Most authors write their material based on their views of certain situations and issues that are prevalent in that specific time period.  Feminism started in the mid 1800's and is still very significant and prominent today, almost 200 years later.  People's perspectives and political views of feminism are all over the spectrum which makes it difficult to help alleviate some of the feminist issues legislatively; however, it makes writing short stories and academic journals much easier and more relevant to what everyone is experiencing in the real world.  By looking at the short story, The Story of an Hour, one could argue that it agrees with the stereotypical expectations of women discussed in the academic journal, Passions of the First Wave Feminists.  We can see through the characteristics of "fearsomely respectable", "crushingly earnest", and "sexually repressed" that women in the 1980's, especially Louise Mallard, have little to no freedom to behave the way they wish.  Thus, the reason why women and men aren't treated equally.  

First of all, in The Story of an Hour, the introductory sentence automatically gives a negative perspective of Louise Mallard.  "[She] was afflicted with a heart trouble" (Chopin 223), already gives the reader the information to infer that Mrs. Mallard is frail and not healthy enough to take care of herself.  Although, we learn more about Louise as the story continues, and she becomes more admired by the audience in the way that she handles herself after hearing this heart-breaking news about her husbands' death.  The way Mrs. Mallard acts during this time describes the phrase, "fearsomely respectable" perfectly.  She expresses poise and self-control even though most people would care less about those characteristics if they received news such as this.  On the contrary, Louise also comes off a bit fearsome to her sister, Josephine, and Richards, her husband's friend.  She does this by quietly and gently walking away into her room to be alone and to cope with the news.  In the Academic Journal, Passions of First Wave Feminists, the author, Susan Magarey, discusses the stereotypical expectations of women and in this moment, Louise follows those labels to a tee.  As you read further into the story, she steps out of these limits and becomes an independent women who is looking forward to her new liberty and authority.

Next, Passions of First World Feminists, argues about this "sexual double standard" that people have continued to portray for nearly 200 years.  I believe that this phrase is extremely relevant in almost all aspects of society then and now.  We continue to use someone's gender almost as an excuse for why or why not the way that person acts is acceptable.  Louise Mallard probably wouldn't be considered "crushingly earnest" in her day to day life before this situation occurred, but "earnest" is definitely the word I would use to describe Louise when she is alone, sitting in the chair, looking out at the rain and chirping sparrows.  According to the Marian-Webster dictionary, earnest means, "a serious and intent mental state".  This is exactly how Mrs. Mallard behaves when she has her head laying against the back of the chair, just gazing upon the sky and the nature around her.  She is also in this deep thinking state of how she is now free to do whatever she would like and is able to be her own boss.  "She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long" (Chopin 224) is a phrase that really stuck out to me because in the midst of all this sorrow and loss, she is praying that her life will be long so she can have her freedom for longer.  In a situation where everyone is focused on her and how to help her cope with this tremendous loss, she too is also focused on herself by praying that she live a long and adventurous life.  In another academic journal, Third Wave Feminism and the Need to Reweave the Nature/Cultural Duality, it challenges the idea of duality while still taking women embodiment into consideration.  While fantasizing about her new unrestricted lifestyle, Louise almost 'throws away' those stereotypical expectations of women and how they should behave; she truly experiments with duality and now has the self-reliance to "live for herself" (Chopin 224).  The Third Wave Feminism  article discusses how men embodied the characteristics of reason and freedom.  Deep in thought, Louise seems to have taken over the freedom characteristic that her husband left behind.

Finally, most women are very much considered "sexually repressed" because men are 'supposed' to be the ones who are prominently sexual and erotic.  "A kind or cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination", (Chopin 224) is how Louise describes the sexual intentions of her and her husband.  Why does Mrs. Mallard compare sexual relations to have either kind or cruel intentions?  In a marriage, the intentions should be to share a more interpersonal connection between each other and shouldn't be kind nor cruel, but something special both people in the relationship share.  Louise expresses that she did love her husband, Brently, but only sometimes and "often she had not" (Chopin 224).  What were the reasons why she did not love her husband, and were they so bad that she had to include that piece of information in this story?  It seems as though she felt that she was 'stuck' in this marriage.  Maybe when Louise exclaims the word 'free' over and over it isn't that she has the liberty to act any way that she wants, but meaning that she is no longer under Brently's hold.  

The final paragraph of this story is very surprising and unsettling.  Brently comes home after a day of work and was completely unaware there was an accident or that his name was at the top of the "killed" list.  Louise immediately drops dead of a heart disease "of the joy that kills" (Chopin 224).  Louise's heart disease most likely wasn't because of her bad eating habits or lack of exercise, I believe that her heart was filled with toxic love that caused it to be frail and give up at the mere sight that her "lover" had returned.  I also find it very ironic that Louise was almost celebrating her husband's death because of her new found freedom but in the end, she is the one who loses it all.

In conclusion, The Story of an Hour, argues that it agrees with the stereotypical expectations of women discussed in the academic journal, Passions of the First Wave Feminists.  We can see through the characteristics of "fearsomely respectable", "crushingly earnest", and "sexually repressed" that women in the 1980's, especially Louise Mallard, have little to no freedom to behave the way they wish.  

