Feminist Analysis Of 'The Story Of An Hour'

In Donald Halls book Literary and Cultural Theory he asserts, “key to all feminist analysis is a recognition of the different degrees of social power that are granted to and exercised by women and men” (Halls 199). The perspective of feminist analysis has evolved throughout the history of women being denied social power and being denied the right to numerous forms of self-expression. It was typical for women to feel like they had no right to express how they truly felt. Men were never fond about a woman’s feelings. Women were looked upon by men as a price possession rather than a regular honorable human being. Men presumed they were much more superior to women due to the stereotypes this society has created amongst females. Cultural feminism focuses on …show more content…
John does not know how much I really suffer” (Gilman 769). To John she seems fine but if the narrator’s social role allows her to communicate how she truly feels than maybe John would have been more comforting to his wife/patient. It is believed that some of these disorders the narrator faces such as nervousness and depression may have been caused by the stress of having to live with the inflexible social roles to which women were limited, doctors in the late 1800s felt that the source of many women’s illnesses was their gender. In “The Story of an Hour” the author demonstrates how women are controlled by their husband. On top of being controlled, women are faced with not being looked at as their own individual. They are looked as “the wife of Mr. Smith” rather than “Mrs. Smith”. When the main character Mrs. Mallard first hears the news about her husband’s death she is devastated. Even had signs of depression. She later finds herself feeling a sense of relief. Mrs. Mallard muses on why she is relieved and thinks, “she saw beyond the bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her