Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

When I first read Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” I was both surprised and intrigued. Although her husband was not cruel, and she “would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her” (13), she still “bespoke repression” (8). In a male dominant society, release from her patriarch was an immense relief and Louise could finally be “free! Body and soul free” (16). At first, it may be confusing to why Louise experiences such joy to her husband’s death, but it is revealed that Louise was the victim of oppression and desperately wanted to be free from the controlling hand of a man. When she was married, her life was dominated by caring for her husband, however, now that he had died, “there would be no one to live for her during hose coming years; she would live for herself” (14). Additionally, I was intrigued when she stated that “her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own… It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (19). Perhaps Louise married young and never got to experience day’s of freedom and independence. In Chopin’s story, the marriage between Louise and her husband is not …show more content…
After being mocked in the park, she retreats to her “little dark room—her room like the cupboard” (17). She skips her routine stop at the bakery, overwhelmed with sadness and humiliation at being ridiculed. Taking other’s opinions to heart, she removes her beloved fur and puts it away. Despite her loving the fur, she allows other’s opinions to control her, which shows she cares deeply for the thoughts of others and intensely feels criticism. “But when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying” (17). Miss Brill, alone in her dark apartment, cries over her despairing and lonely life. Moreover, she realizes she is not a vital actress