Analyse af Kate Chopins 'The Story of an Hour'

What does it truly mean to be free for a woman? And how would it effect you if that freedom gets taken away from you? Through decades, the question has been repeated through literature in different scenarios, with conclusions that changes a woman’s self-realization. The feeling of freedom is unlike any other, like a weight being lifted off your shoulders. However, when freedom is unexpectedly taken away from you, the impact is intense, and the feeling of suffocation is undeniable, even life threatening. In Kate Chopin’s "The Story of an Hour," we explore the devastating effect of such loss of freedom, and a woman’s unusual way of coping with her husband’s death.

“The story of an hour” is a short story exploring Louise Mallard, who was afflicted with heart troubles and the emotions she goes through when her sister Josephine, together with her husband’s friend, Richard, tells her of her husband’s sudden death in a railway accident. Louise weeps in Josephine’s arms and later locks herself in her room. Louise sits in front of the open window and takes in the sounds and sights of spring. She feels exhausted and quietly sobs. Until there’s is an overwhelming feeling of freedom that begins to take over her body. Louise realizes that although she will miss her husband, she is now free from the restrictions of marriage, and she is able to make her own life choices. Louise begins to whisper repeatedly to herself “free!”. After Josephine begs her to, she finally leaves the room, and with the help of her sister, they walk down the stairs. Louise’s joy of freedom abruptly ends when her husband opens the door. Richard screens her husband from the sight of Louise dying. Doctors say that Louise passes away from heart disease - of the joy that kills.