Have you ever been in a terrible relationship? Because mood. Why is it that women, not even just me, tend to fall into a cycle of oppression? It seems that relationships become so controlling that there is barely any freedom left over. You’d think by now we would stop history from repeating itself, but the men typically end up as the driving (aka controlling) force in these situations. I’m not trying to ruffle any feathers by stating that, that’s just my general experience and what I have seen in others thus far in my life.

“The Story of an Hour” begins with a young lady named Mrs. Mallard with heart troubles and a recently deceased husband. It then goes on to explain that Mrs. Mallard’s husband was just killed in a railroad accident. Due to her heart condition, Mrs. Mallard’s sister Josephine has to break the news to her in a very gentle way, or else Mrs. Mallard will die.

Seems slightly dramatic if you ask me, but this situation provides a lot of irony later on at the end of the story.

I’d like to begin with oppression.

Mrs. Mallard, who is later introduced as Louise, really does love her husband. But because of this unconditional love, she is blindsided to her lack of freedom. She lives for him instead of for herself. This is the main theme Kate Chopin writes about. She likes to advocate for the women who are obedient on the outside, but adventurous and daring on the inside. As times have changed her work has become more accepted, and I believe this short story really encompasses Chopin’s entire reason for writing (and it’s only three pages, so it’s like maybe five minutes that you’re taking to read this – definitely worth it).

Relating to oppression, there is also a struggle with marriage equality and women’s rights. You don’t even need to be a hardcore feminist to enjoy reading about these topics. My favorite part in all of Chopin’s works that I’ve read is the exact moment a female character has her awakening. Not before, not after, but that precise moment in time. The second everything switches for them, and they can truly understand everything they had no idea they were missing out on. Louise’s awakening occurs while she is looking out her window after being informed of her husband’s death. There were hints throughout the story that something was creeping near her, just out of reach, and I assumed that meant death was being lured towards Louise. I thought she was planning on killing herself because of her intense feeling of loss. She then goes on to talk about freedom, which I again thought meant the sweet relief of death, as I believed she was so devoted to her husband that she could not bear the thought of life without him.

BUT NO!

Instead of moping around like a depressed wife, which is assumed of her, she grabs life by the reins and takes her existence into her own hands like the bada** woman she is!!

The thing coming towards her through the window is not death, but rather her freedom. I truly applaud Louise. What an icon. I relate her realization to these wonderful birds being let out of their cage, as she is finally free from the constraints of a man.

The thought of the future no longer exhausts her; she is excited to learn more about herself as an individual, not as half of a couple.

After her awakening, Louise could be viewed as somewhat of an insensitive wife who does not have much love for her husband, but in reality, she just has more love for herself. That’s how it should be. Louise realized she does not need to live for anyone but herself, and that joy that she feels of complete independence consumes her.

I think at this point you should learn a little more about Kate Chopin, simply because she is an amazing woman. She was crazy (in a good way), to be honest. Chopin didn’t seem to give a crap about the constraints of the time period, she just wrote what she wanted to write about. This resulted in many of her pieces being condemned and a few being banned but honestly, that’s how you know she was a really good writer. She was outspoken and didn’t allow society to tell her how to behave.

While I was reading her biography, I learned a lot about why she wrote what she did. Her father was actually killed in a railroad accident in 1855, similar to the one Brently Mallard is killed in during the short story. She includes her own life experiences in her other works as well which I think makes them much more relatable for the readers. This technique makes her stories very vivid and real when they are in fact works of fiction. She seems to understand how human emotions work, so kudos to her because I can’t seem to figure it out for myself.

If you enjoy this short story I highly recommend reading The Awakening, also by Kate Chopin. It is again about this idea of self-determination. After reading her biography I actually went right onto Amazon and ordered another one of her books, called At Fault that is about the same sort of idea of women’s independence.

This short story and Chopin’s other writings are still relevant today. Women are still being oppressed, and most people feel oppressed or not heard in some aspect. I highly recommend reading this short story. Even if you cannot relate to these fleeting feelings of independence and freedom, you will at least gain insight into those who do have similar thoughts. Overall, Kate Chopin is an excellent writer and I will definitely be exploring some of her other works, and you should do the same.

 

Sources

https://www.thoughtco.com/analysis-story-of-an-hour-2990475

https://libraryofessays.com/book-report-review/the-story-of-an-hour-by-kate-chopin-1882256

“THE STORY OF AN HOUR” by Kate Chopin | Review

Biography