"The Story of An Hour," by Kate Chopin, is a story about a woman experiencing true freedom, through the death of her husband. The story deals with the limitations that were forced on women by society in the eighteen hundreds. When Louise found out her husband was dead she felt her life about to begin. She realized that suddenly she was free to live and think for herself. However, her life ended almost as quickly as her new life began when she saw her husband walk through the door. "The Story of An Hour" is an extraordinary story that shows the readers Chopin's point of view about marriage. Chopin states to her readers that marriage represses women and bends their spirit. The theme of the story is that hope and freedom can spring from the lifting of oppressive bindings. By graphic characterization, imagery, and setting the reader learned that even one hour of freedom is worth more than the "bending in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Chopin 340).
The first paragraph of the story describes the way society of the eighteen hundreds perceived women. When Choplin introduces the character Mrs. Mallard, she
The setting of the story reveals a lot to the reader. When Mrs. Mallard found out about her husband's death she left the room and wanted no one to follow her. Chopin sets the scene to give the reader the impression that the need to be alone is not to grieve for her dead husband but that Mrs. Mallard had always had a desire to be alone and free. The mentioning of "the new life of spring" symbolizes new life and new beginning (Chopin 340). This is significant because Mrs. Mallard had been dreaming of a new life and she has finally been given a chance for a new life. After Mrs. Mallard fully accepts herself, the potential of herself, and the beginnings of a new life, she leaves the room.
Through detailed imagery Chopin expresses the emotions of Mrs. Mallard. The welling of these emotions starts with "the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life" (340). After leaving the readers with this hint at freedom Chopin goes on to state, "the delicious breath of rain was in the air", leaving the readers with another suggestion of hope (340). Further description states that there were "patches of blue sky" which seems symbolic of the hope of freedom surfacing through the sadness and sorrow of her husband's death (Chopin 340). Chopin suggests that Mrs. Mallard is looking forward to the future and glad of the passing of her oppression by stating "She felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air" (340). It is
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