Kate Chopin, author of “The Story of an Hour”, is known today for being a major social and political force for the feminist movement. In 1894, Vogue first published this story under the name “The Dream of an Hour”. This later changes in 1895 when it is republished from the St. Louis Life newspaper (www.katechopin.org). In the story by Chopin, the protagonist is a female character whom is married to Brently Mallard. The story begins by letting the readers know that Louise Mallard suffers heart trouble (Chopin). The news of Mr. Mallard’s death affected her greatly. She cried almost instantaneously and proceeded to lock herself alone in her room upstairs. As the story progresses, Mrs. Mallard feels like her life is in shambles. She lets her emotions get the best of her, however soon she begins to realize what it meant to be a widow. Mrs. Mallard suddenly finds some satisfaction in being a widow. She believes that men and women unintentionally impose on each other therefore she is looking forward to a long life by herself. Josephine, sister of Louise, got Mrs. Mallard to go downstairs to answer the door. Brently walks through the front door and Mrs. Mallard dies from a heart attack. This story is easier understand with historical context at the time it was published. In 1894 women’s right were very limited, they couldn’t even vote. The gender roles of women consisted of being domestic, pure, and submissive. These traits go hand in hand with the marital laws at the time. The extremely unequal marriage laws of the 1890s demonstrate how radical of a story Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” really is for its time, and the influence it has on the text.

The Industrial Revolution changed the world in the late 1800s. The gender roles at this time were the same they have always been since the colonists came to America. The marriage laws back then compared to the ones today are greatly different. Most laws were extremely biased in favor of men. An example of these laws is coverture, which is a law that states, “that a married woman did not have a separate legal existence from her husband. A married woman or feme covert was a dependent, like an underage child or slave, and could not own property in her own name or control her own earnings, except under very specific circumstances (Woman and the Law)”. The traditional housewife did not need to possess property nor control the financial aspects of the family during this time period. Mrs. Mallard has essentially been under control of her husband ever since they both married each other. After Louise learns about her husband’s death she freaks out because her love for Brently was the primary purpose of her life. That is very understandable considering that Mrs. Mallard does nothing else but to try to please her spouse. This story is very progressive for its time because of how strongly influenced the marriage laws had on gender roles. Kate Chopin uses an epiphany to express the relationship in the story.  “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. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination” (Chopin). The narrator includes her thoughts after having a sudden realization about the marriages in the 1890s. Mrs. Mallard believes that men and women unintentionally impose upon one another. It is safe to say at this time that men imposed heavily on women based on the marriage laws that were instilled. 

Another example that shows influence the marriage laws had in the text is shown by the change of heart Mrs. Mallard had after she realized being alone wouldn’t be too bad. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills” (Chopin). The narrator includes the reason the Mrs. Mallard was presumed dead by. The doctors state that she died of overwhelming joy. However, a death from pure joy seems highly improbable. Mark Cunningham states that the actual reason Mrs. Mallard dies “as a result of the strain she is under” (katechopin.org). “The Story of an Hour” definitely is influenced by the time period in which it was written in. Louise realized that her new life away from her husband would be great and she now believes her life is worth living ironically. After Mrs. Mallard saw her future of being a widow, she would rather take her life away than live in marriage. In conclusion, it is safe to assume that Mrs. Mallard wouldn’t have killed herself if she were to live in today’s society. The inequality of the marriage laws at this time really influenced the story throughout.

In the late 1800s, divorce was extremely rare. It barely happened because of the laws made it unfair for women. Mr. Sydney G. Fisher, a former member of the Harvard Law School, called to the attention “in most of the states at the beginning of the century (20th) the laws allowed substantially the same freedom of divorce as at present, it is only very recently that people have begun, to any great extent, to take advantage of these laws” (Draft of a Uniform Divorce Law, 139). At the time there weren’t many divorces due to the nature of the marriage laws. A divorce during the 1890s would have stirred many social as well as many economic problems. Therefore, writing a story about a woman who died of joy because her freedom was taken away is really deep. Comparing the time Chopin wrote her story to today, divorces now are easy to do and fairly common.

Kate Chopin wrote an extremely powerful story for its time. The marriage laws during the 1890s created a terrible lifestyle for women. These laws were unjust, unequal and prejudiced. Throughout “The Story of an Hour” it is very evident that it was influenced by the time Chopin wrote this tale. The feminist movement had barely begun at this time therefore this story was very revolutionary for its time.
