Monumental and somewhat controversial facts and realizations that have been proposed over the years have included the blatant oppression of women as whole. Such an oppression has caused a tone of resentfulness and a distinct class system where women are constantly placed at the bottom of the chain and kept there through glass ceilings, stereotypes and roles in society. The oppression of women was a focused writing topic during the 19th and 20th centuries especially. These authors were most often times women, specifically Kate Chopin whom was a feminist writer in the 1890’s. In particular, Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” was written as a women empowerment piece yet this theme was masked throughout the story in many ways. Chopin played into the fact that women were viewed as weak in the 1890’s and how they were treated as second class citizens by many men. Therefore, by looking at the history of women, the occupations of the Mrs. Mallard and her reaction about her husband’s departure we can see that women have been oppressed, taken advantage of and striped of their God-given rights from the moment they were born in many different ways, which most people do not see. This is important because women have come a long way to be empowered in society and this was unattainable and frankly frowned upon only a few centuries ago. 

Kate Chopin expresses her angst with men through one of the main characters of her short story “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard. The surprising feelings and actions that Mrs. Mallard has when she finds out that her husband has passed creates much question for the reader. Mrs. Mallard’s peculiar reaction about her husband accurately represents the pressures that women endured during the late 19th century and the effects that they had on women. She goes to her room alone when she hears the news about her husband and this was a normal reaction, being alone to grieve but the reader sees the truth when Mrs. Mallard seems to be over joyed with the fact that her husband has passed. Mrs. Mallard was the product of a non-loving wife whom was most likely forced into a marriage that she never wanted with this man. Arranged, forced or even marrying for money when it came to marriage was very popular during the 19th century. Often women had no choice and no say in who they were marrying, because all women were good for at this time was reproducing and being home makers. 

In the short story, The Story of an Hour it is clear that women are second class citizens and somewhat scared or intimidated by the men that they are closets with. Women’s suffrage and fight for their rights in general did not begin until the 19th century, which was merely lists of goals and tactics for what women wanted and how they wanted to be treated in society (“The Women’s Right Movement”). Seneca Falls occurred on July 19-20, 1848 and it was a time where women came together to speak on behalf of their inequalities and all of the lower class experiences they have (“The Women’s Right Movement”).  This convention was held in order to give women like Mrs. Mallard a voice in a time when men were running the world without women. Men were the providers, women were the caregivers and these two classes of life separately existed and did not interact often. Men were superior to women for decades, women were viewed as weak, sometimes compared to delicate flowers, always described using terms such as weak, feeble, or even hysterical. The divide between women and men over the years caused much tension and up rise of distaste. Such tension was not addressed within the home, Mrs. Mallard was not supposed to voice her opinions about her husband, therefore her reaction about his death was extremely telling of her true feelings that she was suppressing. 

 Kate Chopin was an iconic woman of her time in terms of the written protest for the oppression of women and her writings helped to spark a fire in women to fight back for women’s rights. One famous quote that Kate Chopin wrote has much interpretation and important significance in history is as follows: "Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer; than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's Life (“The Role of the Wife”)." These words represent how women didn’t have a choice in their own lives and how it is possibly more important to be alive and fight for their rights rather than be dead. Motherhood and home makers were women’s attributes to society. “Motherhood was viewed in advice literature, particularly by the 1890s, as one of the most important contributions women could make to her family and to the nation (“The Role of the Wife”). Being a mother was the most important role in a woman’s life she was defined by the way her children were and who they were. A woman’s home was a representation of who she was and how they were able to live and the amount of money that their husbands made to maintain a nice life style. The WIC Main Page verifies the above statements by stating that: “Throughout most of history women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions.” Women were lower class citizens for many years and therefore held in a lower regard. Women were engineered to be the center of the home, they were expected to perform their duties in the house and with the children. Women were to raise their daughters to become wives as well, and the men were to teach their sons to be able to carry on their father’s trade. This created a sharp divide between men and women in society that began from within the home and sons were taught to treat women with a lesser respect which carried on this heinous treatment of women. 

In the general nature of human biology, women are proven to be more emotional and deal with certain situations with more emotions than men because of the amount of estrogen women have in their bodies. This emotion caused much conflict in women’s lives during the 18th century through to the 20th century, such emotions were used against women and viewed as a weakness. Gender inequalities were originally derived from religious ideologies and classical thought, science and medicine also played a role in the view of men and women (“Gender in Proceedings”). Women were often times viewed as a hysterical. This hysteria scared most men and some male doctors in the late 19th century began to reach conclusions about women by viewing their emotions instead of examining them physically. Such conclusions caused the removal of a woman’s uterus which was later named a “hysterectomy”, this word was derived from the fact that women were called “hysterical” when they reacted to events such as postpartum depression. The male- dominant medicine profession in the late 18th early 19th century create an even larger divide between women and men because now men thought that they knew more about women then they knew about themselves. Yet men did not prove that women were different medically, they made conclusions based on women’s actions and concluded by falsely diagnosing women whom did not actually have mental illness and threw some of them in insane asylums. This divide created even more of an up rise when it came to women authors who wanted to give their perspective and input about the matter in general. This is just another reason why Kate Chopin was such a highly acclaimed author, she did not hold back in her writings and wrote drastic stories that made the oppression and disrespect toward women very evident. 

On the contrary, some men did help to speak out on behalf of the women’s rights movement, not all men were stereotypical. As was stated in Michael O’Malley’s “Women and Equality” website article: “On the other hand, other men and women began arguing that men and women were basically equal—that women had the same mental abilities as men, the same talents, and the same mental and physical toughness and capacity for logic and rational thought.” Such men aided women by allowing them to take parts in their businesses and daily duties. This took place in the 1850’s and in the year 1854 there was a “Women’s Right Petition to New York State Legislature” (Women in Equality). In this petition women were recognized to have rights and that they are human beings as well whom coexist in the world with men and children (Women in Equality). Yet this petition did not give women full rights they still had specific roles which were:

Duties and rights as daughters, sisters, wives, and mothers, are not bounded within the circle of home; that in view of the sacredness of their relations, they are not free to desert their fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons amidst scenes of business, politics, and pleasure, and to leave them alone in their struggles and temptations, but that as members of the human family, for the sake of human advancement, women are bound as widely as possible to give to men the influence of their aid and presence; and finally, that universal experience attests that those nations and societies are most orderly, high-toned, and rich in varied prosperity, where women most freely intermingle with men in all spheres of active life (Women in Equality). 

These duties only allowed women little freedom when it came to their everyday lives. They were not able to have normal lives. They were made to be the home makers and to solely hold such a job title until they fought harder for their rights later on in the 19th century. The women of the world who had the most money or were affluent for their times were given more rights. This is because their quality life might have required nannies or even live in maids. Therefore, the wife of the home was more of a figure head or what’s known as today to be a “trophy wife” for their rich husband. 

Gender roles were extremely strict and men and women alike were unable to move up in the social class system that they were in. The only way to be able to veer from the class system in the late 19th century was to dress outside of such gender role, commonly known as “cross dressing”, women and men would cross dress for masquerade balls in the late 19th century (Gender in the Proceedings). Later on in the century after the petition that was released in 1854, women fought for their suffrage.  “From 1866, the suffrage movement campaigned to get women the vote, which had been given to property-owning men by the 1832 Reform Act, and was extended to working-class men in 1867 and 1884” (Gender in the Proceedings). This suffrage movement was not passed until the early 20th century. Therefore, women were becoming more and more frustrated, and more women’s groups and movements were beginning to spark up in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. 

Kate Chopin paralleled all of these petitions by using her written word and opinions through her short stories.  Pulling together the ideas of many women and using such ideas to make a women be victimized in her stories was a helpful and efficient way in which Chopin shared her themes and messages. This is seen, especially, in her short story: “The Story of an Hour”. There is a hidden message throughout this story and the story itself leaves people in awe and question of what the story really means. Mrs. Mallard had a contrary reaction of what most women were to have at this time when she found out that her husband had passed. Kate Chopin herself said that "Whatever have been the cares of the day, greet your husband with a smile when he returns. Make your personal appearance just as beautiful as possible. Let him enter rooms so attractive and sunny that all the recollections of his home, when away from the same, shall attract him back (“The Role of a Wife”)." This statement represents that women were to be the worshippers of their husbands at this time in the 1860’s they were to put on a show and pretend to be happy even if they had a hard day themselves. The purpose of this was the ultimate goal of a woman which was to please and worship their husband. Women were expected to be the loving and giving mothers, they were to maintain this lady-like role throughout their days and they were not allowed to veer from such tasks without being scolded like a child. Women were often treated like the children of society in the late 19th century and early 20th century before they had rights. Women’s roles in life were to reproduce, be a perfect mother and an even better wife to their husbands whom they owe their lives to for all that the men have done for them and their households. This is what mainly caused massive amounts of up rise and upset for women they no longer wanted to be molded into a life and a person that they weren’t but were forced to become. 

Kate Chopin especially wrote of this “mold” that women had to fit into. Mrs. Mallard was expected to give a piece of herself away in order to please her husband’s needs and wants. Mrs. Mallard is a clear symbol for all women, she exudes the main issues that women dealt with every day during her time. The joy that Mrs. Mallard had after finding out her husband was dead was an evident sign that she was so unhappy or even depressed by the situation she was living in with her husband. This is how many women of her time felt but nothing was said, women were to be seen and not heard. This led to her death, finding out her husband was actually living was such a horrible event for Mrs. Mallard, so horrid in fact, she is said to have died from a “broken heart”. This was the tell-tale sign that her life was difficult and her reaction was twisted. A normal reaction would be to be over joyed that her husband was alive instead of dead. Women did not like their role in life and wanted a change, Mrs. Mallard was living (or dead) proof of this fact. Bearing a life with a second more of her husband was less than dying. This accurately represents the distaste of nearly all women during the 19th and 20th century and even today in some lesser aspects.  

Later on in history, in the 1920’s specifically women were finally granted the right to vote, or given suffrage which allowed them to become full members of society. They were also given their own voices in government and creating an even vaster democracy in the United States of America. The Women’s movement that led them to this point in history truly started at Seneca Falls and took off from that point forward. Women continued to petition and created their own groups in order to raise awareness of the unfairness they were experiencing when it came to being equals in society. Women were treated differently and most times more cruelly when it came to acts such as crime, the courtroom in general and even in their own homes (Gender in the Proceedings). This fight lasted for years, and women were eventually able to be somewhat equal to men. They were no longer treated as lesser citizens by the mid 20th century. Instead they were now treated as equals in most aspects of life. This new tone has carried over into modern day and women now hold high powered and paying jobs in society. Most women are offered the same opportunities as men in America. Unfortunately, the same is not true for women whom live outside of the United States. 

Throughout the years’ women have fought to be able to live and coexist with others in the U.S. specifically. The American women fought for their rights and have inspired women all over the world to fight back and try to gain more rights. Kate Chopin helps to show how the oppression of women affects each women separately, and differently. Being advocates and fighting for what is important to each individual person living in the U.S. has been and continues to be a leading reason for the strength and unity that the U.S. is known for. Kate Chopin aided immensely with the spark and continuation of the women’s movement. She was a leading figure and her famous work “The Story of an Hour” especially facilitated with such a campaign. 
