The feminist lens best applies to “The Story of an Hour”, it shows Mrs. Mallard who didn’t do what people thought she should do after her husband died In Mrs. Mallard’s relationship she felt controlled. The story shows she felt this way by what she was saying. Mr. Mallard over spoke Mrs. Mallard and didn’t really care for what she thought. Mr. Mallard made her live for him. She even knew that “... she would live for herself,” Said the Kate Chopin on page 158.
Mallard, and the girlfriend want to communicate how they feel and do not want to be constrained. Chopin was a feminist which encouraged her to write The Story of an Hour. Women do not want to feel possessed and want to be self-asserted (Chopin, 2004). Women are told to respect their marriages and must abide to society. Mrs. Mallard feels free of duties when she understands that her husband has deceased.
Chopin states, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease of joy that kills” (66). This sentence is ironic, Mrs. Mallard was more than disappointed at his return. She loss all of her excitement for the future the moment she seen Mr. Mallard open the door. All the thoughts about her being free disappeared. And her wish about wanting to die and to leave her repressed life, came to pass.
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is about a woman named Louise Mallard who is suffering from extreme heart trouble is very carefully and gently informed that her husband is no longer alive by her sister Josephine. Louise breaks down in tears after receiving the horrific news and decides to go upstairs for some alone time. In her room she looks through a window, and observes nature, suddenly she starts saying the word "Free!" to herself. Next she remembers her husband and all the wonderful moments they had.
In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, after hearing the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard’s emotions did not portray sadness or despair instead she was relieved and rejoiced. Even though Mrs. Mallard admits that her husband was kind and loving, she feels joy after hearing the news of her husband’s death that she will no longer be known as Mrs. Mallard. Although it was acknowledged in the story that Louise Mallard loved Bentley Mallard, we can tell by the statement “had never looked save with love upon her,” (Chopin, 1894), the favor was not returned. The main theme we see in this story is the oppression of marriage. Death of her husband shows that Mrs. Mallard finally has freedom.
Every person has the right to be and feel free. They have the right to be independent and live happily. Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour,” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences a revelation about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive.
In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, a woman by the name of Louise Mallard grieves after she is told that her husband has passed away, like any traditional woman would do. Upon receiving the bad news, she locks herself alone in her room. She then realizes that there is some positivity in his death and begins to celebrate her new life of freedom. Just when she is settled on the idea of her independence, the unthinkable happens. Her husband, Brentley Mallard, appears at the front door.
“When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’” (235). I believe the real cause of her death was not
Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour" takes place in the 19th century, when women were expected to be stereotypical housewives and had few rights or opportunities. The character of the story is a married woman with underlying heart problems. Mrs. Mallard is the wife. She was informed that her husband had passed away, but once her grief subsided, she experienced freedom and joy. This is problematic because it represents the idea that women are oppressed by their marriages.
About the story: The short story was first published in Vogue in 1894 under the title “The Dream of an Hour”. Later on in 1969, in the Complete Works of Kate Chopin the story became entitled as “The Story of an Hour”. The title implies that the timeframe of the story is one hour. This short story is a sample of feminist literary study.
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
After reflecting the enormity of her husband’s death, and as she began to notice small details, such as the blue patches of blue sky in the clouds, she thinks of the future. While having thoughts about the future, she began to realize how much power she has even without her husband, and from this derives her statement on freedom. She holds onto this forbidden fruit, freedom, and reiles that society won't accept her gratitude towards it, but she prays her feeling of freedom lasts forever. I found it rather empowering how she chooses to flaunt her new freedom and how she accepts it almost immediately, rather than belittling herself and falling under societal norms for widows. Usually, whenever I read a book that portrayed the role of a widow, the characters were almost forced to be held in a constant state of sadness, thus leading the readers, me, to believe that the only emotion a woman, who has lost her husband, can feel is pure grief.
“Women's liberation is characterized as the hypothesis of the political, monetary, and social correspondence of the genders” (Merriam Webster). Woman's rights are an important piece of the short story, "The Story of an Hour" is a short story in which Kate Chopin, the author, demonstrates a frequently unthinkable perspective of marriage. Mrs. Louise Mallard, the main character, encounters the thrill of opportunity as conflicting to the devastation of depression after she learns of her husband’s death. Subsequently, when Mrs. Mallard realizes that her husband, Brently, still lives, she recognizes that all hope of opportunity is no more. The shocking disappointment kills Mrs. Mallard.
In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" we go through an hour of Mrs. Mallard's life as she learns of her husband's death and embraces the freedom this brings forth. This new-found freedom is short lived as the sight of her allegedly dead husband walks through the front door, Mrs. Mallard succumbs to her death immediately. This story, although it is short, it is deeply symbolic, filled with irony that is used to achieve major themes of freedom and societal views. Mrs. Mallard's heart condition is used as a symbol of the way society views women. Women tend to be viewed as delicate, emotionally and physically.
So, after the late 1800’s moving to the early 1900’s women became more independent. However, in The Story of An Hour written by Kate Chopin in 1894 represent a short story about Mrs. Mallard had received a disastrous news about her husband's death during a railroad disjunction. Mrs. Mallard heard the news from Josephine and Richards, her sister and Mr. Mallard’s friend. They both failed to comfort Mrs. Mallard for her lost, as Mrs. Mallard wept and abandoned them by retreating
