Essay on Freedom in Kate Chopins The Story of An Hour

Freedom in Kate Chopins The Story of An Hour In Kate Chopins The Story of An Hour the theme is found within the concept of how someone can be trapped in a repressive, unsatisfying reality because of anothers thoughtless oppression and manipulation. When combined with the contemporary societys beliefs --- presumably the later half of the 19th century for this story -- a further understanding of Chopins thoughts and feelings can be realized. Mrs. Louise Mallard, the victim and messenger of this story, is the representation of such a person. Her relationship with her husband is so tyrannical and limiting that even death is considered a reasonable means of escape. The condition of life for Mrs. Mallard is terrible, yet for some†¦show more content†¦A moment of deep conscious thought engages her as though she had never really thought before, as though it had been severely repressed. Mrs. Mallard began drinking in the very elixir of life through that open window (468). The open window is like her reopened soul allowing fresh new life to flow inward. Mrs. Mallard learns the nature of her reality; she realizes how much she gained with her husbands death. She no longer had to live for anyone but herself: There would be no 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 (468). By stating men and women Chopin deliberately strays from a feminist argument and takes the theme into all domains. By also stating a fellow creature could be a victim Chopin implies that this sort of oppressive nature goes beyond just man vs. man but into man vs. animal and possibly even man vs. nature. The theme can be found within that very sentence. Chopin wants us to let all things be free and nothing not even a fellow creature deserves imprisonment because of another. Louises discontent towards her husband wasnt surprising, but her sudden happiness was unexpected. She was getting excited about the future, the future that would be of her own will. Many of her passions had probably never been fully experienced, and the inner peace and underlyingShow MoreRelated Freedom and Kate Chopins Story of an Hour Essay1668 Words   |  7 PagesFreedom and The Story Of An Hour      Ã‚  Ã‚   When I first read Kate Chopins The Story Of An Hour, my instinctual response was to sympathize with the character of Mrs. Mallard.   This seemed to me to have been intended by the author because the story follows her emotional path from the original shock upon hearing of her husbands supposed death to her gradual acceptance of the joy she feels in anticipating her new freedom to the irony of her own sudden death.   However, one fact cannot beRead MoreFreedom And Freedom In Kate Chopins The Story Of An Hour1223 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Story of an Hour†, a powerful short story to express the pursuit of freedom from one woman’s perspective. In this story, Kate Chopin creates a female character who has been suffering from heart disease and can’t handle too much shock in her life. A story about an unfortunate woman who receives her husband’s death news accidently. To express an idea of women’s freedom, the story is based on how she reacts to the news of her husband’s death and how her mind changed during the ordeal with the badRead More Discovering Freedom in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour Essay589 Words   |  3 PagesDiscovering Freedom in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour As humans, we live our life within the boundaries of our belief systems and moral guidelines. Yet, one unexpected event can suddenly knock us out of our comfort zone and thrust us into a completely different arena. Such is the case of the central character in Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour.† Louise Mallard, upon hearing the news of her husband’s tragic death then subsequent revelation of its fallacy, finds herself quickly movingRead More Essay on the Search for Freedom in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour595 Words   |  3 PagesSearch for Freedom in The Story of an Hournbsp;nbsp; nbsp; In the early 1900s, marriage was comparable to a master-and-slave relationship.nbsp; The role of the woman in the marriage was minimal.nbsp; The woman’s place was in the house, caring for the children, cleaning the house, and doing other â€Å"womanly† tasks.nbsp; Chained to their husbands, marriage became prison to many women; the only means of breaking free from these bonds being the death of a husband.nbsp; In Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The StoryRead More Essay on the Death of Freedom in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour919 Words   |  4 PagesDeath of Freedom in The Story of an Hour In Kate Chopin’s short story, The Story of an Hour, we are told that Mrs. Mallard, the main character, has a heart condition. Then Mrs. Mallard’s sister, Josephine, tells her Mr. Mallard died in a railroad disaster. At the end of the story, Mrs. Mallard dies when her husband suddenly walks through the door. The doctor says that Mrs. Mallard died of heart disease—of joy that kills (Chopin 27). Some people may agree with the doctor’s diagnosisRead MoreThe Unique Style Of Kate Chopin s Writing1603 Words   |  7 PagesThe unique style of Kate Chopin’s writing has influenced and paved the way for many female authors. Although not verbally, Kate Chopin aired political and social issues affecting women and challenging the validity of such restrictions through fiction. Kate Chopin, a feminist in her time, prevailed against the notion that a woman’s purpose was to only be a housewife and nothing more. Kate Chopin fortified the importance of women empowerment, self-expression, self-assertion, and female sexuality throughRead MoreKate Chopin, An American Writer1425 Words   |  6 PagesKate Chopin, an American writer, known for her vivid portrayals of women’s lives during the late 1800s. Her fiction works usually set in Louisiana, which contributed too much of her description of women’s roles. During Chopin’s time, Louisiana was in the mi dst of reconstruction and was having racial and economic issues. (Skaggs 4) Louisiana is the setting for many of Chopin’s stories, and they depict a realistic picture of Louisiana society. Kate Chopin published two novels and many short storiesRead MoreThe Life and Works of Kate Chopin1569 Words   |  6 PagesKate wrote two novels and hundreds of short stories. Few of her stories were â€Å"Story of an Hour† and â€Å"The Awakening†. One of Kate Chopins most famous stories is the Story of an Hour. In the story Chopin was brave enough to challenge the society in which she lived because in the first half of the 19th century, women were not allowed the freedoms men enjoyed in the judgments of the law, the church or the government. This famous short story showed the conflict between the social traditional requirementsRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin1540 Words   |  7 PagesIn Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, the main charac ter, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is a woman with a heart problem that gets horrifying news that her husband has passed away in a train crash. When she starts thinking about her freedom, she gets excited; she is happy to start her new, free life. However, a few hours later her husband walks in the door and she finds out it was all a mistake. When she realizes her freedom is gone her heart stop and she then dies. In â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† Desiree is an orphanedRead MoreKate Chopin s Literary Creativity And Women s Independence1097 Words   |  5 Pages Kate Chopin has become one of the most influential feminist writers of the century. From Chopin’s literary rejection of The Awakening, the rejection sparked a fire in Chopin’s feminist side. Chopin began writing short stories that would become society’s lead in literary creativity and women’s independence. Kate Chopin’s biography is astonishingly intriguing and the importance Chopin plays to the feminist literature genre is exceptional. Critics either rave Chopin’s work or completely destroy it