Kate Chopin’s “The story of an hour” has been taught and analyzed almost completely from a feminist perspective. Berkove writes “There has been… Virtual critical agreement on what the story says: it's heroine dies ironically and tragically, just as she had been freed from a constricting marriage and has realized self-assertion as the deepest element of her being”. Her sense of joy at her husband's apparent death, and her own death at his return, have become an archetype of feminine self-realization and the patriarchy that is always there to extinguish it. Indeed, the feminist images of the story are so powerful that I believe critics of overlooked another theme. “The story of an hour” can be read and also seen with later modernist writers and the societal change caused by technology play important roles in Chopin’s story. 

“The Story of an Hour” was first published in Vogue in 1894. More than a century later, now in the midst of her own technological revolution, it is difficult to grasp how fundamentally 19th century technologies were altering the world in Chopin’s time. Before the railroad, traveling was extremely difficult and dangerous. In the 1850s, it took an average of 128 days to traverse the Oregon Trail (Unruh 403), with the mortality rate of 4% to 6% (Unruh 408). The transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869, allowed the same journey to be made, safely and much more comfortably, in less than a week (Cooper). Perhaps one importantly, during the 1890s train started to become part of the daily life. In 1889 the first interurban electric reel lines were laid, and by 1894 of miles of track were being added every year.  

Communications underwent an even more dramatic acceleration.  The completion of the successful transatlantic cable in 1866 meant news that had previously taken a week or more to travel between Europe and the Americas canal be sent instantaneously. Like the railroad, while initial invention had occurred years earlier, and 1890s telegrams went from novel to quotidian. In 1870, Western Union relayed 9 million telegrams. By 1893, they were sending more than 66 million telegrams annually.

During the time period of 1894, when The Story of an Hour was set, women were believed to be subordinate to men in opportunities and in status also. A married woman could not own property in her own name, like a slave. She also could not control her own earning. When her husband died she could not even be the guardian of her children. Married women did not have the right to make wills, receive wages earned and they become “owned” property by their husbands not even owning clothes that they wore upon saying “I do”. Chopin wrote “She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!” This relates to this time period because she felt like she was in a prison when being in her marriage and she imagined her life where she could be independent. Chopin also writes “A vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulse beats fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body”. This suggests that she was maybe obligated sexually by her husband and she did not have the “first” feelings of satisfaction. 

Chopin suggests that all marriages, even the kindest ones, are inherently oppressive. She  who readily admits that her husband was kind and loving, nonetheless feels joy when she believes that he has died. Her reaction doesn’t suggest any malice, and she knows that she’ll cry at her husband’s funeral. However, despite the love between husband and wife, she views her husband’s death as a release from oppression. She never names a specific way in which her husband oppressed her, hinting instead that marriage in general stifles both women and men. She even seems to suggest that she oppressed her husband just as much as he oppressed her. Her epiphany in which these thoughts parade through her mind reveals the inherent oppressiveness of all marriages, which by their nature rob people of their independence.

In “The Story of An Hour” by Chopin illustrates the role of woman in marriage and in the society during her time. It demonstrates the issue of male dominance. There are some similarities and differences in the role of woman in marriage and in the community in 1940’s compared to the way women are treated today. And these are seen in the rights of women and in the responsibilities regarding family and marriage. We read “A story of an hour” written by Kate Chopin. It is about a young married woman, who has a heart condition and a shock can kill her immediately. Her sister, Josephine, was careful not to upset her that her husband died in a train accident. She cried and went to her room. However, her felt happy even though the situation was tragic. In addition, she realized that she gained freedom from a depressing marriage and from her dominating husband. When husband opens the door at the end of the story, and She was surprised to her husband alive. She was shocked and died because of a heart attack. Ironically, the doctor declares “she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills” (Chopin). In the movie we saw, it was different. Her was kept in the house because is afraid that she might die or because he is afraid that seeing the world could give her an idea to rebel against him. Her husband showed her many pictures, including their picture in Paris, and she always begs him to take to the gardens of Paris but he always refuses. She was made dependent to his father and her husband to take care of her. In 1940’s, women did not have a lot of rights. They were denied in the politics and still had not allowed to vote.

“Story Of An Hour” was written in 1894, which was in a time period where women did not really have much power or say in anything that went on. Women were really the ones that stayed home and took care of the family and tended to the house, while the husbands went out and worked. Women really stayed out of the lime light and their opinions were never heard or considered. Even though women had desires and feelings, those feelings were never heard of. Women did not dare speak out about their feelings or their rights, it was just not heard of in that time period. Women really lived a life of silence then because they had no voice and they dared not once speak out.

Kate Chopin lived in this type of time period where women really did not have any rights. Chopin wrote stories where the characters were women who were dealt with these types of issues head on. Chopin was well known for writing short stories that centered around women who are faced with these types of society blocks. However, in her stories the women usually take on different side. The women in her stories normally choose their own path rather than what is excepted of them in the eyes of the society. In the end it is the women who gets what they truly want our of life.

One major theme in Kate Chopin’s story is freedom. In the beginning of “Story of an Hour” the scene opens up and we are introduced to Mrs. Mallard who has been told that her husband has dead in a horrible train wreck. Mrs. Mallard reacts to this news like any other wife would. Yes, she is upset so she excuses herself and rushes off to her bedroom to be away from everyone who has come to see her. While in her room we as the reader see a completely different side of Mrs. Mallard. She in some sense is happy; yes, she is upset that her husband has dead however she now has this new found freedom that she did not have before. “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under the breath: “free, free, free!” The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body”. (Chopin 1)

Here for the first time you see Mrs. Mallard really coming out of her shell, once she is behind closed doors she can truly express what she is really feeling. Mrs. Mallard still in some sense knows her place; she knows that she dared not express these types of feelings in front of her family and friends. In some sense she knows her place in society and even though her husband has dead she is still supposed to keep that stature of a women in that time period.
