Story Of The Hour Response Paper

Originally, I thought that The Story of the Hour, by Kate Chopin, was going to be about a woman losing her will to live when she found out that her husband had been killed in a horrific train accident, instead I soon came to find out that she was feeling truly trapped and unloved in her marriage. When Mrs. Mallard started whispering “free, free, free” it became very apparent that she was not looking at the inheritance that she would be receiving, instead she finally gained the right to unhide the hidden part of her personality. In a time when women really had no voice in society, this woman finally felt free when she thought she had become a widow. It appeared that she was suffering alone and in silence by her sister’s reaction to her breakdown. I really enjoyed that the author set the scene, was very descriptive with how the weather was that day, and made you feel as though you were watching the scene instead of reading it. I have noticed that older stories are so …show more content…
This short story spoke to the feminist movement that would not occur for a few more decades. Women in 1898 were viewed and treated as less than men by society. Women were not allowed to own property, nor could they have an opinion on important matters in this time, as they could not be trusted because of their ‘fragile’ nature. In the 1800’s girls were taught from their Mothers on how to run a household and do chores; their education was secondary to boys. Women could not be in public alone, could not drive, nor could they vote on any major political issues. In some states, the woman’s suffrage was placed up for vote in the late 1800’s but had failed. It would not be until 1920 that women would achieve the right to have an opinion. In 1890, Wyoming is admitted to the union of United States and became the first state to grant women full enfranchisement in its state constitution (Ruthsdotter,