Mrs Mallard Oppression

Critical Analysis: Male Oppression in "Story of An Hour" Author Kate Chopin paints the picture of Mrs. Mallard, a woman of the late 19th century, trapped in an unwanted marriage. In the story, Mrs. Mallard is comforted by her sister Josephine and Richard, her husband's close friend. Richard and Josephine must break the news of Mr. Brently Mallard's death very delicately to Louise, for she is "afflicted with a heart trouble" (362) and any distress may worsen her pre-existing condition. However, after hearing of her husband‘s tragic death, Louise spends time in her room basking in illustrious liberation; "spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days…would be her own" (363). To show the oppression Mrs. Mallard experiences, the
Mallard is "afflicted with a heart trouble" (362) and must be handled with great care. In modern times, Louise Mallard's heart condition might be identified as depression. "She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression" (363). In the 19th century, where men were accepted as the sole practitioners of medicine, Mrs. Mallard's diagnosis is "heart trouble," not the heart-ache associated with depression. At the close of the story, the male doctors return to provide her final diagnosis: "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease -- of a joy that kills" (364). Ironically, the joy of seeing her husband was not what killed Louise, it was the shock and realization that she would be bound to her husband for many years to
Traditionally, when a woman married a man she took his name in place of her own. In "Story of An Hour," Louise is introduced as "Mrs. Mallard," her husband's name. This is a symbol of Louise being her husband‘s possession; she is not an individual. Once she learns of her husband's death, she is now a widow and will be referred to as ‘she' for most of the story. Only when Louise proclaims "Free! Body and soul free!" (363) is she referred to by her first name. This shift marks Louise as a woman, free from the chains of an unwanted marriage. Unfortunately, this newly found freedom is short-lived. In the final scene, Chopin refers to Louise as "a goddess of Victory" (364). Then only minutes after Louise celebrates her independence, her deceased husband walks through the door, quite well and very alive. Chopin marks this turning point by referring to Louise as Brently‘s ‘wife,' suggesting to the readers that Louise will have to continue to suffer under male