Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

Over the years women’s rights have changed drastically. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman who is unhappy with her marriage but still feels obligated to stay with her husband. During the time this story was published women did not have very much freedom. Men controlled everything their wives did, they had a very dominant role. It was almost like the women were enslaved rather than married. Kate Chopin’s story illustrates how women of this time period were confined to a man’s world. The main character Mrs. Mallard experiences lots of confinement by her bad heart, her marriage, and her home. At the beginning of the story news is received that Brently Mallard, who is Mrs. Mallard’s husband, has died. Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister, was the one who broke the news to her about her husband’s death. “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance.” Mrs. Mallard sobbed for some time and then proceeded to go to her room alone. Since she had been oppressed by her husband’s will over the years it was like she was now free from all of the confinement. Chopin says, “but she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her …show more content…
Mallard mentions many times how she is “free” now that her husband is gone. She struggles at first accepting his death, but then realizes that she did not even love him sometimes, and that she will be better off without him. Mrs. Mallard prays that she will have a long life after this, which means that she is somewhat thankful for her husband’s death because it will finally give her freedom. In the story, it says that Mrs. Mallard keeps repeating the word “free,” and that her blood “warmed and relaxed each part of her body.” This shows her acceptance of his death and relief that she can now enjoy the many moments in her future where she can live however and do whatever she