In The Story of an Hour, the author describes how somebody can be confined easily in an unsatisfying reality just because of the domination. The main character of the story Mrs. Mallard is the type of such a person. In her marriage, her husband is portrayed as a dictator. His death is a good chance for her to escape. Mrs. Mallard has health problems dealing with her heart and gets to know about her husband’s death later not to be hurt.
Both the movie and the story approach the issue where the struggle to search for a better life and live in a different manner. In 1880, the main woman’s duty was to be a housekeeper, raise children and cook. Women were also not allowed to make the decisions or vote in democratic processes choosing the leaders. In both the story and movie, Mrs. Mallard has different wishes that she later achieves.
In the movie, Louise feels that she is living below her standards, and she is held up in marriage. In contrast to the film, the written story does not show that the woman is unhappy until her husband passes on. Then she gives out some emotion on how she feels in a struggling marriage.
In her story, Kate Chopin uses imagery and symbolism trying to describing Mrs. Mallard’s response when she hears her husband is no more alive. In the movie, there is shown the way she starts crying. She shows how much pain she has gone through as Josephine tries to comfort her.
Both the movie and the story show the way women do not want to live under the men’s rule. Females are held up because of the social norms of the society and they do not get the freedom they long for..Louise confesses that she loves her husband. When the husband dies even though she does not feel well about it, she sees a chance of freedom in this situation. The idea of the story is what most women undergo through when they live in a poor marriage. The story portrays how women hate when men totally dominate without considering that they both have equal rights and freedom for decision making.
The Characters of The Story of an Hour
Mrs. Louise Mallard, a mother whose husband has recently died in an accident. When she hears the news that her husband is no more alive, she gets happy inside because she gets the freedom that she has been longing for so long. Mallard gets filled with a lust for life. Though she does not deny loving her husband in the past, she values her newfound freedom more than husband’s death.
Brently Mallard, Louise’s husband, was killed in an accident on a railroad. Even though Louise recognizes Brently as a loving, kind, and caring husband, being engaged to him made him a cruel factor in their marriage.
Josephine, Louise’s sister, is the one who informs her sister about Brently’s death in a train accident.
Richards, Brently’s closest colleague, gets information about the fatal train accident and his friend’s death from a newspaper while being at the office.
Conflicts
Though her husband passes away, Mrs. Mallard attempts to catch up with her new life and starts to change. The author describes the new freedom as the most tangible commodity, “something coming after him,” (Chopin) as if she has been fighting off. She realizes her freedom and how she has been oppressed. In realization, she gets new strength and joy.
Mrs. Mallard has not yet resolved the conflict. She realizes that her husband has never been a mean man. He wrote a will to her, and this was not a form of an oppressive act towards her. It seems that she has no idea of being in a small jail till when life takes a new twist.
In the end, it turns out that Mr. Mallard is alive. His wife realizes that she has not overcome the conflict between women and men’s roles yet.
Point of View
The point of view in the story is about women’s oppression and disagreement about the division of labor in a family. Women are not pleased with the way men rule them and do not allow to vote or make decisions.
The settings of The Story of an Hour in both the movie and written story take place in the 1800s. In 1984 men played a dominant role over the wives. The story is set in the year of 1984 at the home of Louise and Brently Mallard.
The language, emotions, and feelings of Mrs. Mallard point that she is a joyful woman because they match her feelings and emotions. This was after she had received the news of her husband’s death. She pretended to be sad, while, instead, she felt very happy inside.
The Story of an Hour gives the picture of what most women undergo in marriage and what they wish for. Mrs. Louise Mallard portrays what most women feel when they have lost their husbands depending on their characters. She got happy when knew the husband had died. However, later on, she realized that the husband loved her. Women need to be patient with their husbands during good and difficult moments.