Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour, has been widely interpreted from the feminist perspective. This story was written in 1894, a time when the roles of husband and wife and equality in marriage were viewed differently. It was a forbidden pleasure for a woman to be independent in those days, and in the story she unveils the deep rooted longing for independence that Mrs. Mallard experiences. Chopin uses symbols, imagery, and irony to convey meaning to the illumination that comes to Mrs. Mallard as she is secluded in her room upstairs, as well as to give insight on the struggles of a 19th century wife. As the story begins, the author gives little information and background on Mrs. Mallard. All the reader knows about her from the beginning is the fact that she had heart trouble: her first name was not mentioned until later in the story. Note that the author uses the term “heart trouble,” not heart disease

When he entered the house Chopin describes him as “…a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his gripsack and umbrella” (Chopin 760). This describes a commuter, and with the supposition that Mr. Mallard was at the railroad when the accident occurred, implies that he and Mrs. Mallard spent time apart and would no doubt put a strain on their marriage. Perhaps it was during this time apart that Mrs. Mallard longed for her autonomy, dreaming of “…no one to live for her during those coming years” (Chopin 760). The story gives evidence of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions being affected by the physical absence of her husband (Foote 87). Her emotions are all over the place, she is happy he is dead and she will finally get her independence, however, she realizes that when confronted with her husband’s dead body, she will feel different. “Her joyous reaction is to a distant, faceless death, unimpeded by the reality of an actual corpse—unattached to an actual person” (Foote