Story of an Hour the Term Paper

Mallard accepted the news about her husband's death very graciously. She wept to her sister right away and locked herself up in her room after her grievance. Alone in her room, she saw life in a different perspective. She was now able to appreciate the beauty of life outside her window. A single sob made her realize something. It dawned upon her that she was finally free from her husband's subordination. Right there and then, she became overwhelmed with joy. Although she sometimes loved her husband, the idea that she would have nothing to live for but herself excited her tremendously. Upon savoring her newfound freedom, she even prayed that her life would be long even though just yesterday she dreaded that life would actually be long. She went out of the room with victory on her face. When she and her sister went downstairs, her alleged dead husband opened the door. Brently was shocked to hear Josephine's cry and Richards' futile attempt to block him from the view of Mrs. Mallard. It was too late for Mrs. Mallard saw her husband. The story ended with the idea that Mrs. Mallard was killed by a heart failure, "a joy that kills." On the contrary, Mrs. Mallard probably died of shock or extreme sadness upon learning that her husband was still alive. What she thought was her newfound freedom was lost in just a flicker of a moment.In the first part of the story, Louise Mallard had no identity apart from her husband. She was just simply Mrs. Mallard while her husband's name, Brently Mallard, was mentioned right from the start. This depicted how women played an inferior role in Mrs. Mallard's society. She was subordinated to her husband. Her marriage was not a fulfilling one. She was a repressed woman who followed the dictates of not only her husband but her society as well. She had no freedom of her own. She was not free to choose. Her body and soul seemed alien to herself. That was why she experienced joy when she learned that her husband died in a train accident. All that joy was taken away from her when she saw her husband alive at the end of the story. Her only escape from her husband's tyrannical hold was her own death.

References

Kate Chopin's the Story of an Hour: A Big Story in a Small Space." ***.com. 2005. ***.com. 2 May, 2007 http://www.***.com/view.asp?id=6798.

Moramarco, Fred and Griswold, Jerry. "The Story of an Hour." English 220: An Introduction to Literature in an Age of Technology. 1996. San Diego State University. 2 May, 2007 http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/course/morgris/hour.html......