Industrialism during the nineteenth century modernized the work force and opened up many possibilities for men all over the world.  Regardless of culture, there is a divide between men and women in the labor force.  The gap between the sexes only widened as industrialism took the world by storm and reinforced stereotypical gender roles.  As industrialism provided technological advances and a more active and participating labor force, and it also encouraged sexism and disregard for women and their rights.  With the increase in opportunities for men in the labor force, they continued to rise to power while women became even more repressed and confined to domesticity.  Through "The Story of an Hour", Kate Chopin showed the emotional transformation of a woman transitioning between a completely regulated domestic life, and a life that allowed her private individuality.  Despite being defined by industrialization that limited her abilities in nineteenth century society, her insanity proved to be nothing more than concern for her future as an independent woman.

Women's dependence on men throughout the nineteenth century was rooted in the societal norm which limited women's ability to take care of themselves.  Women were forced to be dependent on men because they were less likely to be hired except for in low class situations.  This sort of repression of women in industrialism encouraged women to be dependent in other areas of life too.  They were expected to be patient, child-bearing homemakers with no say in their own future.  A woman living the life of domesticity was very common all over the world, not just in first world countries.  The divide between men and women affected virtually every nation throughout the nineteenth century, even in third world countries where industrialization was not nearly as prominent.  However, modern agriculture was improving primarily in farming communities, affecting women in lower classes and more impoverished countries as well.  The lack of acceptance of women in the labor force only weakened the modernizations of nations and individual societies.  By depriving women of the right to work and contribute, men were simultaneously depriving their own society of efficiently progressing.   Industrialism seemed to offer men the chance to improve the world.  Meanwhile, women struggled to even have a place in the working field because "the gross devaluation of their work, their increased marginality and their erosion of status" made working and supporting themselves nearly impossible.  Societies all over the world opened up jobs for men, making them the only ones able to influence the change and development of modern employment (Oppong 264).  Industrialism built men up while simultaneously tearing women down.  The more power the average man was getting, the less the average woman could do to have her voice heard.

For Mrs. Mallard's case in "The Story of an Hour", she had spent her life under the influence of the most prominent man in her life, her husband.  Nineteenth century women were dependent and dainty, as perceived by societies in many places around the world at the time.  Feminists today would argue that women were never dependent and dainty - just repressed by their culture and expectations.  However, the description of Mrs. Mallard in "The Story of an Hour", seems to only prove instability of women through her hysterical nature and extreme response when learning of her husband's death.  When the news was being delivered, Richards made the comment that "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance", suggesting that Mrs. Mallard's upsetting reaction was unusual for the time, for the appropriate response should have been silence (Chopin 223).  The suggestion is that women in the nineteenth century were literally incapable of understanding the significance of the loss of a husband.  Mrs. Mallard continued to grow more and more upset as the story continued, making her seem mentally unstable and almost even dramatic. Their perception of insanity is actually the opposite of her reality.  Her thinking that becoming an independent and self assertive woman was a possibility for her is insane.  The false sense of happiness that overwhelmed her was insane because with industrialization, that was not a possibility.  There is a disconnect between her perceived freedom and her actual freedom.  However, she eventually realizes that her life would completely change with her husband no longer around, and "she breathed a quick prayer that life might be long" (Chopin 224).  She would live for herself, and she would not be tied to a man she only sometimes loved.  She was overwhelmed with joy because she was filled with self-assertion.  Her husband's death, losing her guardian-like figure that controlled her, suddenly empowered her and made her feel stronger than before.  She had been freed. Mrs. Mallard had "a feverish triumph in her eyes"(224), a feeling that replaced reality with a self-diluted epiphany that transformed her from a dutiful companion into a self-defined and self-pleasing woman. Her thinking that becoming an independent and self assertive woman was a possibility for her is insane.  The false sense of happiness that overwhelmed her was insane because with industrialization, that was not a possibility.  There is a disconnect between her perceived freedom and her actual freedom.

Mrs. Mallard was criticized while in mourning, and discredited while recovering, making redeeming herself impossible.  She was not perceived as insane because she became joyful, but because she thought had broken the cycle that most women of her time were caught in for life; she thought was an individual for the first time, which was impossible during the nineteenth century.  It is well known that women did not gain basic rights, like the right to vote, until the twentieth century, but the reasoning behind why women took so long to gain rights usually is not tied directly to industrialism.  However, it makes sense that empowering men more and more while changing nothing for women is actually just further repressing women in many ways.  The rest of the world was modernizing during the nineteenth century, while women's roles remained static.  "The Story of an Hour" is a uniquely early feminist piece written by Kate Chopin, and the negative responses that the story received even further proved the repression of women caused by industrialism.  Chopin is a credible author because she lived the life of a working woman during the nineteenth century, and she felt the direct impact of industrialism.  Kate Chopin was not regarded properly because she lived in the conservative Victorian era which prohibited women from speaking out non-traditionally.  In Chopin's story, Mrs. Mallard began her process of emotional transition by displaying hysteria, and reacting like someone that would be considered mentally unstable.  As she convinced herself that independence was a possibility, the perception of her insanity continued.

Although she was still confined by nineteenth century industrialism, she had gained the power of controlling herself at a more personal level.  The self-assertion she was feeling after she grieved for her husband was nothing but false hope, because she would not have been completely self-assertive as a widow.  However, before having the ability to be limited by industrialism, she first had to escape the patriarchal control on a woman's decisions.

