Women's roles in love and marriage: 1800s versus today

Women Today and Yesterday in "The Story of an Hour"

Kate Chopin's short story, "The Story of an Hour," tells the story of Louise, a woman who finds a new lease on life when she hears her husband is dead. Her story is also a commentary on the women of the eighteenth century. Looking at Louise through this lens, we can see just how much society has changed in regards to women. Louise represents the oppressed women and, sadly, death in this tale represents freedom. Louise shares very few experiences with contemporary women.

Louise is different from contemporary women because she is a prisoner in her own home. Women of today enjoy their homes and experience joy in their homes, whether or not they choose to raise a family. The home is as much the wife's castle as it is the husband's castle. However, in the eighteenth century, women were not so lucky. Louise's home, while it may be nice, is her prison. They only place she can go for a few moments alone is her bedroom. The truly sad aspect of this life is that she can never leave. Brentley keeps her locked in and when she hears that he is dead, she goes to her room to process the news. She "would have no one follow her" (635) and there, in those moments, she discovers something wonderful about this misfortune: freedom. Through death, she is free and she experiences the "delicious breath of rain in the air" (635). In the home from which she could never leave, she finds she can literally taste freedom and this excites her more than anything else does.

Marriage was a trap for Louise and many like her. At the news of her husband's death, she realizes there would be "no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and believe that have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (636). Her we see resentment emerge even in death. Love was an "unsolved mystery" (636) for Louise and she had no problem giving up the "possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being" (636). Louise appreciates a life without love because love is nothing but a hindrance. Contemporary women simply cannot relate to marriage being so much like an ownership deal. Women enjoy marriage and love and men have learned to recognize the potential of women outside the home. Women look forward to marriage because they know they are not sacrificing anything when they do it. Marriage is more like a sharing of two persons rather than a husband lording his power over his wife. In short, something is wrong when the death of a spouse brings joy instead of sorrow. Through this observation, we see how important a sense of self is for every living being. Louise did not know who she was until her husband died and her happiness was such that losing it would simply kill her.