I recently read The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin for my online Introduction to Literature class. Although it was only about 2 pages long, I found it to be an AMAZING story. The main character is Mrs. Mallard. She has just recieved, via a loyal friend to her husband, the news that he was killed in an explosion along the train tracks he worked. While everyone else assumed she locked herself in her room because of her heart wrenching despair, the exact opposite was happening. Instead of her world collapsing, she felt reborn. For she was now a woman living for herself and not the needs of her husband. I hate to give away the ending, but this short story had quite the twist! i highly suggest it to any and every girl who has ever felt claustrophobic in a relationship. The following is why! :)
Written during the late 1800s, I think this story describes a feeling that many women harbored, but few would admit to. During that time, it was believed that a woman's life revolved solely around her husband. It was her life's purpose to make sure that he was happy and well fed and cared for. From the age a woman reached "adulthood" she was immediately supposed to find a husband and start a family. There were no other options for her. So of course some women resented their husbands. How could they not?
As a very independent young woman I can relate to Mrs. Mallard and other women of her time. With no independence of their own they ached for freedom. They ached to go out and garden because they wanted to, not because it was super time and tomatoes were needed. They longed to read a book on a quiet sunday instead of spending hours doing the house's laundry. All they wanted was some "me" time and they were deprived of that. I can't even imagine myself in their position; I like having my own hobbies and I love the fact that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. Sure, a part of them did it for love, but another part of them had no other choice.
That being said, I think Mrs. Mallard was right to embrace her new found freedom, new found strength. She had been living for another and now it was time that she live for herself. The quote, "Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday that she had thought with a shudder that life might be long," (40-41) describes Mrs. Mallard's new life perfectly. She was at a crossroads in her life, and she was choosing the brightest path.
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