard. The unexpected news left her in shock and heartbroken. At first her initial reaction was sadness, just like a normal person would feel in this dire situation.
Mrs. Mallard’s relationship with her husband seems to not be happy and upon his death, she has a shift of mentality and starts to experience joy and hope instead of grief. She soon realizes all of the potential freedom and the many things that she can do without her husband. Mrs. Mallard has a sense of empowerment and independence to have a new start to her life where she can live for herself. The theme of death in “Story of a Hour” presents itself with the death of Mr. Mallard. His death results in Mrs. Mallard being optimistic and looking forward to her life.
In older societies, many women felt trapped in their place in society and marriage, so who was a voice for them? Kate Chopin was one of the many influential voices for women in her time about women. Chopin wrote many stories that were influenced by experiences she has had in her life. Kate Chopin rebelled against the social roles of women and wrote many stories such as “The Storm” and “The Story of an Hour” that she used to express her own feminist views. First of all, Kate Chopin rebelled against the social roles of women.
Believe it or not, dying of a broken heart is a reality. In “The Story of an Hour” the main character is Mrs. Mallard and in the beginning it is said that she has some kind of heart condition that is not described. But if she is exposed too much to stress or is startled then her heart could kill her. Later in the story, her friends and family try to break the news as gently as possible that her husband had been in a horrific accident and was killed. Mrs. Mallard takes the news and goes into her room to be alone.
These two stories have one main subject in common: a want for freedom from a husband’s hold in marriage. Both of these women felt trapped within their marriage and simply wanted a way out. “Story of an Hour” begins as a tale about a woman who is struck with the devastating news that her husband has died in a train accident. However, this was not so crippling to the wife, Mrs. Mallard. Her emotions overwhelmed her.
Kate Chopin wrote a story about Mrs. Mallard, a married woman who suffers from heart problems and also has to cope with her husband recent passing. Mrs.Mallard, she showed sincere grief about her husband passing. However, looking back at how controlling her husband Mr.Mallard were in their marriage, Mrs.Mallard felt a sudden joy when processing her husband death After her sudden emotional change, Mrs Mallard felt liberated when she started thinking about what her life would be like without Mr.Mallard, but regardless of the happiness she feels, she knows that once she sees her husband in corpse that sadness will return. Through her writing, author Chopin readers/ audience would be women who feel trapped and controlled in their marriage. Anger, loneliness and heartbroken are feelings that women who're coping with the death of their loved one feel.
Kate Chopin was born named Catherine O’Flaherty in St.Louis on February 8, 1850. Chopin was brought up in a home dominated by women. Her father, a successful Irish businessman died when she was five years old. Her mother was Eliza Faris came from a old French family that lived closely to St.Louis. Chopin spent her childhood in a attic constantly reading new books as well as being told stories about her great-great-grandmother who was a very successful person.
“The Story of an Hour” is introduced by readers learning that Louise Mallard has heart trouble. Shortly after, her sister, Josephine, gently broke the news of telling Mrs. Mallards that her husband, Brently Mallard, has died. Brently’s friend, Richard, was the one
Kate Chopin was born on February 8, 1850,St. Louis, MO. Kate Chopin is famously known for writing “The Story of an Hour”. Her story has a lot of meaning to it, If you read it carefully. Her story is on pointed out to be on the feminist side of things, because of what happens throughout the story.
Kate Chopin provides a feminist perspective of patriarchal oppression in social roles assigned to Edna Pontellier in her text The Awakening. Chopin portrays the patriarchal oppression through the stream of consciousness of Edna. Since Edna was a woman she was enforced to her wife and mother duties by her husband. Her husband would become furious when she would not act like any other women, “Her absolute disregard for her duties as a wife angered him” (Chopin 62). She is expected to do her duties on a daily basis without any excuses.