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

404 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: History and feminism of kate chopin

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.

Show More
Related

  • Character Analysis of Mrs. Mallard in The Story of an Hour

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... her true feelings with her sister, or talking to her husband or reaching out to other sources of help to address her marital repressed life, she would not have to dread living with her husband. “It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin 262). Her meaning for life would not have to mean death to her husband. In conclusion, her lack of self assertion, courage and strong will to address her repressed life made her look at life and death in a different perspective. When in fact there is no need to die to experience liberation while she could have lived a full life to experience it with her husband by her side.

    Read More

  • Story Of An Hour Deception Essay

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chopin shows that some social pressures and responsibilities can in fact hold one back from their own potential as was Mrs. Mallard. Marriage was introduced as one of these social expectations, and Mrs. Mallard’s internal conflict shows the reader that sometimes it is hard to question these normalities. By creating such an internal visual of Mrs. Mallard, Chopin provides a tale of the true importance of seeing past socialistic deception, and choosing to find happiness beyond

    Read More

  • Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chopin depicts marriage as a prison institution that confines women to life. In the story, there is no possibility of divorce and death seems to be the only way out. Evidently, since marriage is dictated by society, women do not seem bothered by their lack of freedom since they feel it is their obligation to run their homes without complaining. From the story, Mrs. Mallard does not seem perturbed by her present situation until she gets a taste of freedom after receiving the news about her husband's death. Precisely, we are told that she was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been.

    Read More

  • The Story of An Hour Theme

    387 Words  | 1 Pages

    Chopin reflects her rejection of the “postures of femininity” through her character’s descriptions. She describes her as “young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression.” Describing her as young and calm are what men looked for in a wife in the 19th century. They wanted a submissive woman to tend to their needs as Chopin’s description suggests. Furthermore, Chopin says of her character Mrs. Mallard, “she would live for herself.” Her character believes she will now be free of her marriage, and won’t be “repressed” as aforementioned any longer by her husband. Wives had a natural servitude towards their husbands as husbands worked and went about their lives. All in all, Chopin displays her character as having a joyous moment after the death of her husband because she is let go of being forced into her “femininity.”

    Read More

  • Feminist Perspectives in a Story of an Hour

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Much of what Howard has to say about Chopin’s protagonists is appropriate. Her criticism operates from the standpoint that “marriage, said Chopin’s world, was the goal of every woman’s life; service to her husband and her children her duties, passionlessness and submission her assumed virtues, selflessness her daily practice, and self sacrifice her pleasure” (1). Mrs. Mallard definitely lives in a world where these gender values abound. Chopin, for example, describes Mrs. Mallard’s face as one “ whose lines bespoke repression” (439). This is obviously a direct reference to the submission Mrs. Mallard has had to yield up to the patriarchy thus far. She has always had a “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” (440). Her husband’s will is describ...

    Read More

  • Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour

    394 Words  | 1 Pages

    Marriage was not kind to Mrs. Mallard, her life was dull and not worth living, her face showed the years of repression. If she did love this man, why was marriage so harmful to her? Marriage was a prison for her

    Read More

  • The Suppressed Sex Stands Up

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" demonstrates the highly typical gender roles that could be found in a late 1800's scene as it shows even if the marriage is kind, it could be inherently oppressive. This is clearly shown through the relationship of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard, as when news hits Louise Mallard that her husband has passed on, a large wave of grief washes over her; however, it passes when she realizes that she will be able to bite into the forbidden fruit of freedom. According to Louise, this freedom would mean "there would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. 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-crea...

    Read More

  • Chopin’s The Story of an Hour

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... This woman suffers a tremendous amount from the commitment of her marriage, and the death of her husband does not affect her for long. A marriage such as this seems so unbelievable, yet a reader can see the realistic elements incorporated into the story. This begs the question of how undesirable marriage was during Chopin’s life. The unhappiness felt by Mrs. Mallard seems to be very extreme, but Chopin creates a beautiful story that reflects upon the idea of marriage as an undesired relationship and bond to some women in the nineteenth century.

    Read More

  • The Story of an Hour

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    For women, the 19th century was a time of inequality, oppression, and inferiority to their male counterparts. A woman's social standing depended solely on her marital status. For these reasons many women were forced to lead a life of solitude and emotional inadequacy, often causing depression. In Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour," setting plays a significant role in illustrating the bittersweet triumph of Mrs. Mallard's escape from oppression at the ironic cost of her life.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Joy That Kills

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mallard’s emotions over the presumed death of her husband. The author used both dramatic and situational irony to mislead the reader and surprise them with a plot twist ending. By utilizing both external and internal conflict the author expresses the internal debate of Mrs. Mallard’s true feelings and those of the people around her. The author used symbolism to display Mrs. Mallard’s desire for freedom from her marriage. In the end it was not joy that killed Mrs. Mallard but the realization that she lost her

    Read More

  • Story Of An Hour Analysis Essay

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most women in Mrs Mallard’s situation were expected to be upset at the news of her husbands death, and they would worry more about her heart trouble, since the news could worsen her condition. However, her reaction is very different. At first she gets emotional and cries in front of her sister and her husbands friend, Richard. A little after, Mrs. Mallard finally sees an opportunity of freedom from her husbands death. She is crying in her bedroom, but then she starts to think of the freedom that she now has in her hands. “When she abandoned herse...

    Read More

  • Repression In The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mallard states that she is going to live her new life independently now that Mr. Mallard is gone; she accepts her newfound freedom and believes that she is now an independent woman. Mrs. Mallard was oppressed by Mr. Mallard, and Chopin hints at this oppression: “Chopin seems to be making a comment on nineteenth-century marriages, which granted one person - the man - right to own and dominate another - the woman,” (“The Story of an Hour” 266). The men and women should be treated equally in marriage and should be free, which relates to Mrs. Mallard feeling oppressed by Mr. Mallard. She realizes that she was below her husband her whole married life: “What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” (Chopin 645). Her inferiority to her husband controlled her; his death allows her to start over as an independent being. Mrs. Mallard is known to have heart trouble, but readers do not understand what that trouble is until they soon find out: “Later, when we see Mrs. Mallard ‘warmed and relaxed,’ we realize that the problem with her heart is that her marriage has not allowed her to ‘live for herself,’” (Hicks 269). The readers find out that Mrs. Mallard’s mystery heart trouble dealt with her being confined by Mr. Mallard in marriage, which she soon turns away from. Mrs. Mallard’s internal struggle is caused by rushing into marriage; she did not develop herself before developing a relationship with someone else, such as Mr. Mallard: “Love is not a substitute for selfhood; indeed selfhood is love’s pre-condition,” (Ewell 273). Mrs. Mallard may have felt constrained by Mr. Mallard in her marriage because she did not know herself before. If she had known herself before the marriage, she would have known her own constraints and opinions, instead of feeling oppressed by Mr. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard accepts her freedom and independence. She decides to live

    Read More

  • Theme Of Freedom In The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mallard. Her self-assertion surpassed the years they were married and the love she had for him. She is beginning to realize she can now live for and focus on herself. The text insists “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. 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.” (Chopin 477.) Finally she can live freely and no longer worry about being confined in her marriage and inside her own home. She has come to realization that she is now independent and can think freely and achieves happiness and freedom. She is no longer held down or back by her marriage. She will no longer be someone’s possession she will be free and respected. Her husband Brently returns and he is alive the happiness and freedom she once possessed briefly with the mere image of her deceased husband were quickly torn away. “When the doctors came they said she died of heart disease of joy that kills” (Chopin 477). She was free but still confined without the knowledge of her husband who wasn’t dead. Chopin illustrates at the end that she was free because joy killed her. She was joyous because she was finally set free but she is now once again confined by the grief knowing her husband was not killed

    Read More

  • Story Of An Hour Oppression Analysis

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    Not attempting to hide, Mrs. Mallard knows that she will weep at her husbands funeral, however she can’t help this sudden feeling of seeing, “beyond [the] bitter moment [of] procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely” (Chopin, 16). In an unloving marriage of this time, women were trapped in their roles until they were freed by the death of their husbands. Although Mrs. Mallard claims that her husband was kind and loving, she can’t help the sudden spark of joy of her new freedom. This is her view on the release of her oppression from her roles of being a dutiful wife to her husband. Altogether, Mrs. Mallard claims that, “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” (Chopin, 16). This is the most important of Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts, as she never officially states a specific way when her husband oppressed her. However, the audience can clearly suggest that this is a hint towards marriage in general that it suffocates both men and women. Marriage is an equal partnership in which compromise and communication become the dominant ideals to make the marriage better. It is suggested that Mrs. Mallard also oppressed her husband just as much as he did to her when she sinks into the armchair and is, “pressed down by a physical exhaustion

    Read More

  • Three Readers Response to The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first reader has a guided perspective of the text that one would expect from a person who has never studied the short story; however the reader makes some valid points which enhance what is thought to be a guided knowledge of the text. The author describes Mrs. Mallard as a woman who seems to be the "victim" of an overbearing but occasionally loving husband. Being told of her husband's death, "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance." (This shows that she is not totally locked into marriage as most women in her time). Although "she had loved him--sometimes," she automatically does not want to accept, blindly, the situation of being controlled by her husband. The reader identified Mrs. Mallard as not being a "one-dimensional, clone-like woman having a predictable, adequate emotional response for every life condition." In fact the reader believed that Mrs. Mallard had the exact opposite response to the death her husband because finally, she recognizes the freedom she has desired for a long time and it overcomes her sorrow. "Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering." We can see that the reader got this idea form this particular phrase in the story because it illuminates the idea of her sorrow tuning to happiness.

    Read More

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

Open Document