The Story of An Hour

In the Story of an Hour, author Kate Chopin may lead a person to believe that Kate used her literature as a way of showing wronged womanhood in the late 19th century. Everyone knows that women did not have the same rights as men did in the late 18th century and into the 19th century. Some women were not given the choice of whom they are to marry. In Story of an Hour Mrs. Mallard was much younger than Mr. Mallard was, and that may lead a person to believe that their marriage could have be arranged. It’s quoted at the beginning of the 8th paragraph that Mrs. Mallard- “She is young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength”. Another passage from the story where Mrs. Mallard led me to believe that this may have been an arranged marriage is when she is quoted saying “Free, free, free”. Mrs. Mallard was not mistreated in her marriage to Mr. Mallard she just wanted something more and to know what else was out there in the world. Little quotes by Mrs. Mallard throughout the story like- “The notes of a distant song”, “whose eyes were fixed away off yonder”, “she would live for herself” made me believe that she wanted more out of her life. Quotes like the previous ones mentioned led me to believe that the author Kate Chopin used social justice and inequalities in her literature.