story of an hour essay

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Story Of An Hour Essay Paper The short story entitled “Story Of An Hour” written by Kate Chopin is a powerful story about a woman, Mrs. Mallard who is given the horrible news that her husband has just passed away in a train wreck. Devastated by her husband’s sudden death she excuses herself and immediately rushes to her bedroom where we see a different side of Mrs. Mallard’s attitude. She has taken on a different angle of life now, she is upset about her husband’s sudden death, however; she has something to be happy about it. Now that her husband has passed away is Mrs. Mallard happy because she is now her own person? Or is Mrs. Mallard truly upset that her husband has passed? “Story Of An Hour” was written in 1894, which was in a time period where women did not really have much power or say in anything that went on. Women were really the ones that stayed home and took care of the family and tended to the house, while the husbands went out and worked. Women really stayed out of the lime light and their opinions were never heard or considered. Even though women had desires and feelings, those feelings were never heard of. Women did not dare speak out about their feelings or their rights, it was just not heard of in that time period. Women really lived a life of silence then because they had no voice and they dared not once speak out. Kate Chopin lived in this type of time period where women really did not have any rights. Chopin wrote stories where the characters were women who were dealt with these types of issues head on. Chopin was well known for writing short stories that centered around women who are faced with these types of society blocks. However in her stories the women usually take on different side. The women in her stories normally choose their own path rather then what is excepted of them in the eyes of the society. In the end it is the women who gets what they truly want our of life. One major theme in Kate Chopin’s story is freedom. In the beginning of “Story of an Hour” the scene opens up and we are introduced to Mrs. Mallard who has been told that her husband has dead in a horrible train wreck. Mrs. Mallard reacts to this news like any other wife would. Yes, she is upset so she excuses herself and

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Page 1: Story of an Hour Essay

Story Of An Hour Essay Paper

The short story entitled “Story Of An Hour” written by Kate Chopin is a powerful story about a

woman, Mrs. Mallard who is given the horrible news that her husband has just passed away in a train

wreck. Devastated by her husband’s sudden death she excuses herself and immediately rushes to her

bedroom where we see a different side of Mrs. Mallard’s attitude. She has taken on a different angle of

life now, she is upset about her husband’s sudden death, however; she has something to be happy

about it. Now that her husband has passed away is Mrs. Mallard happy because she is now her own

person? Or is Mrs. Mallard truly upset that her husband has passed?

“Story Of An Hour” was written in 1894, which was in a time period where women did not really have

much power or say in anything that went on. Women were really the ones that stayed home and took

care of the family and tended to the house, while the husbands went out and worked. Women really

stayed out of the lime light and their opinions were never heard or considered. Even though women

had desires and feelings, those feelings were never heard of. Women did not dare speak out about their

feelings or their rights, it was just not heard of in that time period. Women really lived a life of silence

then because they had no voice and they dared not once speak out.

Kate Chopin lived in this type of time period where women really did not have any rights. Chopin

wrote stories where the characters were women who were dealt with these types of issues head on.

Chopin was well known for writing short stories that centered around women who are faced with these

types of society blocks. However in her stories the women usually take on different side. The women

in her stories normally choose their own path rather then what is excepted of them in the eyes of the

society. In the end it is the women who gets what they truly want our of life.

One major theme in Kate Chopin’s story is freedom. In the beginning of “Story of an Hour” the scene

opens up and we are introduced to Mrs. Mallard who has been told that her husband has dead in a

horrible train wreck. Mrs. Mallard reacts to this news like any other wife would. Yes, she is upset so

she excuses herself and rushes off to her bedroom to be away from everyone who has come to see her.

While in her room we as the reader see a completely different side of Mrs. Mallard. She in some sense

is happy; yes she is upset that her husband has dead however she now has this new found freedom that

she did not have before.

When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over

and over under the breath: “free, free, free!” The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it

went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed

and relaxed every inch of her body. (Chopin 1)

Here for the first time you see Mrs. Mallard really coming out of her shell, once she is behind closed

doors she can truly express what she is really feeling. Mrs. Mallard still in some sense knows her

place; she knows that she dared not express these types of feelings in front of her family and friends.

Page 2: Story of an Hour Essay

In some sense she knows her place in society and even though her husband has dead she is still

supposed to keep that stature of a women in that time period.

            Mrs. Mallard is now been reborn. She is now free, free from the shadow of her husband. Mrs.

Mallard is up in her room, she is standing in front of her window and everything around her is in full

bloom, spring has arrived. Winter has now died and spring has now been born. In some sense the same

applies for Mrs. Mallard the winter being her husband has now died and spring being her new found

freedom has been born.

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new

spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his

wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless

sparrows were twittering in the eaves. (Chopin 1)

The smell of rain is in the air, and that can also represent a form of a rebirth. When I think of rain and

rebirth I think of a newborn child being christened. When a child is being christened they are being

born, they are being cleansed. The same applies here for Mrs. Mallard she in some sense is being

cleansed, she is now free, free to live her life the way that she pleases without having to answer to

anyone not even her husband.

            Mrs. Mallard knows that she now can truly live for herself and no one else. She knows that she

can be her own person; she does not have to answer to her husband anymore.

There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. 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. A kind intention or a cruel intention made

the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination. (Chopin 1)

Mrs. Mallard knows now that she only has to live with herself. She does not have to make anyone

happy but herself. She does not have to answer to anyone but herself. She now is living her life the

way she wants she is not going to be chained to her husband.

            Mrs. Mallard finally compasses herself and comes out of her bedroom to make an appearance

downstairs again. As she walks down the stairs Mrs. Mallard gets the surprise of her life…

Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little

travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the

accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry; at

Richards’ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife. (Chopin 1)

In that moment Mrs. Mallard collapses to the floor and dies of what the doctors later say was of a heart

disease or was it a broken heart knowing that her freedom had now been taken away from her in a

matter of an hour. 

The Story of an Hour

Page 3: Story of an Hour Essay

The Story of an Hour is a story about marriage and a women’s life in the mid 1800’s. The main

character receives news that her husband is dead and after a brief moment of sorrow she is overjoyed

with the sense of freedom and just as she is going to open the door and leave forever her husband

opens the door and she is depressed she dies of a heart attack on the spot. This story shows about life

in the mid 1800’s and how women were treated around that time.

The main character is an example of an average housewife of the mid 1800’s. At that time

women were not allowed to go to school and were expected to marry and do housework. The main

character was sad when she first heard about her husband’s death but after a brief moment of sadness

she was filled with happiness. At that time the only way women could get out of a marriage was if

they died or there husband died. In that time period the husband controlled all of the money so it

would be pointless for a wife to run away from a house and food provided by the husband. When the

main character realized that her husband had died she had planned to be free, something unheard of for

women in the mid 1800’s.

Imagine what life would have been for the husband. As he walked into his house he was

clueless about the accident that the wife thought had killed him. He was very far away from the

accident scene and didn’t realize that it happened until after his wife had died. The company that he

works for had accidently printed his name on the list of men killed. He would have had to been very

sad that his wife had just died. In the story it had said that the husband loved his wife very much so

seeing her die would have been very depressing but in the mid 1800’s he would be expected to

remarry and start the cycle over again. Women have no choice at all, for them it is marry or find a way

to live off of zero pay because they were not allowed to have a job.

Lastly, the author of the story was a woman in the mid 1800’s and probably was forced to

change the end of her story. In that time period it would have been unheard of for women to have

freedom, even in a story. This story was published into a magazine which was run by men. The author

most likely had at first written an ending that involved the main character to be free but had to change

it because men ran the magazine company, completely unfair to women. That was just the way life

was for women in the mid 1800’s, completely unfair.

In conclusion, The Story of an Hour, although fictions, tells a lot about a women’s life in the

mid 1800’s. Back then women had no say in things and weren’t even aloud to work. The men

controlled all of the money so marrying was very common for women. Divorce was not an option

because with no money and no job running away would be impossible. The Story of an Hour does a

great job in showing what a women’s life would have been like in the mid 1800’s and although

fictions, we can learn a lot from it.