Chopin Activity with comments

In the intro to the story, Mrs. Mallard is painted as a fragile and weak person. Mrs. Mallard is so weak her sister had to use “great care…to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death”, because of Mrs. Mallards heart trouble. The portrait of a fragile woman is in line with the typical view of women during that era who are depen dent on men and marriage. It is only after the death of her husband, something that is out of her control, that Mrs. Mallard is able to obtain equality and live a life where she is “body and soul free!” Kate Chopin’s construction of character in “The Story of an Hour” reinforces the author’s ideas about women’s struggle for equality during the early 1900s as well as today.


After Mrs. Mallard is notified of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard slowly becomes aware of what her new freedom means. Standing in front of her bedroom window, Mrs. Mallard observes trees “all aquiver with the new spring life.” Much in the same way the trees are reacting to the new spring, Mrs. Mallard’s “pulse beat fast” at the idea of a life where “no powerful will” will be forced upon her. The death of Mr. Mallard was in contrast to Mrs. Mallard’s excitement at a life of her own. By contrasting images of life with those of death throughout “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin highlights the struggle of a person imprisoned by societal pressures and thereby kept from fully being alive.

Your first attempt here does not actually connect to oppression in the character but moreso to the physical attributes of the character--not all women who were opressed suffered from heart conditions or were weak--that's not exactly the point. But, in your second attempt, your evidence is definitely of constrasting images of life and death However, you need to more directly explain how the author used this imagery to signify oppression (i.e.: by alternating these images, Chopin has created a confusing amalgamation of freedom and imprisonment, reflecting the character's conflicted inner state and giving the reader a glimpse into the limited choices of those who do not entirely possess their own free will.) Always explain the evidence you propose in your papers so that the reader clearly understands your point.