Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis Essay

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In the short story, “ The Story Of An Hour”, Kate Chopin's continually refers to Freedom. In the 1900’s women were not granted freedom. A woman's identity was through her husband therefore she did not get to exercise this right during her marriage because of the responsibilities given to her as the women of the house in which the majority of the 1900’s housewife had to take care of the house, meet the needs of her husband and to help her family be successful. Louise is characterized as a typical housewife. She stays home while her husband went to work. When she hears the news about her husband’s accident which leads to his death, she “ wept at once, with sudden wild abandonment, in her sister's arms”. Therefore right after “When the storm …show more content…

Often she had not” she just wanted her husband's presence as most women in the 1890s did. While Louise is sitting in her room alone she starts to realize that she actually gets to be independent, because being independent was a contraband pleasure she could only have in her head. “There was something coming to her she waited fearfully. What was it”. Freedom is unrecognisable and alarming to her because her desire for independents was so great that she was scared to actually acknowledge that she was finally able to have freedom. As soon as she allows freedom to get to her head, she embraces it and whispers “Free, Free, Free!” She gets overly excited about how her future was going to be “ There will be no one to live for her during those coming years: she will be able to live for herself”. That quote brings us back to what the theme was, because she was supposed to live for her husband and do everything for him, but now since he is “dead” she gets to live for herself. She had “breathed a quick prayer that life might be long” because she never thought she will ever have the freedom, and now once she had experienced it, she never wants to let go. Once, she goes downstairs, “ Someone was opening the door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who

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