Story Of An Hour

In my research paper I want to discuss the concept of freedom for a woman in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, and how the wrong news can make the happiest person in the world and then cause her death.

(654) It is quite apparent that Mrs. Mallard was struggling to fight back certain feelings about her husband?s supposed death. Although she is at first sad, she slowly begins to realize that the death of her husband can mean a number of great things for her. As the story progresses Mrs. Mallard eventually solves her internal conflict by accepting her husband?s death as a gift.

Focusing on her future freedoms she was interrupted at the door by her husband. There had been a mix up and Mr. Mallard was nowhere near the train accident. Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition could not take the weight of change and she passed away.

Upon hearing the news, Mrs. Mallard is overwhelmed with grief, which swiftly turned into hope. Mrs. Mallard’s reaction upon receiving the news of her husband 's death is considered to be unusually by society’s standards. In the beginning of the story it is revealed that Mrs, Mallard suffers heart problems; however, when it is revealed that her husband is dead her heart is relieved. She was thrilled that she was able to be her own person again. It was revealed through her reflection on her marriage that she “had loved him - sometimes” (16). Mrs. Mallard overcame is quick to overcome her grief after the realization that she has been set free of her horrible marriage. As a married woman, Mrs. Mallard is miserable, but as a widow she feels a sense of relief that she is free of her marital vows. At the end of the story Mrs. Mallard dies of a failing heart which it ironic because typically a woman would be filled with joy to find out

Mallard is sitting in her room her sister Josephine is knocking on the door. Josephine begs her sister to open the door thinking she is going to make herself sick. She tells Josephine to go away, while her thoughts are still running about the days ahead of her. “It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.” ( 548) As she opened the door to the room her sister was standing there and clasped her waist and they both headed to the stairs. Richard who is Mr. Mallard’s friend was standing at the bottom of the stairs. While they are all standing at the stairs the front door opens and Mr. Mallard comes walking in with his grip-sack and umbrella. He was nowhere near the accident and did not even know that there was one. “He was standing there amazed by Josephine’s cry; then at Richards’ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife". ( 548) He was too late. With Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition and the joys of being free only lasted a short while. When seeing her husband walk through the door, it became too much for her to bare and it killed

In "The Story of an Hour," Kate Chopin suggests that in certain scenarios, the death of a loved one may be a blessing in disguise. Possible situations may include an abusive relationship, or an unhappy marriage, as the story suggests. Although the circumstances throughout the story might lead the reader to believe that Louise's husband's death would cause her great pain, ironically, when she hears the news, she feels a sense of euphoria. This suggests that death may not always cause agony.

The open window in “A Story of an Hour” holds a lot of symbolism towards the emotions that Mrs. Mallard discovers within the story. The open window constitutes as her epiphany moment in the story where she discovers her true feelings and bases her actions off of the freedom she finds when she looks beyond the scenery through the window with new eyes. The open window in Mrs. Mallards home is what triggers her emotional state in which she breaks out of her restraints that her marriage has put her in.

At the end of the story, Mrs. Mallard’s husband walked through her front door in the flesh, but Mrs. Mallard’s heart could not handle the excitement. The

Mallard retiring to her room once she learns of her husband’s death. Once alone in her room, Mrs. Mallard’s grieves for only a short time before she becomes enthralled with the thought of her independent future. Ironically, Mrs. Mallard’s family and friends believe that she is overcome with grief, in need of alone time to process the news. Jospehine speaks to Mrs. Mallard through the keyhole in her door, begging to be let inside so that Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition will not worsen. However, Mrs. Mallard is instead overcome with a sense of

Women are taught from a young age that marriage is the end all be all in happiness, in the short story “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin and the drama “Poof!” by Lynn Nottage, we learn that it is not always the case. Mrs. Mallard from “The Story of an Hour” and Loureen from “Poof!” are different characteristically, story-wise, and time-wise, but share a similar plight. Two women tied down to men whom they no longer love and a life they no longer feel is theirs. Unlike widows in happy marriages Loureen and Mrs., Mallard discover newfound freedom in their respective husband’s deaths. Both stories explore stereotypical housewives who serve their husbands with un-stereotypical reactions to their husband’s deaths.

The story continues to reveal a conflict Mrs. Mallard may have had in the relationship with her husband. Though she speaks about him lovingly and knows that he loved her, there is something deeper that is brought to the surface in

In “The Story of an Hour” we are taken through a journey. The journey is the thoughts and emotions going through Mrs. Mallards (Louise) mind. The journey only takes an hour, so everything moves at a fast pace. Louise seemed to process the news of her husband’s death without an initial element of disbelief and shock. She goes right into the reaction of grieving for her husband. She quickly begins to feel other emotions. At first she does not understand them. The journey is a way that Louise comes to her final thoughts of freedom. She looks into the future and looks forward to living a long life on her own terms.

As much as we may have progressed as a country and as a global culture, sexism is still alive today. It affects men, women, people who don’t fit our gender binary system, how we view ourselves and how we view each other. A powerful force in combating the gender inequalities we face today is feminism. Feminism is a social movement for gender and sex equality, and a personal commitment to understanding and achieving gender equality in everyday life.

When her husband is killed in a train accident Mrs. Mallard cries, but for different reasons than would be expected. She is sad for her husband’s death, but, moreover, she is overcome with joy. For now she is free. No one recognizes her true emotions because women fall apart when their spouse dies; it’s required. Marriage is portrayed as a life sentence. "She said it over and over again under her breath: ‘free, free, free!' Her pulse beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body"(1). Mrs. Mallard was relieved that her husband died for she thought her sentence was over. When she realized that he was still alive, and therefore she was still committed to the marriage, she died from the shock and horror of being trapped.

While Mrs. Mallard remembers Mr. Mallard as a kind and tender man who loved her, she also viewed him as the oppression that marriage put upon women and men. While Mr. Mallard was kind and loving to his wife, he was also controlling and overbearing. Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister and Richards, Mr. Mallard’s friend is there to break the news of Mr. Mallard’s death. Richards has learned of Mr. Mallard’s death at the newspaper office, not wanting to believe the information that was received, Richards waited for the new to be delivered for a second time before enlisting the help of Josephine. They are both there to support Mrs. Mallard and their support shows that they care for Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.