In “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin, shows a woman, Louise Mallard, find out about the death of her husband, Bently Mallard.  This story was first published in 1894.  The significance of the publication year is that it is right in the middle of the Woman’s Suffrage Movement.  At this point in time, once married, a woman was unable to “make contracts, devise wills, take part in other legal transactions, or control any wages they might earn” (Crumrin). Also during this time, women were seen as children in the care of their husbands.  Many people read “The Story of an Hour” and think that Louise Mallard is a cold, unloving woman who was happy that her husband had died.  She in fact had loved her husband as any wife would.  “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead” (Chopin).  This quote is showing that she knew that when she was faced with his body, and his literal death, she would be upset like a widowed wife should.  The feelings she is feeling during this hour are not of the life that has been lost, rather the improvements in her life that would come about because of this.  Mrs. Mallard lives in a time where women are ready to become equal parts of society, to have every right that a male has, but have yet to achieve this goal.  

The late nineteenth century was a time of impending social change.  This is when the everyday woman was realizing she deserved to be seen as an equal to men in the eyes of the law.  Louise Mallard is the personification of this swing.  Before modern times, women were viewed as children that needed to be taken care of by men (Koven).  In “The Story of an Hour”, this is demonstrated through how the news of Mr. Mallard’s death is broken to Louise “great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death” (Chopin).  She was seen as a weak, fragile woman who needed to be taken care of.  However, Mrs. Mallard soon realizes that her life has just improved immensely.  She would now be able to own her own land, make her own decisions, use her money the way she saw fit, etc.  Marriage before the twentieth century was seen as a necessity.  It is only half way through the nineteenth century when women start to realize it really isn’t.  As long as a woman could provide for her self, there was no necessity for marriage.  Although this is true, arranged marriages were still extremely common during this time period.  Perhaps Louise and Brently Mallard were an arranged marriage.  This would explain the speed of Mrs. Mallard’s revelation.   As the entire story happens in an hour, the fact that Mrs. Mallard has already embraced her newly found freedom is suspicious at least.  This could be attributed to a loveless marriage.

Married woman were seen as her husband’s wife rather than a separate person during this time period.  Once married, a woman was forced to drop her families name and take on the name of her husband.  This of course is still in practice today, but it is now a choice rather than a law.  This rule takes a woman’s identification away and tells her all she is, is a wife. This quote depicts Louise’s eureka moment,

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. 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!" (Chopin).

This of course shows her readiness to be free from her husband.  She needs to get away from his shadow and be come her very own person once again.  This concept is shown in “The Story of an Hour” through Louise Mallard’s name.  Through out most of the story the main character, Louise Mallard, is only known as only Mrs. Mallard.  It isn’t until the fifteenth out of twenty paragraphs that we learn her given name is Louise.  This is also just about the time in the story in which she realizes what the death of her husband means.  This quote, “There would be no one to live for during those coming years” (Chopin) shows the life that Louise had been living.  She had been working in the house trying to live for her husband.  As many women of this time period, and before, were forced to do.  Although a husband would absorb a wife’s debt, and also was obligatory to support her, these tiny tidbits of “equality” were certainly not enough.

This is also the time period in which were fed up with not getting a vote.  The first official woman to run for president ran in 1884.  Belva Ann Lockwood was the 1884 Equal Rights Party’s presidential candidate.  Her campaign, of course, happened before woman even had the right to vote.  This is just another representation of how Louise Mallard was feeling during this story.  These few lines from “The Story of an Hour” indicate the right to vote, 

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air. (Chopin).

It seems that Kate Chopin, the author of “The Story of an Hour”, is showing the on coming revolution for equal rights.  Her is representing all women and the something coming is the right to vote.  This did scare many women during this time (Koven), but many more women were ready for the change as it was seen as a necessity.  It would be another 25 years, in 1920, before the Nineteenth Amendment to our Constitution was ratified, giving woman the right to vote.

As you can see, this time period, for woman, was just on the brink of exploding.  A married woman, sometimes forced into that marriage, had no personal rights.  When married, every possession she had was made his.  This included her children (Koven).  Women were seen as perpetual juveniles.  This simply means that they could not take care of themselves.  Woman essentially had the same rights then as children do now.  They were not allowed to vote, they could not take part in legal matters without her husbands opinion, etc (Koven).  
