Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

Today marriage is acknowledged as a commitment between two people who love each other and want to spend eternity together, but marriage has not always been perceived like this. During the 19th century in America marriage was much like a contract, where women were to give up many of their freedoms to uphold their husbands’ demands. Too often for the women of the 19th-century, rights were taken from them and the rights they did have were always being infringed upon. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a great representation as to how married women felt oppressed. In the short story, Mrs. Mallard suddenly finds herself a widow and grief quickly erupts within her. Later in the story a mysterious sensation fills and enlightens her, she soon realizes that the feeling that overtook her was freedom. That all stops when she comes to see Mr. Mallard is alive and well, and Mrs. Mallard dies. Mrs. Mallard’s emotions of impotence, jubilation, and dread convey the message that women of 19th-century marriages were mistreated.

Louise Mallard would devote her time to Brentley Mallard’s needs. Mrs. Mallard felt as if she was held captive and limited to her freedoms. She had become powerless when it came to her own desires, she could not pursue her own

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