Theme Of Marriage In The Story Of The Hour

It is widely assumed that marriage is the validation of a women’s life. Marriage is said to define a woman and once she is married, she begins to express herself through marital expectations such as maintaining the household, having children, living up to whatever standards of women that are present during this time, and submitting to her husband. Though they have been reluctant about accepting this role, women have upheld the role for many centuries. In “The Story of the Hour”, the main character Mrs. Mallard is in a marriage that is oppressive and unfulfilling. She was not able to feel satisfied within her marriage because she had not experienced life beforehand. She had always been told what was acceptable and was not allowed to participate …show more content…
Mallard begins to realize just how free she is. She repeats the words “Free, free, free!” (Paragraph 11) and feels new life being breathed inside her. She will no longer be told what she is allowed to do and feel oppressed. The relief and joy that is shown in her reaction to realizing that she has gained her freedom back shows how difficult her marriage was for her, this was typical for many women during this time. “Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own.” (Paragraph 19) and she begins looking forward to experiencing the freedom of being her own decision maker, which she had never done before. She had previously dreaded the years spent under the control of her husband, but was now looking forward to the future and the many joys that she would be able to appreciate in it. Unfortunately, this freedom does not last long. It is ripped from her grasp in a rather unexpected way. After only experiencing an hour of freedom, Mrs. Mallard’s husband Brently walks through the front door. The sight of her supposedly dead husband caused her a great deal of disappointment and devastation of loss that ultimately causes her heart to fail. The failing of her heart shows the deep sadness that consumed Mrs. Mallard after she realized that she would not be free after all; knowing the oppression would continue to take a toll on her mentally, emotionally, and physically. Chopin creates this ironic truth to prove that before her death, Mrs. Mallard never felt like her own person because of the duties that she had to complete as a married women. Her sense of individuality became lost in her expectations and also aided in the tragedy of her