The Story of an Hour

The Fragile Woman Throughout history, women have been stereotyped as hysterical, timid, weak, and irrational. In today’s society this is not always the case. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” this portrayal is evident in the character. Mrs. Mallard is dramatized as being trapped, a woman with no personal identity, and lost in a marriage which through the domesticity she lives, saps a woman’s spirit and physical strength. Chopin It …

…when she finds happiness in her newfound freedom. This woman is very in tune with this loss of herself and even though her love for her husband keeps her from it, the freedom she feels when she thinks he is dead becomes unavoidable and enjoyable. Unfortunately, this loathsome situation found in “The Story of an Hour” is not just another element of fiction. The idea is based on the reality some women face, even today.