Mrs. Mallard In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

The Story of an Hour” has the main character Mrs. Mallard show thoughts and emotions that can support and go against the feminist theory. The beginning of the story, Mrs. Mallard is overwhelmed with grief because of the loss of her husband. Showing that the female is the emotional side compared to men. It was predictable to see that she would be upset with the death of her husband, although the story had both her sister and her husband’s friend to be there as they broke the news to her. According to the story Mrs. Mallard has heart problems which can make the reader see her as a weaker person at the start of the story. From the beginning of the story the author wants us as readers to believe that Mrs. Malard is naturally the weaker person.

Mallard begins to appear as a stronger person which is where the feminist theory takes its effect. She looks out of the house through the open window, signifying the open opportunities available to her because of what has happened. She begins to see how her marriage made her into a lesser woman. Realizing that she has been living her life through limitations, which could be caused from being married. The story says, “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.” This quote shows the feminist theory that it was assumed women thought they had to give up their own lives when they tie a bond with their fellow mate. She was bending her will and freedom to a man that held all of the control in the relationship. Marriage, in this story, appears to be the male having complete control over the woman. It also seems like Mrs. Mallard thought that she wasn’t even allowed to have her own thoughts. To question your husband, at this period in time, meant that you were being an out of control

Mallard develops her own identity. As a reader, we are told that her name is Mrs. Mallard at the beginning. Through her grief of losing her husband she is still Mrs. Mallard to us. This shows that her title is really just the name given to her with her husband’s last name. She has no identity as her own; she is just a woman that belongs to Mr. Mallard. After she realizes how free she is, we begin to see her as an actual person. Her emotions and thoughts aren’t about her dead husband anymore; instead it’s about her living without limits. She comes into her own individual person. It is right after these thoughts that we hear her sister calling her Louise. Her being called by her given name can signify that she is now an equal to men. She is no longer being held back by the role of a