Louise Mallard a Complex Woman Essay - 739 Words

Louise Mallard: A Complex Woman In The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin introduces us to a woman living in the oppressive times of the nineteenth century, Louise Mallard. She appears to be an old lady with a bad heart who is blindly living in a bad marriage, like everyone else at the time. However, a closer look at Louise reveals a more complex woman: a spiritual and fragile, young woman who is aware of her incarcerating marriage. When I first began reading The Story of an Hour, my first impression of Louise was that she was an old woman with heart trouble. I was surprised in the eighth paragraph when Chopin tells us that she was young, with a fair, calm face (paragraph 8). We are informed that, even in her youth, Louise is†¦show more content†¦However, Louise is not oblivious to this, she is clearly aware of her marriage and her surroundings. We see this when Louise first hears the news about Brentlys death. Unlike most women who find themselves in denial after being told something of this magnitude, she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sisters arms (paragraph 3). Paragraph three also clarifies this by adding, She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. Though Louise was different from most women in her reaction to Brentlys sudden death, she was indeed similar when considering the nature of her marriage. The w ords abandon and escape, in paragraph eleven, suggest that Louise was imprisoned by her marriage to Brently. Later she says, There would be no one to live for during those coming years. (paragraph 14). This statement relates to the nineteenth century myth that women have only one purpose; to live for their husbands alone and be treated as property. Chopin even goes as far to say that, There would be no powerful will sending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature. (paragraph 14). This shows that Louise was aware of the situation in her marriage. Though religion is never mentioned, we can assumeShow MoreRelatedKate Chopin s The Story Of An Hour980 Words   |  4 PagesA bird would always want to fly even from its golden cage; so does a person confined to a house and a loveless marriage. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† Mrs. Mallard is a woman trapped in her own golden cage. Throughout the story, the author, Kate Chopin, shows the true colors of matrimony during that time and what it meant in women’s lives. Women were the only possessions attained after marriage, designated to do house labors and take care of a husband and children. â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate ChopinRead MoreStory Of An Hour Critical Analysis1083 Words   |  5 Pagesself-consciousness begins. Louise Mallard, wife of Richard Mallard, a successful businessman. Louise Mallard is a woman ahead of her time, by the standards of the 1890’s she should be happy. Her husband loves her; she herself acknowledges that he â€Å"had nev er looked save with love upon her.†(Chopin, p.477) In the 1890’s women depended on their husbands financially. There was an unspoken rule that the man was the powerful one, the wife would conform to the husband. A woman in this era lived a very restrictedRead MoreSymbolism as Found in Kate Chopins Story of an Hour Essay1532 Words   |  7 PagesSymbolism as found in Kate Chopin’s â€Å"Story of an Hour† In Kate Chopin’s â€Å"Story of an Hour† the protagonist, Louise Mallard, is going through a life-changing event that is brought on by the news of the death of her husband, Brently Mallard. During this hour, she is told of her husband’s death, grieves for a short time, discovers that she will now be able to â€Å"live for herself† (16) and is finally able to free herself of the restrictive marriage she has been living in. The end of her last hour comesRead MoreEssay on Compare and Contrast1201 Words   |  5 Pagesgoing through ones heart, but in this case the feeling of loss can turn into someones freedom. For Louise Mallard she had an erratic reaction when she was informed that her husband had been allegedly killed in a train accident. She locks herself in her room and sits in front of the window in desolation. She begins to ponder how her life will be without her husband. The sorrow that Mrs. Mallard felt in the beginning slowly turns into joy. â€Å"Free body and soul free!† (Chopin 40). She knew thatRead MoreAn Analysis Of Kate Chopin s Chopin 1690 Words   |  7 Pagesclaim. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, the main character Louise Mallard goes through a spectrum of emotions after she is told that her husband has passed away in an accident. Once she is alone in her room Louise seems terrified of the overwhelming sensation that she feels is slowly taking over her, which Louise realizes later on is her newfound freedom. Even though Louise and her husband truly loved each other and she does feel upset over his death, Louise also feels as if she has been liberated and is trulyRead MoreEssay on Freedom in Kate Chopins The Story of An Hour1087 Words   |  5 Pagesthoughts 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 reason she doesnt seem to come to full realization until her husbands death. This leads one to believe it was commonplace for a woman to be unhappy in her marriage and haveRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Movie Hunger Games1291 Words   |  6 Pagessee who’s the strongest. The story of an Hour is a short story that describes the series of emotions Louise Mallard endures after hearing of the death of her husband, Brently, who was reported to have died in a railroad accident. Mrs. Mallard suffers from heart problems. Therefore, her sister and her husbands friend, Richard, attempt to inform her of the news in a gentle way. At the end, Louise dies because of the news. Look what you made me do is a music video by Taylor Swift where she tells theRead More The Dilemma of Women Essay1817 Words   |  8 Pagestheir lives. She felt strongly about feminism and wanted women to be liberated from the de pendence of men. By looking at Chopin’s stories we can see how the characters longed to be strong and independent women. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, when Mrs. Mallard hears of her husbands death she feels liberated and is described as: When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’ The vacant stare and the lookRead More Patriarchal Society and the Feminine Self in Kate Chopins Story of an Hour1764 Words   |  8 Pagesincipient awakening of Mrs. Mallard, and thus exploring the possibility of feminine identity, even while, ultimately, denying the fruition of such an experience.   Like all of her works, this short story reacts to a specific historical framework, the Cult of True Womanhood, in its indictment of patriarchal culture.   As Barbara Welter notes, in the nineteenth century, â€Å"a women judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors, and society† by the attributes of a True Woman which included, especiallyRead MoreKate Chopin s The Story Of An Hour1309 Words   |  6 Pagesmessages through the manner of a marriage. In her short stories â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and â€Å"Desiree s Baby† she showed just how different marriages could be as well as how similar they can be. Chopin portrays the lives of the main characters, Louise Mallard from â€Å"The Story of An Hour† and Desiree Aubigny from â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† and what led to their downfalls. These two heroines are completely different from each other but face the same issue; their marriages are killing them. In this paper I am going