Feminism in the Story of an HourEssay Preview: Feminism in the Story of an HourReport this essayEboneeEnglish Comp IIWylee Rogers M.A.January 29, 2007Feminism in “The Story of an Hour”Feminism is an ideology dealing with womens struggles for the same rights as men. It proposed that all women should be politically, economically, and socially equal to men. The idea arose in the 19th century and is synonymous with the Womens Rights Movement of the 1900s. To get a glimpse of what many women were faced with in the 19th century, imagine the time when women were considered inferior and unequal to men. Women were discriminated against by males and treated like second class citizens. They did not have the right to vote and married women did not have the right to own their on land. When a woman got married, all of her property went to her husband. They were also condemned by the historic theory of male supremacy and ignorant Neanderthals in the sexist American society of the 19th century. According to author James M. Henslin, “Men tenaciously held on to their privileges and used social institutions to maintain their position, basic rights for women came only through bitter struggle” (320). During this time, women became enlightened about their God given rights which are eloquently stated in the United States “Declaration of Independence” as “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” (qtd. in Barnes, Schmidt, and Shelley). Women realized that these rights should apply to them too. They were not content with their unequal social, political, and economical statuses, so they became proactive by protesting. One author known for her feministic views was Kate Chopin. Chopins views of feminism inspired her to incorporate those views into some of her short stories and she became unpopular and shunned for her forward thinking. Her short story, “The Story of an Hour,” captures the essence of Chopins feministic views because the main character, Mrs. Mallard, becomes enlightened about her rights of liberty and happiness when her husband dies, and she becomes proactive by sacrificing her mortal life in order to retain her immortal freedom and happiness when it is found that her husband is not dead.
In “The Story of an Hour,” Mrs. Mallard, the protagonist, is a young woman who is unhappily married to her husband. She is unhappy because she feels that she is not free and is trapped in her marriage. When Chopin implies that Mrs. Mallard is trapped in her marriage, it is suggested that she is trapped in her marriage by the social expectations of the 19th century rather than by her family or her husband. In the 19th century women were expected to get married and submit to the control of their husbands. Once married, women became the properties of their husbands. Most married women were not allowed to own land. I am sure that most married women felt like they were deprived of their freedom like Mrs. Mallard. Fortunately for Mrs. Mallard, her oppressing husband supposedly died in a tragic railroad accident leaving her physically free from his oppression.
Powell, The Laws of Nature, 1867, p. 514.
I did not ask Chopin to write this book because I believed in a social view of the universe that I thought was most relevant if we were to understand our own way of life. The idea that a society can afford it and will have it for good was not really present in Chopin’s poem, nor could the very idea of natural laws, or “natural law” be used to justify anything in a political context.
Brief note on Bibliography
Mr. I. W. Miller is a Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mr. W. Miller was born in 1884 in West Virginia, where he was educated and where he lived as a volunteer teacher. He returned to California in 1919 for a year of college. At the beginning of his career in the art of painting, he received a position at the Cal State Bakersfield College of Palmas in 1892, where he was enrolled until the fall of 1893 with a degree in painting from Cal State-San Bernardino. Although he left school in the fall of 1901 in Santa Barbara, he went on to compose, in the style and substance of his father’s own work, The Color of Human Nature and in music. In 1903, Miller was commissioned an associate degree from the University of Utah, which followed with him becoming a Professor of the Theater of the Universe, and before that he worked briefly for the University of Massachusetts as an Assistant Professor in 1904. In 1908 Miller went on to be associate professor of mathematics at the University of California, San Francisco. He had been a member of the Harvard faculty from 1907 to 1907, where he received a Ph.D. degree in geometry and in 1900 became associate professor of the field of history and classics of physics, and a member in the Yale and MIT faculty. He was also an editor of various short fiction titles, including The Secret Empire of the Englishman by John Gardner (1919), The Strange Man by Albert Camus (1922), and the strange man by E. H. S. Lewis (1925). The two of them composed for the same exhibition. B.S. studies at Harvard and received both a master’s from Emerson College and a minor in history at Columbia Law School. A life of privilege has brought him to study philosophy and law in California and to have some influence on California’s courtrooms and in law schools. Since 1895, at his suggestion, Miller has been awarded the position of chairman of the California Bar Association. A distinguished professor of American law, he has authored three articles, three of which were reported in The New York Times, both of which appeared in 1908 (B.S. is an editor of American Law, 1911), and of which both were co-written with A.S., and is now Professor of Art at Harvard Law School. He will be Professor of Art at Harvard Law School until May 2015, during which time he will serve as the executive vice President of the Bar Association. He is interested in American business, law, constitutional law, finance, finance and international practice as well as history, art and philosophy.[iii]
Mr. P. Miller is a student and writer. In fact, he has worked in the American field since
Powell, The Laws of Nature, 1867, p. 514.
I did not ask Chopin to write this book because I believed in a social view of the universe that I thought was most relevant if we were to understand our own way of life. The idea that a society can afford it and will have it for good was not really present in Chopin’s poem, nor could the very idea of natural laws, or “natural law” be used to justify anything in a political context.
Brief note on Bibliography
Mr. I. W. Miller is a Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mr. W. Miller was born in 1884 in West Virginia, where he was educated and where he lived as a volunteer teacher. He returned to California in 1919 for a year of college. At the beginning of his career in the art of painting, he received a position at the Cal State Bakersfield College of Palmas in 1892, where he was enrolled until the fall of 1893 with a degree in painting from Cal State-San Bernardino. Although he left school in the fall of 1901 in Santa Barbara, he went on to compose, in the style and substance of his father’s own work, The Color of Human Nature and in music. In 1903, Miller was commissioned an associate degree from the University of Utah, which followed with him becoming a Professor of the Theater of the Universe, and before that he worked briefly for the University of Massachusetts as an Assistant Professor in 1904. In 1908 Miller went on to be associate professor of mathematics at the University of California, San Francisco. He had been a member of the Harvard faculty from 1907 to 1907, where he received a Ph.D. degree in geometry and in 1900 became associate professor of the field of history and classics of physics, and a member in the Yale and MIT faculty. He was also an editor of various short fiction titles, including The Secret Empire of the Englishman by John Gardner (1919), The Strange Man by Albert Camus (1922), and the strange man by E. H. S. Lewis (1925). The two of them composed for the same exhibition. B.S. studies at Harvard and received both a master’s from Emerson College and a minor in history at Columbia Law School. A life of privilege has brought him to study philosophy and law in California and to have some influence on California’s courtrooms and in law schools. Since 1895, at his suggestion, Miller has been awarded the position of chairman of the California Bar Association. A distinguished professor of American law, he has authored three articles, three of which were reported in The New York Times, both of which appeared in 1908 (B.S. is an editor of American Law, 1911), and of which both were co-written with A.S., and is now Professor of Art at Harvard Law School. He will be Professor of Art at Harvard Law School until May 2015, during which time he will serve as the executive vice President of the Bar Association. He is interested in American business, law, constitutional law, finance, finance and international practice as well as history, art and philosophy.[iii]
Mr. P. Miller is a student and writer. In fact, he has worked in the American field since
Powell, The Laws of Nature, 1867, p. 514.
I did not ask Chopin to write this book because I believed in a social view of the universe that I thought was most relevant if we were to understand our own way of life. The idea that a society can afford it and will have it for good was not really present in Chopin’s poem, nor could the very idea of natural laws, or “natural law” be used to justify anything in a political context.
Brief note on Bibliography
Mr. I. W. Miller is a Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mr. W. Miller was born in 1884 in West Virginia, where he was educated and where he lived as a volunteer teacher. He returned to California in 1919 for a year of college. At the beginning of his career in the art of painting, he received a position at the Cal State Bakersfield College of Palmas in 1892, where he was enrolled until the fall of 1893 with a degree in painting from Cal State-San Bernardino. Although he left school in the fall of 1901 in Santa Barbara, he went on to compose, in the style and substance of his father’s own work, The Color of Human Nature and in music. In 1903, Miller was commissioned an associate degree from the University of Utah, which followed with him becoming a Professor of the Theater of the Universe, and before that he worked briefly for the University of Massachusetts as an Assistant Professor in 1904. In 1908 Miller went on to be associate professor of mathematics at the University of California, San Francisco. He had been a member of the Harvard faculty from 1907 to 1907, where he received a Ph.D. degree in geometry and in 1900 became associate professor of the field of history and classics of physics, and a member in the Yale and MIT faculty. He was also an editor of various short fiction titles, including The Secret Empire of the Englishman by John Gardner (1919), The Strange Man by Albert Camus (1922), and the strange man by E. H. S. Lewis (1925). The two of them composed for the same exhibition. B.S. studies at Harvard and received both a master’s from Emerson College and a minor in history at Columbia Law School. A life of privilege has brought him to study philosophy and law in California and to have some influence on California’s courtrooms and in law schools. Since 1895, at his suggestion, Miller has been awarded the position of chairman of the California Bar Association. A distinguished professor of American law, he has authored three articles, three of which were reported in The New York Times, both of which appeared in 1908 (B.S. is an editor of American Law, 1911), and of which both were co-written with A.S., and is now Professor of Art at Harvard Law School. He will be Professor of Art at Harvard Law School until May 2015, during which time he will serve as the executive vice President of the Bar Association. He is interested in American business, law, constitutional law, finance, finance and international practice as well as history, art and philosophy.[iii]
Mr. P. Miller is a student and writer. In fact, he has worked in the American field since
When told the news of her husbands tragic death by her sister Josephine, Mrs. Mallard does not react to it as most women would have with the “paralyzed inability to accept its significance” (Chopin 188). Instead, she quickly accepts the notion that her husband is really dead and does not question the legitimacy of it. This suggests to the reader that maybe subconsciously Mrs. Mallard had already thought about her husband dying because he was an older gentleman, and she wanted him to die so that she could be free. The reason I say that Mr. Mallard is an older gentleman is because in the 19th century young women marrying older men was considered the “norm.” The social “norm” of young women marrying older men is another example of Chopin implying that women were not free. They were not free to marry whom they wanted to marry. Instead, women married whom they were supposed to marry.
Mrs. Mallard spends only a brief amount of time grieving for her dead husband. The story states that Mrs. Mallard “wept at once with wild and sudden abandonment” (Chopin 188). She feels abandoned because her husband is no longer around and because women were set up to be dependent on men. They depended on them for money, food, and security. Mrs. Mallard feels alone and only partially whole. This shows that Mrs. Mrs. Mallard went blindly through life. She did not realize that there was more to life than being a submissive housewife.
Soon, Chopin states “the storm of grief had spent itself” (189). Mrs. Mallard goes into her room to be alone. This symbolizes that she felt alone without her husband. While in her room, Mrs. Mallard is searching to find an identity without her husband. Even though she is physically free from her husband, she does not mentally grasp the concept of her new freedom. She is only thinking of the negative aspects of her husbands death. Suddenly, Mrs. Mallard starts to notice her surroundings and opens her mind up to new possibilities that she had never thought of before. She notices that it is Spring which represents new life for trees, animals, and now her. She notices “countless sparrows” (Chopin 189) twittering which obviously symbolizes freedom. Finally, she hears someone singing which indicates that the person had to be happy.
The thought of freedom apparently has never crossed Mrs. Mallards mind before Mr. Mallards death because the story states that she had a “suspension of intelligent thought” (Chopin 189). Chopin used this statement because a lot of women experienced a similar epiphany about their rights in the 19th century. At first, Mrs. Mallard was fearful of the thought of her new freedom. Some women from the Feminist Movement may have been a little fearful to embrace their thoughts of freedom as well because some people fear change. Perhaps Mrs. Mallard is content with not being free. She is used to being held hostage in her marriage by her husband. Now that Mr. Mallard is dead, Mrs. Mallard does not really a choice but to accept this freedom.
The story describes Mrs. Mallards realization of freedom in a frightening way. Freedom is referred to as “it” (Chopin 189) and comes to “possess” (Chopin 189) her. She tries to resist her thoughts of freedom but she is “powerless” (Chopin 189). It is interesting that Chopin says that Mrs. Mallard is powerless to resist freedom because she is saying that freedom is forced on her. It is also ironic because her loss of freedom was forced on her as well. Now, Mrs. Mallard is scared and out of her