Story Of An Hour Oppression

Kate Chopin’s story “The Story of an Hour” is filled up with many forms of oppression among women. It is depicted in the story that Louise Mallard was not only suffering in her medical and marital conditions only but there were also chances that she will cause any danger to her own self as her sister warns. Everything is done very cautiously keeping in view the health condition of Mallard. All the action of the story revolves around her preservation. Things are presented to her in a lighter tone to prevent her from any distress.

Louise Mallard is subject to the masculine discourse of the story. She is introduced as “Mrs. Mallard” to us and she is only referred directly by her name in the story when she becomes “free”. This type of change, domination and freedom of body and soul is depicted for a very short span of time. Louise status as a “wife” is …show more content…
Louise “abandons herself” and goes into her room where she speaks to her own self but that is “under her breath.” She deliberately makes an effort not to show her “joy” to other people. She is shown to be conscious of her social duty as a widow to grieve for a year, Louise will at least “weep again when she” beholds his corpse. Her joy then becomes publicly when it is written that “there was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory” and is therefore punished. Again within the story we can see masculine discourse which is visible at the end of the story and it can be seen how Louise’s life was affected through her husband’s return (unharmed) and the arrival of the doctors, who declare her dead and give the following reason “She had died of heart disease, of joy that kills.” The last word reinforces the fact that men dictate the circumstances of Louise’s life and of her death as well. She was not happy in her marital life and could not bear the arrival of her