The Story of an Hour (Literature)

The Story of an Hour
By Kate Chopin 

     In The Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard’s emotion was extremely changed in a short period of time. At first, she was faced with disbelieve and sorrow, then happiness came to her, in the end, it was said by the doctor that “of joy that kills.” Why would a wife’s emotion changed so suddenly during a short time? It seemed to be a natural reaction for Mrs. Mallard to bury herself in sorrow and tears for her husband’s death. However, no one might consider the possibility that some part of her might also be happy. But why? During the time when the story was written, women’s right aren’t emphasized by the public, and even worth, women were considered as a possession of men, which might cause them to lost their freedom after marriage. Aside from that, their husband often regarded them as children and taken great care of them, yet at the same time, it meant that those women didn’t have their right to speak out for themselves. “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” This quote implied that the women in her ages didn’t have the freedom to make their own decision or decide their own lives. Only when their husband’s death will bring their lives back to themselves, and that’s the reason why she kept saying “Free! Body and soul free!” In the story. Besides, readers could also see how the ideas of freedom seemed to be an illegal thought for them. “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully.” An idea that can’t be too natural for us was actually a burden for them to even think of, and at the end of the story, she was died because the unthinkable idea was shattered by her husband’s appearance. From this story, readers can see how women were lacked of rights during a marriage life, and throughout the entire story, Mrs. Mallard’s name was never told once. She was either called “Mrs. Mallard” or “she.”