The question of what exactly a woman’s place in the marriage has long been a ground for heated discussions. Our society has come a long way from perceiving women as merely the property of men to today’s development of the feminist movement. However, even though nowadays, emancipation is a must for a civilized country, marriage still can be interpreted as a burden for a woman, even if she chose it herself. In this context, The Story of an Hour is quite relevant even today – the feeling of freedom that comes with the broken bond is familiar to almost every woman. The marriage might be built on love – but that does not guarantee that there will be understanding and equality between its parties – it is a paradox of human perception.
This is precisely what the heroine of The Story of an Hour feels, confused by her reactions. In The Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard’s sincere grief for her husband is replaced by another feeling, which she at first cannot even give a name to. Her understanding of this feeling is very vague and abstract, and it collides with her memories of her loving husband, at first. Mrs. Mallard feels joy growing in her soul after hearing of her husband’s death – a misplaced feeling regarding the situation itself. This joy, as she soon realizes, is caused by the fact that in a series of coming years her life will be her existence, not tied to her family.
Without her husband, the heroine sees herself as an independent woman, free in body and soul, and not forced to obey someone else’s will. At the moment of her realization, Mrs. Mallard feels that self-affirmation was “the strongest desire of her nature” (Chopin 353). The story, however, is not about the heroine’s conscious struggle for self-affirmation, which has acquired the form of a social position and is directed against social institutions, but about finding her purpose. The marriage does curtail Mrs. Mallard’s rights and suppresses her development into an independent person, so it is only logical for her to feel relief when that burden is gone. This is an experience many women have in one or the other form, especially today – the revelation that they do not need men to grow and flourish. The nature of marriage remains patriarchal in itself, thus there will always be women oppressed by it.
Work Cited
Chopin, K. The Story of an Hour. St. Louis Life, 1895.