Theme of Happiness in The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin

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This is a short story of a woman whose happiness or oppression

was based on what happened in the next hour of this story. In the story

Mrs. Mallard was said to have heart trouble. In the beginning of the story

her sister tried to break the death of her sister's husband Brently Mallard,

gently as possible and her husband's friend was forthwith in telling her

that he was dead, sparing her the inevitable.

"Chopin also uses Louise's supposed condition to illustrate the way nineteenth century society treated women as weak beings who must be protected

from the harsh realities of life. By carefully wording the explanation of her

husband's death, Richards and Josephine treat Louise as a child, not an

independent adult" (http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-

storyanhour/chapanal001.html)

Mrs. Mallard's reaction was not really what you would find typical in

the way a woman would react. Mrs. Mallard cried all in one breath with

quickened dissipation. Mrs. Mallard then wanted to be alone with no one

to follow her, she was ...

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