Kate Chopin Critique
Throughout the course of literature the female character has often been construed as the stereotypical helpless, subservient, and troublesome figure. Often in literature as well as in life women became trapped in a marriage, living out a simple housewife persona. Even before the emergence of the 20th century feminist movement, female writers often criticized the conventional way of patriarchal society through their works. Feminist authors, such as Kate Chopin, tried to personify their characters as strong able individuals to "endorse feminine self-assertion"(Fluck 154) and make a statement for women while criticizing institutions that hindered women's rights. In Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" she openly questions societal norms, expresses strong feminist viewpoints on a woman's place in society independent from her husband, and condemns marriage as a societal method to inhibit a woman's self will. "The Story of an Hour" is historically set in the nineteenth century. Women at this time were believed to be to incompetent for their own accord, completely relying on their husbands for support. Placed in the gender biased society women were considered housewives and mothers whose sole purpose
with the new spring life."(Jacobus 233) which in turn represents the new life that has been born for Mrs. Mallard. She realized this, and perched herself in her chair, she did not make herself fall depressed into mourning but opened up to everything the window showed her. Mrs. Mallard did not make herself "ill" as her sister expected but instead "...she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that window."(Jacobus 234). Her days had become her own and she was happy, without marriage, without a husband to share each day, she was "Free, free, free!"(Jacobus 234). There is no question that Mrs. Mallard was in good spirits, all of Chopin's writing pointed to it describing her as a "goddess of victory"(Jacobus 234) and having her pray for longevity when only yesterday she had "thought with a shudder that life might be long."(Jacobus 234). Chopin uses these descriptions to "...undercut conventional views of what makes a woman happy"(Toth 205). In Mrs. Mallard's death, Chopin shows that Mrs. Mallard is not dead in the absence of her husband, but instead "Mrs. Mallard may only achieve liberty by dying."(Arner 88) and being without him. The physicians in the end "...represent the kind of imprisoning patriarchal thinking..."(Inge 103) by describing her death in direct relation to that of her husband, thinking of course that it must revolve around the husband. metaphor for marriage is a simple pun, calling wedlock at its essence a crime. "There would be no powerful will bending her in blind persistence [marriage].... A kind "The Story of an Hour" is overall packed with a feminist and rebellious writing and "is often anthologized as an example of Chopin's works focusing on women's issues."(Bonner 100). Like many other of Chopin's works "The Story of an Hour" was Chopin, in her work, also scathes the conventional thought that women could not lead a happy fruitful existence without a husband. Mrs.
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Approximate Word count = 1296
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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