Commentary on The Story Of An Hour Essay

The Story of an Hour

The story I chose for this assignment is The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, written in 1984, lived in the height of the Victorian Era and was a first-hand witness to the suppression women endured and accepted in the late 19th century. This story grabs readers emotions from the start, the range of emotions is felt by the main charter Louise Mallard, and this really captured my attention. I see Mrs. Mallard as a weak and fragile woman who has suffered from heart trouble.

As she learns about her husbands death she becomes sad, with a paralyzed inability to

accept its significance(Chopin Chp 2). She overcomes the feeling being sad and replaces it with

the feeling of joy. Mrs. Mallard realizes that her husbands death should not be seen as suffering, but as an act of freedom and excited that she could live for herself. As the spring and summer days were approaching, a feeling that her life would be her own, gave her a contentment that she had not felt since the news of her husbands death. Although she realized that her husband loved her, at times for her yet she loved him-sometimes, often she had not (Chopin Chp 2).

As I see in the The Story of an Hour, Louise Mallard and Kate Chopin's lives are very similar and ironic. Louise's life began once she came to the realization that she could live for herself. During this "hour" she felt true joy and freedom, but her life ended abruptly as her husband walked through the door. Like Mrs. Mallard, Chopin's writing career began once her husband died. When she began expressing her feminist views, the critics walked through the door and her life as a writer was over.

I am a believer of the sayings you never know what is going to happen next or tomorrow may never come. We can wake up in the morning happy and healthy, but disaster can strike at any minute. This wonderful thing very often appears to be freedom: the life that you can lead as you like, decisions that you can make when you want, steps that you can take without instructions. Life is no guarantee, so we should live life as if it is our last day.

References

Tennyson, L. A. Responding to Literary Experiences: Retrieved from:

https://content.ashford.edu/