new.docx

Student 1

Student’s Name

English 102

Essay #3 (Final Draft)

December 4, 2017

Freedom at Any Cost

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” examines the difficult lives that women had during the late 19th century. Even if these women had money, they were still considered the property of their husbands and had very few opportunities to make their own decisions or live their lives as they wanted to. Mrs. Mallard, the main character of Chopin’s story, feels a brief moment of freedom and excitement upon learning of her husband’s death. However, when she soon discovers he is actually alive, she dies of a heart attack from the shock of her discovery. Chopin uses the literary elements of character, imagery, and a surprising plot twist at the end of the story to explore the theme of limited freedom and show that the only way women can achieve freedom is through death.

The first way that the story describes women’s lack of freedom is by using the character of Mrs. Mallard to show how marriage can oppress women. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard as “young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression” (84). One would expect that if she were young and fair, she would be happy, but the detail about the lines in her face gives readers the sense that she is holding back negative feelings. Later in the story, as Mrs. Mallard fantasizes about her life without her husband, she thinks “There would be no one to live for her during those coming years: she would live for herself” (85). This further supports the idea of marriage as oppressive to women by showing how Mrs. Mallard desires the freedom of being unmarried. While married, Mrs. Mallard will likely have to do what her husband wants. Without her husband, Mrs. Mallard will experience “a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely” (85). She would be free. Brently Mallard is not a bad person; he is actually described as a having a “face that had never looked save with love upon her” (85). But the fact that Mrs. Mallard does not want to be married to him makes it clear that her marriage limits her choices and her autonomy. The readers can understand the lack of freedom for women by seeing how marriage impacts this important character.

In addition to using the character of Mrs. Mallard to show how marriage can be oppressive, Chopin includes detailed imagery to describe the feeling of freedom brewing inside Mrs. Mallard as she realizes she will no longer be a wife. When Mrs. Mallard is sitting in her room alone after hearing that her husband has died, she looks outside her window. The description of what she sees includes many references to nature, such as “the trees that were all aquiver with new spring life” and “countless sparrows. . . twittering in the eaves” (84). This imagery represents newness, rebirth, and ultimately freedom. Mrs. Mallard also notices “patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds” (154). These patches of blue represent the hope of bright days ahead as a single woman, an escape from her marriage. Chopin’s imagery reinforces Mrs. Mallard’s elation as she considers the new path ahead of her.

While character and imagery reveal the theme of freedom in this story, the plot does as well, specifically the fact that the story ends with a surprise twist. This ironic ending makes the ultimate point about a married woman’s lack of freedom—that it can only be achieved when a woman dies. Mrs. Mallard has reached a point of true excitement about her future, whispering “’Free! Body and soul free!’” (85) over and over. She feels her newfound freedom physically, “as the strongest impulse of her being” (85). But just when she has reached a point of pure happiness, she comes downstairs to see her husband walk through the door. He hasn’t actually died in the train accident; it was a mistake and he has in fact come home to her. While in most situations, a wife would be ecstatic upon her husband’s return, Mrs. Mallard has the opposite reaction. Though her family members assume that she dies of “joy that kills” (86), she actually dies suddenly of a heart attack because she is so shocked and dismayed that her life will not be her own. This is the most powerful moment in the story. This ironic ending, the opposite of what we expect will happen, shows us that Mrs. Mallard will never be free as long as she is alive. She must die in order to find that freedom she wants so badly.

“The Story of an Hour” uses Mrs. Mallard to make a point about the state of women’s lives during the time Chopin was alive. Through description of the main character’s response to her marriage, detailed and descriptive imagery, and an ironic ending, we come to realize that freedom is impossible for Mrs. Mallard, and perhaps for other women like her. It is Chopin’s opportunity to show her readers, through the experiences and feelings of Mrs. Mallard, that marriage can limit women from pursuing their own interests and dreams. Not all women at the time may have felt the way that Mrs. Mallard did, but getting a glimpse of one woman’s life makes readers think about the impacts of the institution of marriage.

Work Cited

Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” Fiction: A Pocket Anthology, Ed. R.S Gwynn, 7th ed.,

Pearson, 2014, 83-86.