Exploring the Complexities of Feminine Freedom in The Story of an Hour

Abstract

The story of an hour “The Story of an Hour” is a short but a very interesting story by Kate Chopin. The story revolves around the life of Mallard’s family where Chopin defines Mrs. Louise Mallard as a woman whose freedom remains limited based on the perceived societal gender-roles. After receiving the news of her husband’s death in a train accident Louise reacts with apparent grief but later experiences a sense of liberation and joy upon reflecting on her new found independence with hopes of living a life for herself. Unfortunately, this happiness is short-lived as Mr. Mallard unexpectedly returns home unharmed shocking Mrs. Mallard who collapses and dies of a heart attack. Therefore, one can define Chopin “Story of an Hour” as a touching story that delves into emotional complexities of Mrs. Mallard in a brief but very impactful manner. To this effect, this essay will explore on the themes of freedom from repression/oppression, the irony of fate and the complex nature of marriage to understand what Chopin wished to communicate to the target audience in regard to the 19th-century context. Freedom and repression proves the most prevalent theme in Chopin story as reflected through Mrs. Mallard’s reactions towards the death of her husband “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin, Paragraph 17). Based on Mrs. Mallard’s reaction one can confirm that she initially felt oppressed in her marriage. Mrs. Mallard believed that her life would be very long and one filled with unhappy moments attributed to the masculinity dominance. However, when she received the news and believed that her husband was dead, she felt relieved and envisioned a life of freedom and new found independence. It is a great theme that explores the desire for personal freedom as well as the oppressive nature of societal perceptions and expectations on women in the 19th century. Repression happens when one’s thoughts, desires and feeling remains subdued as experienced by women in the 19th century whose needs and wants the society found unacceptable. As victims of repression, the society expected these women to remain gentle, demure and passive and such demands were against these women personal desires. Louise was always repressed in their marriage by virtue of her gender as always confined to her home as the husband moves around the world and walks into his house of his own accord. The death of her husband proved a pathway to claim some of the masculine freedom for Louise and the coming back of Mallard revived the thought of losing the anticipated freedom thus killing Louise. The irony of fate is a theme that Chopin uses in the story to analyze the unpredictability of life as witnessed through Louise experiences. The irony of fate as a literary concept highlights the unexpected and cruel twists of destiny that occurred within Mrs. Mallard’s life as her death unfolds in a manner that is contrary to Chopin’s target audience anticipation. As Chopin narrates of Louise positive attitude towards life as she comes down the stairs to meet the husband’s death news breaker, a turn of events becomes revealed when Mr....