Story of an Hour Kate Chopin Was Essay

Story Of an Hour

Kate Chopin was an American writer whose deeply feminist views often influenced her writing. In "The Story of an Hour," Chopin (1894) explores Mrs. Mallard's reaction to the news of her husband's death and the emotional rollercoaster that she experiences during the brief hour after she hears her husband has died and before she learns her husband is actually still alive. Chopin's (1894) "The Story of an Hour" touches upon themes of oppression and the tone of the story follows the reaction that Mrs. Mallard after hearing her husband has died.

The plot of "The Story of an Hour" revolves around Mrs. Mallard and her physical, emotional, and psychological reaction to the news that her husband has been tragically killed in a "railroad disaster." While many would expect Mrs. Mallard to be devastated and grief-stricken, her reaction is quite the contrary. Chopin (1894) describes Mrs. Mallard's reaction as, "There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it fearfully…When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" This unexpected reaction not only shows how unhappy Mrs. Mallard was in her married life, but also goes to show that women did not have many options to be free and many times, they had to wait until their husband's died in order to do what they wanted with their lives.Moreover, Mrs. Mallard's oppression is evident as she looks to her future. She is not worried that she will be grief-stricken, but rather "she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome" (Chopin, 1894).

The strongest indication that Mrs. Mallard felt oppressed in her marriage is evident in her psychological reaction to her husbands presumed death. Mrs. Mallard strongly believes that "there would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Chopin, 1894). Chopin clearly asserts that women during this time were often forced to give up their….....