Death In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, the protagonist Mrs. Mallard’s apparently ego-centered approach to her husband’s death is a reflection of the frustration women experienced as members of a male dominated society. Kate Chopin wrote this story in 1894, at a time when “Marriage and property laws stipulated a married woman did not have a separate existence from her husband”, and was expected to submit to her husband’s authority (Archives.gov). Although Mrs. Mallard experiences tremendous grief due to the alleged death of her husband, the story says that “When the storm of grief had spent itself”, Mrs. Mallard is able to view her husband’s death as an opportunity for freedom— not a devastating tragedy (KateChopin.org). As monstrous as this