Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

One of Kate Chopin’s most popular works is “The Story of an Hour”. The story features a woman named Louise Mallard and one of her greatest emotional struggles. Louise received the news that her husband had passed away in a tragic accident. At first she reacted as many women would, but her mood quickly changed to an emotion not typically appropriate for this occasion. This hinted to some underlying questions about the Mallard’s marriage, marriage in the nineteenth century, and how marriage has evolved to now. Many of these are closely related but support and lead to the idea of how the roles in a marriage have changed over time. When Mrs. Mallard thought her husband was dead she felt relieved. She knew marriage was a big commitment that she

Now people view marriage as a more casual affair, they’ve forgotten about the “sanctity of marriage”. They run away and get married to whoever they want and divorce their spouse whenever things get rough. Nobody realizes that it’s a commitment that takes time and effort to make work. Marriage is supposed to be this beautiful thing where two people who love each other come together to become one. Now people just get married on a whim and treat it like it’s nothing. I’ve also seen far too many people give up on their relationship and get divorced. Some people have very legitimate reasons for getting a divorce, but more often than not one or both of the partners in the relationship are not willing to put in the effort to work through their issues. Marriage is not for everyone, and that’s perfectly ok, but over the years I feel like people feel this pressure to be married even if it isn’t the right thing for them. Marriage is meant to be a (voluntary) and happy occasion, but when people make it seem like an obligation it loses that

Some women still believe that marriage is their duty, and some men believe that it is their duty to be the sole provider for their family. Some people still feel trapped in their marriages, as though there is no escape. And while that still happens in many ways marriage has evolved and people don’t get themselves in that situation as often. Now that marriages aren’t arranged people are free to make their own decisions about who their spouse is and if they get married at all. Also, as time has passed couples have opened up and showed everyone that marriages aren’t perfect and it’s become acceptable to get help, usually in the form of therapy. But if all else fails divorce is always an option, and now that it is mainstream it is far easier to obtain and much more socially acceptable. I can see many people relating to “The Story of an Hour” still but not as much as people probably would’ve when it was originally