Marriage in the late 1800s was not as happy as it was always perceived in photographs.  According to a source from Loyola University, “It is the wife’s responsibility to provide her husband a happy home…” (Role).  A relationship during this time period put several restrictions upon the woman due to the respected norms including the difficulty to get a divorce.  In “The Story of an Hour”, written by Kate Chopin, the main character experiences similar constraints within her relationship with Mr. Mallard.  After hearing the news of Mr. Mallard’s death she states, “…over and over under her breath: free, free, free!”(Chopin).  Historic background can be the underlying meaning of texts including, “The Story of an Hour” which was sculpted with the limitations of marriage in mind.

In the late 1800s, society was much different than it was viewed through the media.  Society “…considered women almost as perpetual juveniles”(Crumrin).  An unwedded woman had little significance in her society,  “A woman's gender and marital status were the primary determinants of her legal standing in Indiana and much of America from 1800 to 1850” (Crumrin).  As a result several women were forced to marry to endure the societal status their families had hoped for.  This idea was a reason for the increase in the number of women who married at such an early age.  Even married women were not guaranteed justice, “By custom and law she did not enjoy all of the rights of citizenship… [and] generally were not allowed to make contracts, devise wills, take part in other legal transactions, or control any wages they might earn” (Crumrin).  Women “…found themselves subordinate to and bound by the decisions of their husbands” (Crumrin).  Due to their inferiority they had trouble escaping their demanding lifestyle.  They had limited options, which included divorce, but “Divorce was neither prevalent nor particularly acceptable during the first half of the nineteenth century” (Crumrin).  The Matrimonial Causes Act in 1857 made it harder for a woman to file for a divorce.  In order to acquire a divorce the husband “…only had to prove his wife’s adultery, [but] a woman had to prove her husband had not only committed adultery but also incest, bigamy, cruelty, or desertion” (Role).  

History is all people know and as a result authors use it as their inspiration in their literature.  Among these authors is Kate Chopin who was “…a well-established feminist American writer and her work can set the tone for a well-rounded discussion on gender”(Rajakumar).  She used her short story, “The Story of an Hour”, to express the restrictions women endured within their marriage.   The protagonist of the story is Mrs. Mallard who hears news that her husband is dead.  Her reaction to his death is filled with several different emotions.  Her reaction when she first hears the news is common for any married woman, “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.  When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone” (Chopin).  The narrator states, “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (Chopin).  Mrs. Mallard must have married at a young age at the request of one other than her own causing her to resent Mr. Mallard.  As she sits in her room the narrator states, "… There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Chopin).  She had successfully escaped her marriage without the use of divorce and she could finally be “…free…” (Chopin). As she processed the news, “…there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky” (Chopin).  Mrs. Mallard could now see all of these bright possibilities in her future, which most importantly included right to life.  She “… was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window” (Chopin).  Mrs. Mallard had never known what freedom felt like, but her husband’s death gave her the opportunity to live her own life now with her own rules.  At the end of the story, Mr. Mallard appears and Mrs. Mallard dies of happiness.  It can be inferred that the line, “…she had died of heart disease–of the joy that kills" (Chopin), is ironic due to the author’s perspective.  Chopin believed in supporting woman’s rights in order to eventually equalize women and men in The United States of America.  In order to fight for her rights, she wrote these short stories including “The Story of an Hour”.  Kate Chopin uses her power as a writer to successfully connect her objectives to her texts in order to spread awareness.  If any reader reads beyond than the surface of “The Story of an Hour” they will realize that Mrs. Mallard was trapped in an unhappy relationship with her husband due to the societal norms in the late 1800s within the United States.  

Historic background is what shapes several texts including, “The Story of an Hour”, which was created in hopes of spreading the idea of equal rights among men and women.  Women had limited rights in the late 1800s as a result of the strict law.  The law stripped away a woman’s integrity leaving them helpless.  Their only solution was marriage and even that did not solve their problems.  This idea, unfortunately, led to several unhappy relationships during the late 1800s.  In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin uses Mrs. Mallard to express the restrictive life women endured emotionally.  When Mrs. Mallard sits in her room processing her husband’s demise she states ““Free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin); she had successfully gained back her freedom.
