If, in today’s world, a teenage girl was told that her future had been decided a long time ago, she would probably not take the matter lightly. During the early twentieth century though it was quite different. In a time bent on the notion that when a woman reached a certain age, she should be married, Kate Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour’; brings a different idea to a world that was not close to changing anytime soon. Her story brings light to a fact that is fairly accepted by today’s society, but was shunned during her time. Life before this time demanded that women should get married due to necessity. Most of America was still rural and women were needed to do certain task on the farm.
When industrialization came along though, things became simpler, cities grew, and there were more choices for people to do. Women were not tied down on the farm any more. Her story shows one woman’s chance to be what she wanted to be and not be looked down upon in her society. Chopin gives light on women having more freedom to do what they wanted to do in regards to marriage. The story begins with the news of the death of Mrs.
Mallard’s husband. She takes the news hard at first, but when she is alone in her room, the setting of the room does not convey a scene of sorrow. The setting of the room shows many signs of renewal or rebirths. It suggests that it is a rebirth for Mrs. Mallard.
In many respects, it shows a much bigger scene. Mrs. Mallard could be thought of as a symbol of all young women and the death of Mr. Mallard could be the death of the age-old idea that woman should get married. The window is open and the outside world envelops the room.
It is springtime and there is new life hurrying all around, a time of rebirth, and a time to start again. There is rain falling, washing stuff away, cleaning things. She was also facing west with clouds everywhere, but there was blue sky breaking through the darkened horizon. All of the color, the sounds, and the scents of the setting are clear hints to the reader that things should change. The springtime suggests a new era, a time when things could be totally different then they were before. The rain usually washes away dirt and other things that disenchant the world.
She is facing a western sky covered with overcast. In those days the west symbolized change and a new chance to find your fortune. The clouds represent the hindering of freedom for women but the breaks of light coming through are the new times ahead for women. From those breaks in the clouds comes the new thought that women should be able to choose what they do. Mrs. Mallard sees it coming from the blue sky and is quite frightened by the thought.
This is probably how women of the time felt. They saw the idea, but were frightened to acknowledge it in fear of being condemned for the new thought. Once Mrs. Mallard cannot fight it anymore she succumbs to the idea that she can be free and fully enjoys the thought. Women of the time fought with the idea, but there came a time when they had to embrace the idea and announce it to the world. The biggest argument to the case is when she realizes that it should be her choice to do whatever she wants to do with her life.
She thinks, ‘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.’ ; There came a point when women believed in something of that nature and had realized it was time to act upon it. Kate Chopin was definitely ahead of her time with this story of one woman’s enlightenment. She single handedly described a lot of the story of women suffragists in a short story before it ever became a popular movement. She described the origin of the thought, the denial, then acceptance of the thought by women, and then the blunt truth of the matter. The ending though is truly genius when the husband comes back.
Mrs. Mallard keels over because her dream had not come true yet after all. Mr. Mallard, representing the male majority, challenged the women’s movement, Mrs. Mallard’s dream. Chopin was able to tell the story of suffrage before it ever happened..