My belief on marriage is that it’s a covenant between two people who absolutely love each other and couldn’t imagine life without sharing their sacred union. Although this belief is pretty common, unfortunately it’s not always the case and people for a variety of other reasons get married and often feel imprisoned. In the short story by Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour”, she suggests that in the case of Louise Mallard and her husband, true love was not the deciding factor for their marriage. When Louise was given the news that her husband died in a train wreck, rather than feeling heartbroken over his death, she was relieved because it brought her a new found sense of freedom. At first she reacts with brief sadness and guilt, but then realizes how her life was now her own.
Chopin creates a character from the beginning of the short story that the reader becomes sympathetic of, conveying sad emotions and a seemingly sad situation. The author tells the reader that Mrs. Mallard is “ill” and writes, “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin 438). Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble was in my opinion, not only physical, but more likely emotional. Throughout the plot of the story, the reader can gain a sense of sympathy for Mrs. Mallard as they read of her personal conflict of being in a loveless marriage.
Often Chopin’s rhetorical techniques in her stories and especially in this particular one are the strong use of figurative language that appeals to pathos as found in the following passage, “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.” Chopin’s use of pathos was effective as readers wanted to know the hidden meaning behind such statements. Kate Chopin has also given little detail about the Mallards lives and therefore left much to the imagination of the reader.
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Chopin also employed irony as a way of expression in this short story. Mrs. Mallard’s relatives believed that when she locked herself in the room upon receiving the news of her husband’s death that she was indeed depressed as any widow would be. Ironically, her tears in solitude were celebratory as she discovered she was now free to live her life unconfined. as she stated, “Free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin’s literary style throughout this story manages to pack such large punch into such a minimalist storytelling schema. Such writings are also found in similar work from authors of her time like Katherine Anne Porter and her renowned short story “He”. Porter writing style of similar figurative speech, use of ethos and pathos and the deep hidden conflict her main character had related to Chopin’s work.
Kate Chopin lived in a patriarchal time when women were expected to obey their husbands and take care of the children in the late eighteen hundreds. There weren’t options like divorce that is now available. It makes me think that Kate may have felt the same way she portrayed the main character Louise to feel when her own husband died in 1883.
This story reflects cultural attitudes of marriage at that time in a way that is very heart wrenching. It shines light on the fact that some women felt trapped, lifeless and in bondage to their husbands and in their marriages. This story kicked off a feminist movement and foreshadowed many present day women’s rights and freedoms. Chopin was known to be a pioneer feminist and had the courage to write about women’s equality, even if it was just a fantasy at the time. Kate Chopin has given little detail about the Mallards and therefore left much to the imagination of the reader. The story was written in 1894, which was a time when women were not allowed to vote and their specific role was within the home.
I find it necessary to incorporate Chopin’s life experience into the meaning I gather from “The Story of an Hour” as it most definitely influenced her writing. Her father died in a rail road accident when she was just five years old and she became a widow one year before this short story was published. I believe this story perhaps gave a glimpse into her thoughts on her own marriage and life as a woman of her time.
“The Story of an Hour” has an unexpected twist with an interesting ending. Louise suddenly died realizing she would have to return back to her subservient role upon seeing her husband’s return. The fact that he wasn’t on the train and didn’t die and the turn of events was rather depressing because her joy figuratively lasted an hour, but when she saw her husband after knocking at her front door it literally killed her, which closed any door of her infinite hope of freedom. Rather than dying of “the joy that kills” as the doctor presumed was the cause of her death, the reader may interpret it as though she in fact died because all joy was stolen the moment the epiphany of her liberating emotions were abruptly halted.
I would have to admit that I agree with what Chopin was aiming at conveying. I believe many women since the beginning of time marry for the wrong reasons. This story relates to my own experience of what I witnessed of women in my life marry for, whether it was for financial security, insurance purposes, because there were children involved, or just mere societal pressures. It made me realize that nothing can and will pressure me to marry nor would I ever want that for my children. Stories such as these shed light on the fact that a woman shouldn’t marry unless she’s in love and should never feel hopeless. I’m grateful that women have more options nowadays in our society.
I will only ever get married if I feel completely compelled because I want to not because I need to or because someone tells me to. This story Kate Chopin holds a strong connection for me, I wonder if the women that I am referring to would have also felt a sense of relief if they lost their husbands, what a tragic possible truth that is. After reading this story I also feel at the same time saddened that her husband was unaware of how she felt and will never know. Many husbands are not told the truth from the beginning and are blindly in a loveless union.
