Analysis of the Story of an Hour and The Storm

Analysis of the story of an hour and the storm, by Kate Chopin Name Institution Date Analysis of the Story of an Hour and The Storm, Kate Chopin During the Victorian Era, women felt oppressed by their husbands, women lived in restrained marriages. Women longed for freedom and liberation which they could only attain outside marriage. Marriage is one of the themes that inspired Kate Chopin, one of the famous writers of the 1900's to write amazing stories with resonating themes like marriage. The Story of an Hour and The Storm are some of her stories that reveal Chopin's attitude toward marriage. Marriage is one of the common themes of her stories; she described marriage not as flowery and romantic as perceived by many people. Instead, Chopin focused on the oppressive side of marriage and women's quest for freedom and liberation. The two stories, The Storm and The Story of an Hour present written by Kate Chopin presents the theme of marriage and the need for freedom and liberation presenting two women trapped in their marriages. These two stories are alike in several ways, notably the main character Calixta and Mrs. Louise Mallard struggle in their marriage, but the end is a mixture of triumph and tragedy. When presenting the story of an hour, the narration begins with Josephine and Richard planning to inform Louise Mallard about the death of Brent Mallard, her husband in a gentle way because of Louise's fragile heart condition (Beer, 2016). The irony in the story is that Louise was viewed as a fragile person, but upon receiving the news of her husband, she felt much stronger. The death of Brent meant having the freedom she had longed for. The death of her husband made her experience new feelings she had not had before which was self-determination (Schmid, 2017). The unusual feelings described by the author after losing her husband, reveals her inner desires. When she turns out the window looking to the future not meaningfully glancing at her room –sensing "the delicious breath of rain" and seeing the paths of the blue sky she weeps" (Beer, 2016). As the narrator describes her face showing signs of repression, Louise had been grieving for the many years, meaning she was not weeping because of her husband's death. In one of the passages, Chopin described Louise’s idea of self-determination when she writes "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. 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 will upon a fellow-creature"(Beer, 2016). The passage reveals the deep-rooted patriarchal norms that affected marital relationships during this period (Schmid, 2017). The story plot and ideas revolved around the oppression of women an unhappy marriage. Chopin used her story to explain her view of marriage whereby she looked at marriage as an institution that controlled women (Schmid, 2017). Husbands controlled women by imposing their will on their wives had no say; they had no choice but to obey their husbands. Women had no freedom and were considered to be inferior in front of men (Schmid, 2017). During the Victorian Era, women had no choice over their lives. Therefore; the Story of an Hour descri...