Analysis of "The Story of an Hour": Examine the Conflict of the Story
The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the short story "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. Specifically, it will examine the conflict of the story, and how society makes the protagonist, Mrs. Louise Mallard, a victim. Author Kate Chopin wrote this short story in 1894, and it represents how women were treated by society at the time. The conflict in the story is the way Mrs. Mallard reacts to the news of her husband's death. It is clear she feels as if a burden has been taken away from her, and that she finally can enjoy her life. Her unhappy marriage is the conflict in the story, and it is the ultimate unhappy ending when her husband comes home unharmed and she dies. This short story has much conflict, even though it might not be apparent when first reading it. The story takes place during an hour, when a married woman receives the news that her husband has been killed in a train accident. At first, her reaction seems just like the type of reaction any suddenly widowed woman would have. Chopin writes, "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When
In today's society, she would have choices, including divorce, if her life was that miserable. Society placed so many rules and restrictions on women that they could not live their own lives, and so, Mrs. She writes, "She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. Mallard is a sad victim of Victorian society. To fit in and be accepted as a viable member of society, women were supposed to get married, raise children, and let their husbands make all the decisions. Mallard suffered in an unhappy and unfulfilling relationship, because it was what she was "supposed" to do. At a time when women had few rights and freedoms, she feels so trapped in her unhappy marriage that she sees her husband's death as a blessing. She shows that it stifled women and gave men all the choices in life. However, her husband died young, and that is when she turned to writing. However, a widow had a different set of rules, and Mrs. She would have no one follow her" (Chopin).
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