Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin was a relatively independent woman. Her father died while she was very young and she was raised by her mother and great-grandmother. While very young she was exposed to the taste of freedom during a trip to New Orleans where she begun to question gender roles and how oppress women were.

In The Story of the Hour, Chopin gives us a tale about a woman, Mrs. Mallard who suffers from a heart condition. One day, Mr. Mallard's friend, Richards, learns that Mr. Mallard has died in a railroad disaster. Mrs. Mallard's sister Josephine tries to break the news to Mrs. Mallard softly because of her heart condition. Shock she immediately starts weeping in her sister’s arm. “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance” Chopin pg. 1. Chopin makes a point to note that Mrs. Mallard receives the news different from what most women would, which is usually denial before finally accepting the news as a truth. Mrs. Mallard soon locks herself in a room with a window, hurls herself into a large chair and, sobbing, she gazes out at the world bustling around her. Soon, her sobs turn to gasps. She approaches a climactic moment where "her bosom rose and fell tumultuously" (Chopin pg 1) as she embraces freedom and joy in the world and saying under her breath, “free, free, free”. Her sister is finally able to get to come out and she’s no longer Mrs. Mallard but now Louise, unfortunately, while they are coming down the stairs, her husband comes through the door, obviously very much alive, and Louise drops dead.

One can get a sense of what Chopin’s ideas about men, women, and marriage in this story.