Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
is the tragic tale of a woman who feels so oppressed by the expectations of
society and the constraints of her marriage that she actually rejoices at the
news of her husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard believes that her husband’s passing
will grant her a new life; one of freedom and independence. Ironically, it is
the revelation that Mr. Mallard is in fact still alive that brings about her
own demise.
To better understand Chopin’s
reasoning for writing such a story, it is necessary to look at her own life and
experiences. She lost her husband in a railroad accident, just as Mrs. Mallard
had believed she had. She also only began her writing career after his death.
While Kate and her husband were happy together, it would seem that his death
opened up several new opportunities for her. When she writes of Mrs. Mallard’s
feelings, “she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter!
What could love the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession
of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her
being!” (Chopin 170), it seems to stem from her own personal experience.
While I can sympathize with Mrs.
Mallard feeling oppressed and diluted by what everyone else expects of her
life, I find the overall tone of the story rather depressing. The idea that one
would actually experience joy at the thought of their loved one dying so that
their own selfish ambitions can become reality is difficult for me to
understand. It is especially hard since Mr. Mallard is described as being a
kind and loving man. Mrs. Mallard knows that she will grieve when she sees his
body, especially when she looks at “the face that never looked save with love
upon her” (Chopin 170), and yet she still feels that his death is ultimately a
joyous occasion for her.
The more I ponder Mrs. Mallard’s
situation, the more I find myself relating to poor Mr. Mallard. He loved his
wife, but she did not reciprocate that love because she was too concerned with
herself. She did not understand that
true love is about sacrifice. While the story if full of tragic irony, the
greatest example comes when Mrs. Mallard dies of shock at the sight of her
husband alive and well. It is her death that ultimately releases her from the
constraints of her marriage and sets her free.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. Backpack Literature. Ed. X. J. Kennedy, Dana Gioia.
Pearson. 2012. 168-170. Print.
I guess there is one saving grace in this situation. Mr. Mallard will never be aware of the reality that suddenly struck his wife at the news of his alleged death. Since he was not privy to the self-assertion that took place behind closed doors, he will bury his wife and grieve for the loss of his beloved. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
ReplyDeleteBeing a happily married woman, I found this story to be depressing as well. I could never imagine feeling joy if my husband was to pass away. The story never really tells why she is so unhappy, she just wants to be independent. It is very sad for Mr. Mallard because he is not aware of the truth of Mrs. Mallards death, for all he knows she passed from shock of him being alive and her heart disease.
ReplyDeleteI kind of agree with Ron. While the story is tragic, Mr. Mallard is ignorant of the epiphany Louise has leading up to her death.
ReplyDeleteThe indicators are that he, contrary to having any idea what she'd been thinking, cluelessly lives out the rest of his days with the bolstering belief that her heart gave out in elation upon his return.
What a shmuck.