Story of a Wronged Woman

Kate Chopin was writing about wronged womanhood in "Story of an Hour." It is the story of a woman who has no rights, and is destined for a lifetime of emotional suffering and longing for freedom. It is quite obvious that she does not find happiness in her marriage, by quotes such as, "And yet she had loved him - sometimes. Often she had not" (198). The author illustrates women's lifestyles back then when she writes, "There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself" (198). This makes me believe Mrs. Mallard's marriage was pre-arranged, giving her no say in who she spends her life with, and giving her no chance at true love. She didn't get to fulfill any life long dreams, and spent her days catering to her husband. "It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long" (199). This also gives the idea that the woman in the story is not able to escape this unhappy marriage. She did not have the legal rights to divorce him, and she had no way out.


We can also see how the author, Kate Chopin, rejects the postures of femininity in the way that Mrs. Mallard longed for freedom. It was unlike most women to be as happy or relieved as she was to hear of her husband's passing, which is illustrated in the quote, "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance" (197). She whispers the words, "Free, free, free" (198). She is finding more of a positive outlook in her husband's death than anything.


"But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome" (198). We share, with this woman, an hour of hope and a glimpse of what could be her future of happiness...the kind of happiness that every woman deserves.