The Story of an Hour Summary
Kate Chopin’s "The Story of An Hour" is one of her most celebrated works. It reflects the kind of life that women had to undergo in the 1880s male dominated society where women were expected to be highly subjective and any questioning of a man’s decision was actually considered to be a down casting act and anyone who did that was essentially considered to be an outcast. Mrs. Mallard, being a woman who suffered from a heart attack, experienced lots of difficulties in her life due to lack of freedom. She considered herself to be among the most disadvantaged women living under a highly idiosyncratic husband. There are various kind of conflicts that dominate the entire story. Could Mrs. Mallard have done anything to avoid the various kinds of conflicts that she was facing and finally avoid the tragedy that hit her?
The Story of an Hour Conflict
The major type of conflict that dominates the story is an external conflict that involves Mrs. Louise Mallard versus nature, society or people. Her desire to be an independent woman is in conflict with the male dominated society that she lives in. as Mrs. Mallard thinks about her husband’s death, she realizes that she is really happy. May be happier than never as she knew that she will then be able to do what she wants to do rather than following her husband’s desires. However, the scene quickly changes and Mrs. Mallard realizes that her husband is alive and this shocks her and she immediately dies of a heart attack (Kate, 01). Mrs. Mallard really wanted to be independent but her society, which anticipated her to be loyal to her husband and love him, would not allow her to be so while both her husband and she are alive and Mrs. The birds outside the window painted an image of the boundless freedom that Mrs. Mallard had to die in its quest but without ever enjoying it.
An emotional conflict at The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is also evident in the story where Mrs. Mallard is in conflict with her inner feelings and thoughts about her new found freedom. Mrs. Mallard feels a sense of happiness now that her husband is dead (purportedly) but she experiences a conflict whether to celebrate the new found freedom or mourn for the death of a man she married. The way she was describing the bright spring day that she was seeing through her window, reveals how happy she is; “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (Kate, 01). After realizing that her husband was not dead, she feels disappointed yet she had thought the death would be tragic. She should really be saddened be the death of her man but happiness suppresses the mourning. This kind of conflict creates an internal conflict between Mrs. Mallard and her feelings and emotions. She should have averted this conflict by accepting her position in the society.
Tragedy of Mr.Mallard at The Story of an Hour
The “death” of Mr. Mallard in a train-wreck can be seen as a physical conflict. Mr. Mallard wanted to live but his wife is by against this and ever wishes that he dies. He sees him as a source of misery and feels very happy in his absence. This situational irony that is created by the author further reveals the kind of hardship that Mr. Mallard had to undergo in order to survive in a world where his very own wife who is expected to be his great caretaker seems to be against his existence. Mrs. Mallard feels so bad after realizing that her husband has actually not died and feels that he is the source of misery in her life. This shock and an apparent hatred for the husband finally shock her and a heart attack kills her.
As elucidated above, Mrs. Mallard had to undergo lots of challenges for the mere fact that she lived in a chauvinistic society. Emotional, physical and moral conflicts are evident. Seemingly, those who strive to change their settings end up harming themselves since the society is not ready for this change. Millions of people have died in pursuit of “freedom” yet its absence still exists. Society is not yet ready to treat women as equal to men, and this is perfectly described by Kate Chopin The Story of an Hour.
Work cited
Kate , Chopin. ""The Story of an Hour"." Virginia Commonwealth University. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/
