Analysis of the Theme of "the Story of an Hour"

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Analysis of the central theme of "The Story of An Hour" by Kate Chopin

Marriage is a sacred, long-standing institution. However, there are times in which the relationship between a wife and her spouse is merely a master-and-slave one. Not until the 1960s did women begin to speak up their voice and require their right of freedom. In her influential work of feminism "The Story of An Hour," Kate Chopin reflects the gloomy marital status of the women in the early 1900s through the life of the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard.

Mrs. Mallard's poor life symbolizes the slavish marital status of the women during the late 1800s. It is evident that she is oppressed by the bond of marriage. Although it is never stated outright, the way she thinks about her husband proves that their marriage is not a happy one at all. Brentley "had never looked save with love upon her," and she just loves him "sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter!" Being trapped in this marriage for a long time, a certain part of her "self" has been lost. Brentley's dictatorial will bends "hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature." Chopin is showing us a social situation of the times with the woman as a prisoner of her husband. Marriage is more like a confining role of servitude rather than a loving partnership. In this hell-like marriage, women's personalities are always overshadowed by their husbands. No wonder in the male-dominated world, Mrs. Mallard thinks "with a shudder that life might be long."

Ironically, women like Mrs. Mallard have gained true liberation from their oppressive marriage not in anormal manner, but only through their death. After hearing her husband's death, she is expected to mourn over her misfortune, but instead the newly widowed woman is described as being rather indifferent. As Chopin puts it : "She said it over and over under her breath : "free, free, free!" She feels completely liberated. Spring nature reaches out to her, embraces her through sounds and smells, shows her the majesty of independence : "The delicious breath of rain was in the air...... The notes of a distant song...and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves." Mrs. Mallard is reborn with a new spring of her life. But when finding that her husband is still alive, she dies momentarily since she is entirely unprepared to deal with being imprisoned behind him once again.

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