Discussion board

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Lyana Gomez

Professor Misaghi

English 2

14 November 2021

Freedom and Repression

America is known to have been a colony of Great Britain. It underwent significant

struggle before finally becoming an independent nation with a constitution. Even though women

helped fight in the attainment for independence, they also had to fight for their own

independence, freedom and rights. In America, during the 1890s, women were dependent on

men. They had no rights and their lives were dictated by the men in their life, be it husband,

brother or uncle. It was during these times that Kate Chopin wrote her short story, “ The Story of

an Hour.” The story sheds light on the internal struggle that women denied autonomy underwent

during that time. Kate Chopin presents the theme of freedom, and repression as she explores the

idea of women lacking autonomy and being under the control of their husbands.

“The Story of an Hour” is a short story about the last hour of Mrs. Mallard’s life. Mrs.

Louise Mallard is married to Brently Mallard. There spreads news that a railroad accident

happened and that Mr. Mallard died in the railroad accident. Richard, a friend to Mr. Mallard,

together with Josephine, sister to Mrs. Mallard, rush home to tell Mrs. Mallard the news before

someone else could because she had a heart problem. At first, Mrs. Mallard grieves the idea of

being a widow, she knows she will miss her husband. However, it begins to settle on her that the

death of her husband is her freedom and liberation, it is a form of rebirth into a new life where

she would be free from the patriarchy of her husband. As she goes down stairs with the newly

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profound freedom, she sees her husband enter, she dies instantly. The doctors say that she died

because of the joy that kills, but perhaps she died because she realized she had lost her freedom.

The most prevalent theme in the short story is that of freedom and repression. Repression

can simply be defined as a circumstance where the thoughts, feelings and desires of an individual

are being subdued. It can be looked at as holding down someone. The book is written at a time

when women were repressed. The thoughts and ideas of women were not listened to. Women had

been given the role of submissiveness where they were supposed to be home makers and dutiful

wives to their husbands. A woman had to be cared for by a man because women lacked rights

and they were not allowed to work. Mrs. Mallard is a clear example of a repressed woman, she is

a victim of social repression. Before her husband’s death, Louise Mallard felt like she was a

caged bird. It was because of it that she had wished that she should not have a long life so that

she may not have to suffer being repressed. Also, it can be seen that Louise Mallard is repressed

in that, while her husband moves around travelling, she is left confined in the walls of her house.

Mr. Mallard is free to enter and leave the house as he pleases, nothing restricts him, however,

Louise Mallard is stuck in the house, partly because of her gender and partly because of her heart

condition.

With the death of her husband, Louise Mallard rejoices in her newly found freedom.

Louise’s heart is broken upon hearing the news of her husband’s death. She goes upstairs to her

room to recover and adjust to the news. As she slowly absorbs the news, there are certain

vocabularies that Kate Chopin repeats, “open window”, “open square” and “free” (Chopin 1). As

Mrs. Mallard grieves the loss of her husband, she notices the open window of her room and the

open square outside, Kate Chopin, uses these words to show that Mrs. Mallard is finally getting

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the idea that the death of her husband is her rebirth into a free world. Louise tries to reject these

ideas as she remembers how caring her husband was. But the ideas are too strong she cannot let

them go, finally she embraces them as she realizes she is free. After repeating the word “free”

severally, she decides to come out of the room where her sister is at the doorstep begging her to

open the door. Mrs. Mallard, although sad for the loss of her husband, is clearly happy with the

idea of living a free life that she wishes she should live a long life to enjoy her freedom (Chopin

2). She has experienced a rebirth and with her newly gained confidence she descends the stairs.

The death of Mrs. Mallard marks the end of her freedom. As Mrs. Mallard gets to the

living room, her husband enters as well. He is “a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his

grip-sack and umbrella” (Chopin 3). Richard tries to block Mrs. Mallard from seeing her

husband, however, it is too late, she falls and dies of a heart attack. The doctors say it is the joy

that kills, but it is quite clear she had no joy, instead, she was shocked over the survival of her

husband and the distress of losing her newly found freedom. An hour before her death, Louis

indeed had experienced the joy of being free, she had imagined living a life where she would

finally be in control. And the sight of her husband removed that joy, consequently leading to her

death.

In conclusion, “The Story of an Hour” is a short story by Kate Chopin that explores the

last hour leading to the death of the protagonist. Kate Chopin is able to condense the story

through use of different literary devices while ending it in an ironic manner. The main message

of the story is the repression that women underwent during the 1890s. Women were repressed by

society into submissive individuals who lacked autonomy. Mrs. Mallard is a prime example of

how women were repressed and how many desired to be free from their husbands. However, at

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times freedom for women was through the death of their husbands, or the women dying and in

the given case it is the lady that died.

Word Count: 1049

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Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. The story of an hour. Holt, Rinehart and Winston., 1894.