Realism in The Story of an Hour Essay Example

Introduction

Before reading the story, what came to my mind was about how interesting that would happen in the story to be funny and drawing some positive emotion. I was considering it to be an hour full of exciting experience getting to know about this story. What came to my mind was only about one hour and not a week or some few days. I was excited as I began to explore the story because I thought that the story would help me to grow especially from the perspective of realism. I choose this story because it helps us as ordinary people to deal with both positive and negative things that happen in our lives. We have to accept and continue with the purpose that brought us to the world despite everything that happens to us. The story gives motivation especially to those persons who suffer from much frustration due to experiencing too many hardships and feeling that they can no longer continue to live. The story helps a person to regain the urge to keep with their life no matter the challenges or experiences.

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Brief History about the Story

The short story was written in the late 19th Century on April 19, 1984. It was the first published in Vogue in December 1894 it had the title "The Dream of an Hour." Among all Kate Chopin's books, it was the very first one to be published on Vogue. The book was then reprinted at St Louis Life in January 1985. The version in St Louis contained some changes that had been made on the text. The story is set at the home of Mallard where he and his wife lived together. The story was written in the century during which the women were seen as a property of men. They could do nothing on their own because the society was entirely patriarchal. Therefore they ended up suffering oppression due to the various beliefs in the community and society. The story tries to go against the ideology that was most common during that time of men being seen more superior than the women. Kate decides to go against this coon belief during this time by trying to show that even women are not as weak as they are thought to be. She tries to explain that the treatment of women as a weaker gender was not the right thing to do (Wan, 2009).

Biography of Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin was brought up by her mother and grandmother after her father died when she was at the age of five. She attended a school that was managed by nuns. This shows that during her life, Kate has been surrounded by an environment that is dominated by the female which significantly contributes to what Kate thinks about women and the relationship between genders. Kate grew up during the time which the rights of women were not recognized. Therefore, she went out of her way to rebel against this notion. Kate was not of the idea of women being treated as persons who were only to stay at home while the men were given all freedom to choose what to do and what not to do. Some of her characteristics as she was growing are like being assertive with her options and being a person independent with her life, walking on the streets alone, being a part of debates covering social and political issues. These are some of the things that Kate did to show that and that she was not going to stand to feel oppressed by the practices of the society. The way she behaved, made her be seen as the kind of woman who did not meet the expectation of the community and had no characteristics of an ideal wife. After she lost her husband, she went ahead to have a relationship with a married man. The ideas in her stories came way before the feminist movements were formed. She did her writings during the tomes which married women were seen as property to their husbands. Kate writes her stories borrowing from her experiences trying to show that despite the oppression that the women face, they can still be able to have more than they think they should (Wyatt, 2000).

Central Theme and Style of the Story

The main idea in the story is self-awareness and self-domination especially for the women that brings the dominant concept of feminism. In the Story, as Josephine and Richard try to break the news to Mrs. Mallard (Louise), they are finding it hard because they fear her reaction. They fear that they will be the ones to break the devastating news to her, but they are left with no option but to do it because it could never be hidden from her. The reaction of Louise is surprising because she feels some freedom despite experiencing the pain of having lost her husband and she tried not to focus on the freedom. The open window in her room is a symbolism of the freedom that she was about to acquire. Louise will no longer have any restrictions. In the story, much as Louise is trying to oppose the feeling that still overwhelms her even though it is her husband who has died, she still feels a loss inside her remembering how kind, loving, tender she goes back to start weeping for him. Louise would now begin to live for herself without having anyone to question what she decides to do or fail to do. She would take charge of her life when she said "Free! Body and soul free!" it shows that Louise felt she was no longer going to be tied in the chains of marriage any longer. She was ready for that freedom that when she saw her husband walking through the door, her reaction was mixed. She was felt that her freedom was taken away that she almost died of heart failure after she saw her husband. It was an ironical situation, especially where a person instead of being happy that her husband was not dead, she felt opposite of the expected (Sustana, 2019).

Kate tries to bring out a character of a woman is open to the state of being lonely as vulnerable and ready to become a widow only to show the realism of the independence of women in the society. She holds on to the notion that women are also able to live independently. Kate brought this story when the perception was that women were subordinate to men who bring about the ideology of feminism. The story is about a rebellion by the females to help to do away with the male domination of society. The death of the husband to Louise marks an end of her pretending to be happy under the dominance of her husband. For a woman trying to control herself from being emotional and being able to handle the pain has been shown as Louise is trying to control her emotions before her husband. She is suffering to please men or trying to avoid any situation that would bring an impression of being a weaker party.

The main focus of Kate writing this story is to try and bring out the feminism idea that she had in mind all through. Louise faints on seeing that her husband was not dead and that the freedom she was dreaming of was all illusionary. The story portrays the focus that the character had to achieve independence. The title explains the events that happened one hour after the news of the death of her husband had been told to her. The freedom that she thought that she was going to get only happened briefly, the situation was not going permanent as she had earlier figured it out. Kate tries to bring in some hint with the thoughts of freedom being brief as she tries to show that it will not be an easy road for women towards the freedom that they always desire. This also in the world today still has not changed as some women still face challenges trying to achieve freedom to do all that they have always wanted and feel dependent on themselves. Among the basic things that women are still trying to have are education, opportunities and being given chances to show their abilities and offer their contribution to push to make the society a better place for all (Sustana, 2019).

Kate tries to show how Louise is living a dual life in that she lives an outward life that conforms to the requirements of the society but on the inside, she has a lot of questions with nobody to answer her. Louise locks out all people including her sister as she tries to think about how her life will be alone she knows that she can have some peace of mind when she allows them to play a part in comforting her. Louise has an attitude within her of externalism this is drawn from the life of Kate who during most times tried to live her own life as she had many ideas and thoughts about religion, social-economic determination, and idealism. Her friend Josephine says that Louise seems to be the real her when she follows her laws and making choices on her own. The state that Louse in makes her feel a state of developmental freedom that helps her to strengthen her self from within her. The feeling is also followed by pain, loneliness, and isolation. This is when the conflict between her life and death comes about where the situation goes out of hand, and when she is told that her husband is back, she succumbed to death due to heart disease. On knowing the reason of her death after the doctor's confirmed, it was due to joy, but on looking at this issue critically, a person realizes that it was as a result of shock and anger once she realized that her husband was living (Wan, 2009).

Conclusion

The story of an hour teaches us that for a long time women have felt that they are being denied chances to live their lives as they are supposed to. This has changed my way of thinking especially about feminism. I thought that feminism existed only after the formation of feminist organizations, but I was wrong. "The Story of an Hour" taught me with the example of Kate the author and Louise the protagonist in the story both are among the women who wanted to feel free from the domination of males. The story acts as a motivation to the women, especially in the present days. For me, I think the story has played a significant role to motivate women not to feel withheld from doing what they want. Women have always wanted to be independent; I am clear even to the heights that they have reached o realizing the potential in them. We have even seen some women becoming a president who has made them contribute to the social and political factors around them. In religion, women become bishops and leaders in the church they also have become motivational speakers who influence people towards the positive side of life. In other areas like in the medical field, we also see that women have also dominated. The long craved freedom and independence has been achieved by motivation from women like Kate who have proved that it is not impossible for women to be what they want. They only have to be bold and work towards that which they have always wanted. It is not only about the commonly known roles for women in the society, but they have also been given freedom to be diverse and venture in the different fields that they desire without any hindrance from the society.

References

Wan. X. (2009). Kate Chopin's View on Death and Freedom in; the Story of an Hour. Retrieved on 20th January 2019 from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1083696.pdf

Sustana. C. (2019). Analysis of the Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin. Retrieved on 20th January from https://www.thoughtco.com/analysis-story-of-an-hour-2990475

Wyatt.N. (2000). Biography of Kate Chopin. Retrieved on 20th January 2019 from https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/webtexts/hour/katebio.html

Kate Chopin (1894). The Story of an Hour. Retrieved on 20th January 2019 from https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/webtexts/hour/