“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin depicts the gender relationships surrounding marriage. In marriage, the typical role of the wife was to care for the home, children, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and anything else the husband desires. The role of a man is to work and support the family. The man is the king of the home and makes the decisions.
There are four characters in “The Story of an Hour” including Josephine, Richards, Brently Mallard, and Louise Mallard – the main character. Josephine (Louise’s sister) and Richards (Brently’s friend) deliver the news of Mr. Mallard’s death to Mrs. Mallard expecting her to be devastated by the news. In the beginning of the story, Chopin depicts Mrs. Mallard as being frail because of her heart condition. The heart condition simply magnifies Mrs. Mallard’s fragility due to her gender. Josephine frets over Mrs. Mallard assuming that she is breaking down emotionally from the tragic news. Richards felt a duty to be there for Mrs. Mallard in her time of need.
Originally, Mrs. Mallard was shocked and distressed by the news of her husband’s demise. However, once alone she began to look forward to her freedom from the bondage of marriage. Women were expected to be married to a man or to the church. It was improper for women to be unchaperoned if they were single. Being a widow would give Mrs. Mallard a freedom which she had never experienced. The duties of being a wife could be overwhelming. Mrs. Mallard no longer had to worry about these things. She could cook what she wanted for dinner. She could sit up as late as she wanted. She could go wherever she wanted. She did not have to dress up unless it suited her.
When Mr. Mallard walked through the door, it was the end of her. Chopin did not give us enough details to know why Mrs. Mallard had a heart attack and died. We could surmise that she died from the shock of seeing a ghost, from relief at her husband being alive, or from despair at her dream of freedom being demolished.
We do know that gender played a huge role in this story. Gender is the main reason for Mrs. Mallard’s assumed frailty. Gender is the reason she was excited about freedom. A man would not need to be released from freedom to live life for themselves. In the end, Mrs. Mallard was free from her marriage, just not the way she had thought.
Sipiora, Phillip. “The Story of an Hour.” Reading and Writing about Literature. Pearson Education, Inc, 2002. 199-200.
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1 comment:
Too much summary. Begin by making an assertion: one of the reasons in your fourth ¶ or fifth. Your first ¶ suggests that you believe that these roles are how things should be. True?
Beginning with your fifth ¶ would have made a better entry.
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