The role of females in today's society is very different from that of the 1950's and 1960's. Women have grown and advanced in the workplace, creating a more equal society. Gail Godwin and Kate Chopin both portray their protagonists as repressed females forced into roles in their lives they did not want. To these women, marriage was like a prison, confined to the requirements and duties of women in those days. They were obedient to their husbands and lived as housewives.
             The short story "A Sorrowful Woman" depicts a wife and mother who gradually withdraws from her family. She becomes overwhelmed with her husbands and child's presence. "The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again." Her family was daily reminder that her life would never be the same; she would no longer have the same freedom. In comparison, in the "Story of an Hour" Mrs. Mallard finds her freedom in her husband's death. "Free! Body and soul free!" The freedom of both characters lies in their separating from their families. The protagonists are not satisfied with being just housewives and want something more.
             Upon finding out that her husband is dead, Mrs. Mallard is filled with mixed emotions. She grows physically exhausted with the news goes to her room. There she finds clarity of thought by looking out her window. "There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window." The sight of nature created calm and relaxing environment she needed to escape with her thoughts. It is here where she starts to change her views regarding her husband's death. She then is filled with a sudden sense of freedom; she would no longer be under her husband's control. Indeed she loved him but only "sometimes;" she did not like to feel repressed. As the minutes pass...