Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

Welcome to my blog.  This weeks' short story by Kate Chopin has many weighty themes, such as freedom, love, marriage and death.  I found the correlations fascinating.  Freedom can be expressed as loving someone, which can lead to marriage.  Traditionally, marriage is till death parts the couple.  What I found interesting in this story is that Mrs. Mallard loved her husband...sometimes.  She thinks to herself "  There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence in which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature."  These lines made me wonder if Mrs. Mallard was in an arranged marriage.  The story was written in 1899.  At that time women could not even vote.  Perhaps she had to bend her will to maintain a subservient role.  Meanwhile, a death is occurring insider her.  Perhaps she had to stay in the marriage for financial reasons.

I believe relationships require a level of compromise, sacrifice and moving away from selfishness in order to survive.  However, anything taken to an extreme becomes error.  To love someone and lose yourself in the process is less than ideal.  It seems that even today, with the "Me too" movement, women continue to struggle to attain self-realization.  It is unfortunate to trade-off one's core values in order to try and survive.  Therein lies a death of one's freedoms and self love.

Comments

  1. Jonnathan ZunaMarch 12, 2019 at 6:38 PM

    I totally agree, sadly, women had no power in the 18th century, they didn't have any options more than follow rules. I also think this marriage might have happened for financial reasons. She was death inside, with no freedom, and no opinion. She had no other option than live unhappily with this man in order to survive
    "To love someone and lose yourself in the process is less than ideal" Do you think she ever loved him?

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