Self-Identity and Freedom The story of an hour by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to her husband’s death. In this short story, Chopin portrays the complexity of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as she is saddened yet joyful of her loss. Kate Chopin’s story argues that an individual discovers their self-identity only after being freed from confinement. The story also argues that freedom is a very powerful force that affects the mental or emotional state of a person. Chopin argues that only through death can one be finally freed.
“Women's liberation is characterized as the hypothesis of the political, monetary, and social correspondence of the genders” (Merriam Webster). Woman's rights are an important piece of the short story, "The Story of an Hour" is a short story in which Kate Chopin, the author, demonstrates a frequently unthinkable perspective of marriage. Mrs. Louise Mallard, the main character, encounters the thrill of opportunity as conflicting to the devastation of depression after she learns of her husband’s death. Subsequently, when Mrs. Mallard realizes that her husband, Brently, still lives, she recognizes that all hope of opportunity is no more. The shocking disappointment kills Mrs. Mallard.
Women were supposed to stay home and take care of the family whereas the husbands went out to work. Women really lived a silent life. To convey the theme of women’s role in marriage and feminine identity, Chopin skillfully uses the character Mrs. Mallard and the symbols of closed door versus open window. Chopin smartly uses the character Mrs. Mallard to express the theme of the story. Family in this story seems to be reduced to the couple: the husband and the wife.
Allegories are used for many reasons, such as debating about politics, or create moral meanings, but what intrigues me is that authors are able to express their ideas on controversies that have happened in the past with their own stories, simultaneously giving it a better context to the story, and give a peek of how it would feel if the reader was in the situation, just with an allegory. Kate Chopin, most definitely, was a supporter of the feminist movement, and she showed her support of the women’s movement through her allegories, for example, her short story “The Story of an Hour.” "Story of an Hour” starts out with Richard, Brently Mallard’s friend, came home with terrible news that Louise Mallard’s husband, Brently Mallard died in a train accident. On the first page, 3rd paragraph, Chopin says,”She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept. She wept at once with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself, she went away to her room alone, no one follows her.”.
For instance, the author uses “she did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.when the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.”(page 843) In this evidence, author uses the other women to compare to Mrs.mallard. It discover that Mrs mallard love her husband,but she didn’t satisfy her life. On the other hand, the sentence expose the fact of society, the man is their everything, they don’t have chance to start new life, the death of husband mean the
In “A Respectable Woman” the female protagonist Mrs. Baroda is married and lives on a plantation with her husband, who invites a friend to spend a week or two with them. Mrs. Baroda feels inner conflict with wanting to be with her husband’s friend, but also her duty as a woman in society. Within “A Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard faces a similar situation when she wants the freedom and autonomy from her husband. Through these works of Kate Chopin, the reader can see that the women protagonists face inner dispute, self-realization, and resolution with those feelings. In “A Respectable Woman” by Kate Chopin, Mrs. Baroda struggles with her desires of wanting to be free from her marriage, but she doesn’t want to break society’s role for her.
From women being portrayed as property to enabling women to take a stance on their freedoms. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin conveys the message of how the married 19th-century woman felt. Chopin provided an insight of how the females were powerless when it came to their independence, how women were joyful about the death of a husband since it was the only way out of a controlling marriage, and the amount of dread that the women endure during a marriage. Mrs. Mallard could signify most of the married women of the 19th century. Chopin’s story displays that women are human just as much as men and that they should not be treated as belongings, but rather as a human, especially in
Most people can live happily in isolation without the company of another’s presence and some can not. In three short stories by Kate Chopin, she explains how many people often make decisions out of pleasure, which eventually leads to dissatisfaction. With this in mind, the story Regret discusses how a woman rejected a proposal to live a life she later regretted. In addition to, Desiree’s Baby depicts how a young man decided to send his wife and child elsewhere because of their race. Including, The Story of An Hour which describes how a woman put herself through misery while trying to cope with her husband’s death.
This suggest the theme of “The Yellow Wallpaper” is mental instability due to being confined and repressed by her loved ones. Jane was never allowed to express herself later leading to the deterioration of her mind. “I verily believe she thinks it is writing which made me sick”(Gilman 236). The housekeeper was one of the people who tried to stop Jane from writing. This quote shows how she was being repressed by the housekeeper.
During her marriage, Mrs. Mallard had no freedom or satisfaction in life. However, when Mrs. Mallard gets the news that her husband was killed in a tragic train accident, Chopin said, “she wept at once, with sudden wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms ” (Chopin 524.) Chopin implies that perhaps some part of Mrs. Mallard readily accepted the news, and that since Mrs. Mallard unconsciously chooses to wrap herself in a female embrace, Mrs Mallard has already turned the female world, a world in which she is central and independent (Papke). Soon after Mrs. Mallard hears the news of her husband’s death, she goes upstairs to a room, where she subconsciously begins to think of herself. At first, Mrs. Mallard does not consciously allow herself to think of the freedom her husband’s death now gives her.