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How Does The Change In The Story Of An Hour

Decent Essays

"The Story of an Hour"

By Kate Chopin

"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin describes the thoughts and feelings that are depicted in a

single hour of the life of Louise Mallard after hearing that her husband has been killed in a railroad

accident. As the story begins we are told that Mrs. Mallard is afflicted with a heart condition so the news

of her husband's death is broken to her gently by her sister. Mrs. Mallard's initial reaction, upon hearing

of her husband's death is one of grief. She wishes to be left alone to grieve in her room upstairs in the

house. However, during the hour she spends sitting in an armchair alone in the room, her state of mind

changes dramatically. She is faced with …show more content…

She is ultimately "defeated"

by the social conflicts, but the really important point of the story is not winning or losing the struggle, but

the change that comes about as a result of the struggle.

Feminism and gender literacy perspectives play a major role in "The Story of an Hour". This is

evident from the beginning of the story when we do not find our Mrs. Mallard's first name until after

her husband's death. This shows us that she was not important enough to warrant a first name until she

was no longer dependent upon her husband. The description of woman's repression is evident when

Chopin gives us the reason for Mrs. Mallard's "monstrous joy" which reads thus. "There would be now

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." Women in Victorian times did what they were told by

their husband's and were submissive and did not challenge them in any way. Through the character of

Louise Mallard, we are able to see the social repression that women felt at the time. They were

oppressed by their husbands, even though they were loved by them. When Louise Mallard realizes that

this is the dawning of a new life, "Free! Body and soul free! she kept whispering…she was drinking in a

very elixir of life through that open window." Those unbelievably radical words show

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