"The Story of an Hour"

Wow. That was a very interesting story. Kate Chopin really expressed a woman's view of marriage in an almost discreet and unsuspecting way. "The Story of an Hour"is about a woman who learns about her husband death and goes to her room to mourn (Chopin 554). Instead of mourning alone, like what her sister Josephine thinks that Mrs. Mallard is doing, Mrs. Mallard is realizing that she is finally free and can be independent again (Chopin 555). When Mrs. Mallard "composes" herself and goes downstairs, supported by her sister, she is shocked by her husband walking in the front door (Chopin 555). The doctors say that Mrs. Mallard died of "heart disease - of joy that kills" (Chopin 555). Mrs. Mallard died because of the sudden despair, self pity, and depression that completely overrode the joy and pure happiness that she felt because she thought that she was "free, body and soul, free!" (Chopin 555). The story really drove home the message of women's role in society during the late 1880s. Women could not do anything without their husbands. When Kate Chopin's husband died, she had to petition to court to be the legal guardian of the children that she bore (Chopin 552). Women could not hold their own property, their wages belonged to their husbands, and if a divorce were to occur, a very rare case, the husbands would automatically have custody of the children (Divine). Women were payed lower wages then men and had very equal rights (Divine). Kate Chopin brought the issue of equality in marriage and in the work environment through her stories, some of which were found so "vulgar" and "offensive" that she had a hard time finding a publisher (Chopin 551).

Emerson supported women's rights, although he was not as blunt as Kate Chopin. He gave a speech at a Women's Convention and supported his wife, aunt, and female friends that campaigned for women's suffrage (Wayne). Thoreau never had a firm opinion on women and their place in society, but if he was in favor of the gender equality he probably would have been very bold in his endeavors, just like Kate Chopin.


Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 551- 555. Print.

Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Wayne, Tiffany K. "'Address at the Woman's Rights Convention'." Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 22 Feb. 2012.