Introduction
The main idea of “The Story of an Hour “is freedom and its importance for an individual. Louise Mallard is a happily married woman with a very loving husband. She doesn’t really have much independence, though; she only obtains it after she finds out about her husband’s passing. In this paper, I will argue that the short story conveys a powerful feminist message about the hardships of women’s lives during the period the story was written.
Summary
Firstly, it is necessary to conduct a summary of the story. Because Louise could not bear the news, the horrific episode of her husband’s dying was delivered to her in carefully chosen words. When she heard the awful news, she reacted as any devoted wife would; she was filled with sadness and anguish. “She wept at once with sudden wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms,” the narrator says (Chopin 42).
In the middle of the story, Louise had an epiphany that altered how she saw the circumstances. She was content. She muttered that she was no longer so utterly committed to one person for the rest of her life (Chopin 43). However, just after that realization came to her, the husband came back to their house unharmed. After seeing him, Louise was overwhelmed with emotions, causing her to die, presumably from a heart attack. However, the doctor later said that this was a death caused by joy (Chopin 45). With the recap of the story complete, it is now possible to analyze its elements and how it conveys feminist values.
Linguistic Analysis
The text’s feminist message can be found through different means. Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is one of them; it focuses on the textual, interpersonal, and conceptual meta-functions of language. It explores the transitivity analysis of ideational language, explaining the various situations, actors, and processes necessary for transmitting ideas and information. This analysis was used in a recent research study to explore the roles of language in a particular text from a feminist perspective (Karori et al. 2546).
The discussion uses linguistic analysis to shed light on Mrs. Mallard’s mental state, cultural constraints, and the protagonist’s liberation in a patriarchal society. In the end, the study shows how the narrative illustrates the suppression of women’s expressions in a patriarchal setting and employs material processes to indicate control. In essence, the data unequivocally demonstrates that women in patriarchal societies are restrained and denied the same freedom to express their feelings and thoughts as men. It only occurs in the narrative upon Mrs. Mallard’s husband’s passing (Karori et al. 2556). Hence, linguistic analysis suggests that the short story conveys the helplessness of a woman during the period the text was written.
Feminist Existentialism
However, a more in-depth analysis of the main character’s quotes is needed to prove the abovementioned notion fully. The story’s theme is consistent with feminist existentialism, as put out by Simone de Beauvoir, exploring the conflict between an individual’s existential position and the social constraints that limit it (Khadafi 145). In essence, Louise experiences existential distress, which leads her to engage in a problematic internal struggle to justify existential freedom and its boundaries.
As it was written in the story, “She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her” (Chopin 43). However, she is tempted to return to the awful faith she had previously lived with: “And yet she had loved him–sometimes. Often she had not. Frequently, she hadn’t” (Chopin 43). Therefore, the quotes from the text show Louise’s internal struggle to justify her feeling of newly acquired freedom due to patriarchal societal constraints imposed on her.
Tragic Elements
Moreover, the text uses tragic plot elements to underline the abovementioned notion. Chopin writes the narrative in a way that makes the reader feel sorry for Louise Mallard, the main character, by showing her realization and terrible conclusion (Yazgı 148). According to a recent analysis by Yazgı, Louise’s realization of her suppressed identity inside her marriage.
It explores how it leads to an irrevocable fate when her husband unexpectedly returns, highlighted by drawing parallels with Aristotle’s parts of tragedy (anagnorisis, peripeteia, and catastrophe) (Yazgi 148). It also explores Chopin’s artistic decisions, which include wordiness and complicated syntax, as means of building tension and extending the story while highlighting the significance of Louise’s self-realization and eventual demise. Hence, researchimplies that Chopin purposefully uses tragic themes and language devices to arouse sympathy and encourage readers to reflect on gender politics.
The proof of the usage of Aristotle’s tragic plot elements can be found in the story’s text. For instance, anagnorisis can be seen after Louise learns of her husband’s death. It goes: “There was something coming to her, and she was waiting for it, fearfully” (Chopin 43). It shows the character’s journey of self-discovery and the moment she realizes her freedom. After that comes the peripeteia stage, with Louise trying to reverse her previous worldview. It follows: “She was striving to beat it back with her will—as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been”(Chopin 43).
The final stage, catastrophe, signifies a tragic resolution at the end of the story. The story portrays this as “They said she had died of heart disease—of the joy that kills.” (Chopin 45). The tragedy of the moment is that Louise did not die of joy but of the shock that her newfound freedom was taken away from her. Thus, the textual evidence proves that Chopin used Aristotle’s tragic elements in her story to underline the struggles of being a woman during that time.
Conclusion
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin explores the pursuit of personal autonomy, particularly when it comes to navigating social constraints. Seemingly happy in her marriage, Louise Mallard undergoes a significant change following the rumored death of her husband, signifying anagnorisis. This awakening represents a newfound freedom that defies accepted social standards. By integrating feminist ideas through linguistic analysis, the story emphasizes how patriarchal settings stifle women’s speech.
Feminist existentialism is echoed in Louise’s existential battle, which is reflected in story quotes and emphasizes the tension between her newfound freedom and social norms. Chopin deftly employs Aristotelian concepts to interweave sad story components. As Louise understands, tries to reconcile, and tragically loses her newfound independence, the stages of anagnorisis, peripeteia, and catastrophe unfold, provoking contemplation on gender standards. The textual evidence emphasizes the difficulties encountered by women at that age and genuinely depicts the deployment of tragic elements. “The Story of an Hour” continues to be a moving portrayal of the challenges faced by women within social norms, provoking reflection on freedom and its intricacies in gender politics.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Edited by Kelly J. Mays, 12th ed., Norton, 2016, pp. 42-45.
Karori, Izza Bilal, et al. “Transitivity Analysis of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”” Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, vol. 12, no. 7, 2020, pp. 2546-2557. Web.
Khadafi, Bima Iqbal. “Feminist and Pessimist Existentialism in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”: A Systemic Functional Grammar Analysis” Journal of English Language Studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2021, pp. 138-157. Web.
Yazgı, Cihan (2020) “Tragic Elements and Discourse-Time in “The Story of an Hour”, The Explicator, vol. 78, no. 3-4, 2020, pp. 147-152. Web.