Throughout history women have been oppressed by men and societies view of a woman's roll in the world. Until more recently women have burned their bras in protest and a symbol of their freedom from constraints. These three short stories are examples of men's oppression of women; "The Story of an Hour", "The Chrysanthemums", and "The Heat Death of the Universe". These stories are a timeline of a woman's oppression beginning in the late 1800's to the 1920's & 30's, then to more recent times.
             "The Story of an Hour" is about a woman who finds out from friends that her husband had been killed in a railroad accident. At first the woman, Mrs. Mallard, wept then she went up to her room by herself. Once she was in her room she began to think of what this really meant she realized and cried out "free, free, free". She knew she would weep again at his funeral but she began to look past that and into the future. This quotation shows how she felt in those moments, "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature.". She was finally free to be her own woman, she kept saying, "Free! Body and soul free!". Unfortunately that was short lived for as Mrs. Mallard exited her room and went down stairs her husband walked through the door. She collapsed instantly from shock and died.
             "The Chrysanthemums" was about a woman and her flowers. She had nothing else to do, while her husband was out running their cattle farm, except tend to her garden. They would go out and celebrate one of her husbands accomplishments not hers, like when he sold thirty head of cattle. One day a peddler came and wanted to pick some pots but she turned him down , he finally got her to put some flowers in a pot so he could take them to a la...