Women In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

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In the late 19th century, Kate Chopin became one of the greatest female authors of all time. Her short stories and novels revolutionized how society viewed women and how they were treated. Some of her most notable works include The Awakening, “The Storm,” “At the Cadian Ball,” and especially “The Story of an Hour.” In this particular short story, Chopin features the themes of freedom, love, and passion to describe the ways women’s roles and attitudes were changing at that time. Throughout “The Story of an Hour,” freedom is a major theme displayed in the writing. Back then, women wanted to be liberated from their societal roles, from their lifestyles, and from men. However, not only was freedom about being emancipated from that lifestyle, but…show more content…
In previous time periods, women did not marry for love; instead, they married for societal bonds. Women could not marry for love in the 19th Century due to some of their statuses in society, so their parents would want them to marry someone rich and powerful. In that case, that is probably what happened with Mr. and Mrs. Mallard. She presumably married Mr. Mallard to move up in society. However, sometimes power is not actually needed when it comes to love because in some cases, there is the power of love. While it is unbeknownst to the reader whether or not Mr. and Mrs. Mallard actually loved each other (one would have to infer), the love that they shared, if they did, would give them an infinite amount of power because love makes people feel powerful. The power that love gives people also has the ability to make them feel invincible and invulnerable. Also, the power of love can make people do bizarre things, even if it is Mrs. Mallard almost enjoying Mr. Mallard’s death. Furthermore, with the theme of love, there is grief. After the news of Mr. Mallard had gotten delivered to Mrs. Mallard, she was close upon being grief-stricken. When Mrs. Mallard found out the news, she coped in her own way, by going to her room to process what she had just found out, but ultimately it was not his death that killed her. On the contrary, it was him being alive that finished her
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