Kate Chopin The Story Of An Hour Analysis Essay

Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of An Hour,” is an acknowledgment of the position and feelings of a woman in a Victorian Era marriage. Most of Chopin’s stories were considered “improper” for the public to read, and were often banned from libraries (Carolina 222). While much of this story was a metaphor for how a woman in the Victorian Era would have actually felt in her marriage, it was still seen as controversial. This story is actually somewhat different than the rest of her stories, using the white upper class as her subject. Kate Chopin uses “The Story of An Hour,” to demonstrate the woman’s position in marriage, a woman’s feelings about marriage and Chopin’s experiences with marriage in the Victorian Era. A woman 's position in marriage was quite different during the Victorian than present day marriage. Women did not have the rights they do today. During that time, marriage was more of a contract than a marriage. Fathers would marry off their daughters for money, security, or sexual reasons during that time (Kreps 83). It was very important for a woman to have …show more content…
Women had no power during the Victorian Era. This made them feel trapped sometimes since they had no control over their lives and no property. Instead, the woman themselves were treated like property, similar to slaves at that time. In “The Story of An Hour,” Chopin uses the “joy that kills” to make the woman’s feelings of love for her husband trap her and the idea of losing her freedom kills her. Chopin’s family situation was very similar to this story in that when Eliza lost her husband, she became very wealthy and lived a very liberated life. If her husband hadn’t died, she still may have still loved him, but would have had no control over her life or Kate’s. This love was, therefore, “the joy that