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Uyen Nguyen
Professor Kendra Unruh
English 2326 85403
7 July 2016
The Story of an Hour
During 1867-1877 period, Kate Chopin was one of the women who challenged the social
expectations for women with their duties after they got married, especially as wives. The Dream
of an Hour (1894) by Kate Chopin was first published in 1894, then its title was changed to
The Story of an Hour in 1895. Either a dream or a story, the actions plays out in one dramatic
hour, which starts with the news of Mr. Mallards death, then ends with Mrs. Mallards death
when she suddenly spots her husband at the front door. The self-contradictory emotions of
sorrow her husbands death and delight at the prospects for freedom in the remainder of her life
occupies Mrs. Mallards mind during the last hour. Subsequently, the extreme disappointment
and the loss of the visionary freedom at Mr. Mallards return conflicts with the joy of regaining
her husband. Mrs. Mallard is murdered by those powerful emotions. The theme of The Story of
an Hour focuses on women who were being trapped by marriage and motherhood, and we see
this theme played out in the oppressive language and the death of the character.
Cunningham, a scholar, argues the position of women in late nineteenth-century
American society as so bleak that the attempt to break from the life-denying limitations of
patriarchal society is itself self-destructive (Cunningham). Cunninghams argument is that the
story illustrates the dire situation women of her time face: the idea that without men, women
simply cannot live, physically or mentally, and that this idea constrains women far beyond what
is seen at the surface. Jamil, however, illustrates that the powerful emotions experienced by Mrs.

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Mallard stem from an oppressive and broken system caused her death. Subsequently, the scholars
agree that the social expectations for married women are heavy. Moreover, the heart is often used
to symbolize love and emotions in Western culture. Cunningham and Jamil mainly argue that the
weak heart is a strong symbol of Mrs. Mallards mental and social states. It symbolizes the social
expectation of the womens dependent from a male-dominated relationship.
In the period, Evans believes that the story reflects that women are treated as the
husbands property, not as an independent individual. Women were still much constrained
(Evans). Deneau discusses Mrs. Mallards notable journey of realization and the consequences of
the reality women face in a world similar to Chopins. The historical context of the story,
according to Evans and Deneau, is subordinate roles of women in this time period (Evans), and
the theme of self-assertion played an important role in the feminist movement (qtd. in
Deneau). The women adapt to the social expectations.
In addition to the arguments of Evans and Deneau, Jamil believes that Mrs. Mallards
heart trouble is a sign of a woman who has unconsciously surrendered her heart to the
culture of paternalism (Jamil). Upon hearing the shocking news, for first time in many years,
Mrs. Mallards pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her
body (Chopin). All of the symptoms are the signs of joyful and alive. Mrs. Mallards grief soon
transforms into relaxed, then the joy of being a free Louise (Jamil). The scholar, S. Selina Jamil,
argues that the heart trouble may not just be a physical ailment, but also a result of the
psychological burden of allowing another individuals powerful will to silence her own will
(qtd. Jamil). Though, Louise did not die due to the power of emotions when she acknowledges
the freedom. It is ironic that the heart could handle the transforming of her emotions in her room,
but cause her sudden death when Louise faces the husband at the front door. The joy that kills

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Louise, in fact, is her intense emotions when she, as a freed person by the news, is denied the
freedom by the husbands return. In another aspect, the scholars believe that Louise has to die
because she is not appropriate to the social expectations. She would be joyful that he is alive, but
she unconsciously refuses to surrender the freedom that she just experienced in the hour. The
death of the character indicates that women are forcefully separated to men, unable to be
detached less ruin follow, by a society which is not willing to allow womens freedom.
My view point of the story is women in the Victorian Age did not have the rights to live
by themselves, instead, the society makes marriage a form of losing their independent, as a kind
of slavery. The two areas of Louises experience in Chopins story is the strain placed upon her
physical system by the various shocks, and the strain upon her spiritual outlook as she
struggles to understand the apparent freedom opened to her (Cunningham). Surrounding by the
expectations, within an hour, Mrs. Mallard goes through her dependent life to the life of her own.
She passively dreamt, found, and then created her new identity as a free person, not a belongings
of the husband anymore.
All the scholars and Chopin call her Mrs. Mallard at first, but change to call her Louise
after she found and accepted her freedom. In that way, they respect Louise as an individual and a
free person. Furthermore, her depressed heart was freed of burdens for an hour. However, once
Louise leaves her room, she re-enters society (Cunningham). Her sudden death represents the
reconstitution of her marriage and previous social position upon the husbands return is the life
that she wants to live no more (Cunningham). Louises death is the spiritually and physically
death. Even if Mrs. Mallard can be alive, Louise has to die because the independent individual
with her own thoughts has no rights to live when wives are belonging to husbands
(Cunningham). Therefore, the death of Louise is obviously inevitable.

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While many scholars share sympathy to Louise, Deneau interrogates whether Louise is a
normal, understandable, sympathetic woman, or an egocentric, selfish monster or anomaly?
(Deneau). Even some readers may think she seems to be a calculating and unsympathetic woman
because she celebrates her freedom within an hour after her husbands death. Deneau also
believes in a limited space, and without the assistance of a psychological vocabulary, Chopin
may rely on some powerful force, something supernatural, something beyond the realm of
mundane experience or the rule of logic (Deneau). However, Mrs. Mallard does not plan for
Louises re-existence. Upon hearing the news, she was waiting for something coming,
fearfully; Louise was powerless[ly] striving to beat it back with her will (qtd. Deneau).
Free[dom] comes to her when she abandoned herself. It is ironic that she only feels free
when she abandons herself. In my view of point, Louise transformation from an emotion
prisoner to a freed soul happens naturally in any unconscious mind. Louise herself never turns
to God for guidance; indeed, God is never mentioned in the tale (Evans). However, it does not
mean that Louise is an egocentric, selfish monster if she does not think of God. Louise actually
does not forget her husband. She thinks of him as the kind, tender hands, and she had loved
him sometimes (Chopin). However, it is the powerful of a long procession of years to come
that would belong to her absolutely that pulls her away from a crime as she looked upon it in
the brief moment of illumination (Chopin). On the one hand, I agree with Deneau that Louise is
a normal, understandable, sympathetic woman with the desire to be body and soul free
(Chopin). However, on the other hand, I still insist that the transforming of Louiss psychological
states is normal and logical.
The transforming process reveals the natural desire of being an independent individual is
unstoppable, but the process has nothing related to God because the yearning for freedom is a

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human instinct. The desire will wake up from unconsciousness, when it has a chance, to
anticipate and authorize the individuals must remain their independent and freedom. Louises
poor weak heart, or her emotions, suffers for years of the depression and hiding from yearning
for freedom. It is released from its shackles for an hour, then it has to face the highly
disappointed and outrageous refusal. In another word, the awakening of Louis suffers the lethal
denied by the returning of the husband. Louises death is inevitable because the social
expectations in the period for a married woman refuses to let them live independently with their
own thoughts. Jamil states to be fully alive, then, is to engage in heightened consciousness, to
observe and connect with the world around ones self, in which I agree.
Many tragedy events have happened recently in the United States, especially the Orlando
shooting and the policemen massacre in Dallas yesterday. People would suffer from depression
and live like zombies for a long time, but nobody understands their frightful tears, nor listens to
their sorrow voices up to the moment that they kill. They lost their lives so they care and fear no
more about the death. The Louises death and the mass shooting are themselves self-destructive.
Either in silence or in a public place, nobody understands them, the lost souls. Louise is a lucky
woman if she is real because at least, she has Chopin, who writes down every thought that she
has, and students, who analyze what is the meaning of her thoughts. In the real life, no one could
reveal what happened during the last hour of someone.

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Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. The Norton Anthology American Literature. Ed. Nina
Baym, Robert S. Levine. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print. 1609-11
Cunningham, Mark. "The Autonomous Female Self And The Death Of Louise Mallard In Kate
Chopin's "Story Of An Hour." English Language Notes 42.1 (2004): 48-55. Literary
Reference Center. Web. 20 June 2016.
Deneau, Daniel P. "Chopin's THE STORY OF AN HOUR." Explicator 61.4 (2003): 210-213.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 June 2016.
Evans, Robert C. "Literary Contexts In Short Stories: Kate Chopin's "The Story Of An Hour."
Literary Contexts In Short Stories: Kate Chopin's 'The Story Of An Hour' (2006):
Literary Reference Center. Web. 20 June 2016.
Jamil, S. Selina. "Emotions In The Story Of An Hour." Explicator 67.3 (2009): 215-220.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 June 2016.