THE STORY OF AN HOUR by: Kate Chopinsize
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| THE STORY OF AN HOUR by: Kate Chopinsize |
Summary
Louise Mallard has heart problems, so she must be carefully informed of her husband's death. His sister Josephine tells him the news. Richards, a friend of Louise's husband, learned of a train disaster while at the newspaper office and saw Louise's husband, Barelli, on the death list. Louise began to cry when Josephine told her of Barelli's death and went upstairs to be alone in her room.
Louise is sitting and looking out of an open window. You see the trees, they smell the approaching rain, and you hear a peddler shouting what he's selling. You hear who is singing like you hear birdsong, and there are thin white clouds in the sky. She is young and has wrinkles around her eyes. Still in tears, she looks away. She gets anxious and tries to suppress the building of feelings inside of her, but she can't. You start repeating the word Free! to herself again and again. Her heart is beating fast and she is very hot.
Louise knows she will cry again when she sees Burlint's body. His hands were tender and he always looked at her with love. But then she imagines the years to come, which are all hers now, and happily spreads her arms in anticipation. It will be free of itself without being oppressed. She believes that all men and women oppress each other even if they do it out of kindness. Louise knows that she has often fallen in love with Brently but tells herself that none of that matters anymore. She is delighted with her new sense of independence.
Josephine comes to her door and begs Louise to come out and warns her that she will get sick if she doesn't. Louise tells him to go away. She imagines all the days and years to come and hopes to live a long time. Then she opened the door, and she and Josephine started down the stairs where Richards was waiting.
The front door opened unexpectedly and Brent entered. He wasn't involved in the train wreck or didn't even know it happened. Josephine screamed and Richards tried unsuccessfully to prevent Louise from seeing him. The doctors arrive and announce that Louise has died of a heart attack caused by happiness.
“The Story of an Hour” Themes
Freedom and Repression
The most common theme in Chopin's story is the battle between freedom and "oppression". Simply put, repression occurs when a person's thoughts, feelings, or desires are brought under control. Repression can occur both internally and externally. For example, if a person experiences a traumatic event, they may (consciously or unconsciously) choose to suppress the memory of the incident itself. Likewise, if a person has wants or needs that society finds unacceptable, then society can act to repress that individual. Women in the 19th century were often victims of oppression. They were meant to be wise, gentle, and passive, which often went against a woman's personal desires.
Given this, it becomes clear that Louise Mallard is a victim of social oppression. Until the moment of the supposed death of her husband, Louise does not feel free. In their marriage, Louise is repressed. Readers see this in Berlint moving about in the outside world, while Louise is confined to her home. Brently uses rail transport alone, walks home alone, and has personal effects in the form of a suitcase and an umbrella. Even Burley is devoid of knowledge of the train wreckage when he returns home. Louise, meanwhile, is stuck at home due to her status as a woman and the state of her heart.
Here, Chopin draws a strong contrast between what it means to be free for men and for women. While freedom is only part of what it means to be a man in America, freedom for a woman is remarkably different. Louise's life is shaped by what society believes a woman should be and how a wife should behave. Once Louise's husband "dies", she sees a way to start claiming some "masculine" freedoms for herself. Chopin shows how important freedom is in a woman's life when, after all, it is not the trauma of her husband's return to her husband that kills Louise, but the idea of losing her freedom.
Marriage
Marriage as the subject of a "story of the hour" is more than an idyllic life spent with your significant other. Mallard's marriage shows a fact of life in the 1890s that many people were familiar with. Marriage was a means of social control - meaning that marriage helped the woman maintain control and guaranteed the social and political power of the man. While husbands were generally free to travel the world alone, take jobs, and make important family decisions, wives (at least upper-class) were expected to stay home and be home.
Marriage in the case of Louise Mallard has little love. She sees her marriage as a lifelong bond she feels trapped in, something readers see when she admits she only loves her husband "sometimes." More importantly, she describes her marriage as "a strong will that bows to this blind insistence that men and women believe they have the right to impose a special will on their created mate." In other words, Louise Mallard feels aggrieved expecting her life to be dictated by her husband's will.
Like history, the marriages Kate witnessed often ended in untimely or unexpected death. The women in his family, including Kate herself, all outlived their husbands and never remarried. While history tells us that Kate Chopin was happy in her marriage, she was aware that many women were not. By showing a marriage built on the foundations of societal control and expectations, Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" underscores the need for a world that respects women as important partners in marriage as well as as capable individuals.
"The Story of an Hour" Characters
The best stories have developed characters, which is the case in “The Story of an Hour,” too. Five characters make up the cast of “The Story of an Hour”:
Louise Mallard
Josephine
Richards
Brently Mallard
The doctor(s)
By exploring the details of each character, we can better understand their motivations, societal role, and purpose to the story.
Louise Mallard
From the first sentence, we learned a lot about Louise Mallard. Chopin wrote, "Knowing that Mrs. Mallard suffered from heart trouble, great care was taken to bring the news of her husband's death to her as kindly as possible."
From that statement alone, we know she's married, has a heart condition, and will likely react aggressively to bad news. We also know that someone spreading bad news sees Louise as delicate and sensitive. In the following paragraphs, we also learn that Louise was a housewife, which implies that she would be middle to upper class in the 1890s. Chopin also describes Louise's appearance as a "young face and “gentle and calm” with lines of “strength”. These characteristics are not purely physical, but they also carry over to his character throughout the story.
Louise's personality is described as different from other women. While many women are stunned by the news in disbelief, Louise cries "extremely abandoned" - showing how strong her emotions are. Also, while other women mourn longer, Louise quickly goes from grief to joy over her husband's death.
Ultimately, Chopin uses the character of Louise to show readers what the typical experience of a married woman was like in the 1890s. Louise has a habit of criticizing the oppressive and oppressive nature of marriage, especially when Louise rejoices in his newfound freedom.
Josephine
Josephine, sister of Louise. We have never heard of Josephine's last name or whether she is married or not. We know that she came with Richards, a friend of Barelli, to tell her sister the news of his death.
When Josephine broke the bad news to Louise, she was only able to tell Louise of Barelli's death by "quilted clues", rather than outright. Readers may interpret this as Josephine's attempt to spare Louise's feelings. Joséphine is particularly concerned about her sister's heart condition, which we will see in more detail later when she warns Louise: “You're going to make yourself sick. When Louise locks herself in her room, Josephine tries desperately to make sure her sister is okay and begs Louise to let her in.
Josephine is Louise's main supporting character, as she helps her grieve, though she never knows that Louise has found new release from her husband's supposed death. But from Josephine's actions and interactions with Louise, readers can accurately guess that she cares for her sister (even if she's unaware of Louise's misery).
Richards
Richards is another supporting character, although he is portrayed as a friend of Brilly, not a friend of Louise. Richards is the one who finds out about Burley Mallard's presumed death while at the newspaper office – he sees Burley's name "at the top of the 'murder' list." Richards' primary role in The One Hour Story is to begin the plot of the story.
Additionally, Richard's presence in the newspaper's office indicates that he is a writer, editor, or other employee of the newspaper (although Chopin leaves that to the conclusions of readers). Richards cares enough to check the news again and make sure Brent is probably dead. He also asks for Josephine's help in breaking the news to Louise. He tries to reach Louise before a "less cautious, less tender friend" can deliver the sad news to him, suggesting that he is a thoughtful person in his own right.
It's also important to note that Richards is aware of Louise's heart condition, meaning he knows Louise Mallard well enough to know about her health and how likely she is to handle the grief. He reappears in the story at the end, when he tries (and fails) to shield Berlint from his wife's perspective to keep his heart from behaving badly. While Richards is a background character in the story, he shows a high level of friendship, consideration, and care for Louise.
Brently Mallard
Mr. Burley Mallard is the husband of main character Louise. We get few details about him, though readers know he was on a train that had a bad accident. For the majority of the story, readers believe that Berlily Mallard is dead – although the end of "Story of an Hour" reveals that he was alive the entire time. In fact, Barelli didn't even know about the train tragedy when he returned home "soiled from travel."
Right after Louise heard the news of his death, she remembers him fondly. She comments on her "soft, gentle" hands and says that Brent "never looked at her except with love". Not while Perlely oppresses Louise her marriage to him. While he seems to have always loved Louise, Louise only loved Prince "occasionally". She constantly felt like he was “imposing a special will on her,” as most husbands do with their wives. And while I realized Brent probably did it without malice, I also realized that "good intent or cruel intent" makes oppression "just another crime."
The absence of berlint in the story does two things. First, it contrasts sharply with Louise's life of illness and confinement. Second, Brent's absence allows Louise to imagine a life of freedom outside of marriage, giving her hope. In fact, when he appears alive and well (and ends Louise's hopes of freedom), she dies.
The doctor(s)
Although his mention is short, the last sentence of the story was amazing. Chopin writes, "When the doctors came in, they said she had died of heart disease – of killing joy." Just as she had no freedom in life, her freedom from her husband's death is told to her as the joy of his murder.
In life or in death, the truth about Louise Mallard is never known. Everything readers know about her delight in her newfound freedom is going on in Louise's mind. She never had the chance to share her secret joy with anyone else.
Thus, the end of the story is two-sided. According to the doctors, Louise Mallard was happy to see her husband and his heart betray her. Apparently, no one had reason to doubt otherwise. Her reaction was that of an obedient and sensitive wife who could not bear the shock of her husband returning from the grave.
But readers can conclude that Louise Mallard died of grief for a freedom she never had, regained and then lost again. Readers can interpret Louise's death as her experience of true heartbreak in the story - which she realized briefly for her ideal life, then kidnapped.
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