Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

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During the 1800s, most women looked at their marriage as not be able the have any type of freedom. During that period of time, women roles were supposed to be a regular housewife that cooked, cleaned and that care of the family when their husbands were at work. Most of them during that era felt trapped in their marriage and wanted to do more than doing housewife duties. That was the average role for a middle age woman in that period of time while the men role was to provide and take care of the family. The men in 1800s had more power and control over their wife or spouse, which made the women wanting freedom from their marriage. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, which is a story that portrays women’s lack of freedom in the1800s; women …show more content…

Chopin is probably expressing her view on marriage through the character of Louise Mallard and her actions upon discovering that her husband had just passed away. Chopin does not write much on how Louise Mallard felt during the marriage but she hinted that she was not very happy with it, she says “And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” This shows Louise Mallard and her husband relationship was not the best because she felt like she was force the love her husband again her own will. Louise receives the news with overwhelming grief and tears where others would have been shocked into disbelief. Her grief is short lived as she begins to imagine her future alone. Any burdens Louise had felt were lifted at her thoughts of being free to live for herself. Kate Chopin creates Louise character as woman who wants to enjoy her life without feeling like she is being tied down in a marriage. Readers can interprets that Louise Mallard felt the only way out of her unstable marriage was the death of her spouse, so when she heard the news of her husband’s death was shocking but at the same time she finally felt free. The marriage oppressed her, she needed freedom, freedom to grow and do what she wanted to do, and marriage took that away from her, she loved freedom more than she did her