Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

Embodied in literature is a myriad of situations and emotions, that illustrate society in contrasting ways, often corresponding to the movements transpiring and genres being popularized . Literature, including those that strive to create the illusion of perpetual happiness, while concealing society’s imperfections in comparison to those demonstrating the grievances of living in a faulted society serve to highlight these conflicting beliefs. Realism is one such literary movement that endeavors to depict society through a realist lens, displaying society’s faults, epitomizing the rejection of unrealistic emotions and illusions. Realist works depict the oppressive and dull nature of society as it endeavors to impede individuality and influence …show more content…
The repudiation of societal systems and the conscious resolution of women to defy the established social precedents is a prevalent theme in realist woks. The social system pertaining to a woman's place and role in society, the cult of domesticity also become prominent in the 19th century, however, as it proposed the place of women is in the home, obeying their husbands, it promptly became unfavorable as reflected in some realist works. Amongst the realist works condemning the cult of domesticity is Kate Chopin’s, The Story of an Hour, as it portrays the feelings of elation and freedom that are emitted from a recently widowed women no longer suppressed by her husband. Chopin explains, “She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her… when she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free” (Chopin). The death of her husband elicited feelings of relief, a product of her newly acquired freedom. She becomes elated that her life is now her own and she is no longer governed by societal systems predominated by men. As the story ends, however, Mrs.Mallard’s