"The Story of an Hour", by Kate Choping is a two page story full of ideas about women's liberation and the institution of marriage. This story was written in 1891 which was an era in which women were changing their image as a "true woman". They no longer wanted to be submissive, male dominated, or dependent.
             "The Story of an Hour" is about a young woman, Mrs. Mallard, who was said to be afflicted with heart trouble. She was gently given the news of her husband, Brently Mallard's tragic death. "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone." After first hearing the news, she was distraught and overwhelmed with sadness. While in the confinement of her room she was motionless, and sobbed like a small child. She sank into a comfortable, roomy armchair, "pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul." While gazing out of the window watching the trees dance in the spring sun, she fearfully felt something reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, and the color that filled the air. Although it was subtle and elusive, she tried to fight it off with her will. "When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. Although she was unhappy that her husband who loved her had died, and knew that she would weep at the sight of his lifeless body, she realized that she would finally be in control of her own life. She could now live life as she pleased and wouldn't have to answer to any one or please anyone else.
             At this point in the story she reaches spiritual liberation, and conquers the male do
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