Mrs. Mallard's Freedom In The Story Of An Hour

Kate Chopin,, a 19th century writer, lived a time where as a married woman she did not have the right to vote, own and hold land, or control any wages that she might earn. Chopin lived her entire life in a society which deemed her and all women inferior to men. So it is no surprise that after her divorce, Chopin spent her life writing novels of women who freed themselves from the institution that had taken away her rights. In her short story, “The Story of an Hour”, Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard, a young woman who discovers that through the death of her husband, she has been freed from the servitude and subjection of her nineteenth century marriage. She celebrates this newfound freedom. But upon discovering her husband is alive, Mrs. Mallard’s

Mallard’s freedom is constantly changing throughout the short story. Initially, upon hearing of her husband’s death she locks herself in her room and sits down in a comfortable armchair (Chopin, par. 3). Both the armchair and the empty room give Mrs. Mallard the feeling of safety and familiarity. By confining herself in the room, she can shut herself away from the rest of the world. The room confines her body in the same way that her marriage confined her soul. Yet the open window across the room juxtaposes these symbols of confinement. Through it she can see “the tops of trees that were all a quiver with the new spring life… the patches of blue sky… and the countless sparrows twittering in the eaves”(Chopin, par. 5). These symbols of openness, optimism, and opportunity show Mrs. Mallard what opportunities can be had if she were to leave her confinement. The birds on the rooftops remind her of the freedom she could have without the hindrance of her marriage. The spring air offers Mrs. Mallard the chance of a fresh beginning to her new life and the open, blue sky her with a blank canvas on which she can paint this life. When she realizes that through her husband’s miraculous “resurrection”, she would lose these opportunities, Mrs. Mallard’s heart fails because she chooses to die

Mallard’s heart condition, another important symbol, allows the reader to see the effect that her marriage has had. The first thing we learned about Mrs. Mallard is of her heart trouble. The other characters struggle to break the new of her husband 's death so as not to affect her heart. However upon coming to terms with this fact her heart grows stronger. This is shown by Chopin’s description of “her bosom rising and falling tumultuously…[and how] her pulse beats fast and the coursing blood warmed and relax every inch of her body”(Chopin, par. 10). It appears as if the thing that was keeping her heart weak and sickly was her marriage. Ironically the organ most associated with love was being injured by the very institution that was supposed to represent it. Further evidence can be seen of her sudden recovery as she removes herself from the safety and comfort of the chair so she may “drink in [the] very elixir of life through that open window”(Chopin, par.16). Mrs. Mallard is invigorated by her newfound freedom as it leads her from a life of sickness and oppression to one of health and liberation. One can see the true debilitating effects of Mrs. Mallard’s marriage when she discovers that her husband had not died and she would have to go back to her husband, her heart finally gives