Women's Roles In The Late 1800s

The late 1800's were a time of change for many women, taking the time to discover themselves and break away from social norms. Women like Kate Chopin used their gift of writing to open up the world to their reality of gender roles in marriage and finding your identity. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author of Women and economics used economic analysis to explore the condition of women's work and women's roles during the late 1800's. She discovered that "once a marriage contract was signed, the woman became "the man's chattel," Gilman likened the servile relationship between husband and wife to that of a horse and his master: as the horse is dependent upon his keeper for food, so it is "with the hard-worked savage or peasant woman" (O'Donnell 180). In "The Story of an Hour" Chopin poses the question of whether or not a person can be an individual while being in a marriage. …show more content…
With 6 children and limited financial resources, Kate used her unconventional lifestyle and dove deep into the world of poetry and short stories (277). "The story of an Hour" follows Louise who learns of her husband's death from caring family members. Once Louise comes to terms with her husband's death she begins to imagine life without him. Accepting her new reality, she is shocked to learn of her husband's return and dies of a heart attack. Kate uses the irony and tragedy of Louise's marriage, her newfound freedom and her heart trouble to dwell into the relationship between marriage and individuality