“The Story of an Hour”

“The Story of an Hour”

“The Story of an Hour” is set in very limited confines. The events primarily occur in Mrs. Mallard’s house: in her room, at the staircase, and at the front door. By confining the narrative’s setting to Mrs. Mallard’s house, Kate Chopin expresses two main themes: isolation and women’s limitations. These two themes go hand in hand, as Mrs. Mallard is confined by her husband’s limitations.

In the narrative, Mrs. Mallard utters the word “free” (Chopin 214). Her utterance indicates that she was initially limited to the confines of her house. Never before had she experienced freedom and liberty. She seemed isolated from the rest of the world, and all she did was the house chores that were the traditional role of women. By looking through the window, Mrs. Mallard seemed exposed to the rest of the world, from which she was isolated (Chopin 214). Kate Chopin successfully confines the narrative to Mrs. Mallard’s house to express her isolation from the rest of the world. This isolation stems from the society’s view of women as property and helpers in the house. When the narrative was written, women were limited to staying in the house and performing house chores. Kate Chopin wrote “The Story of an Hour” during the Victorian era, a period during which females had limited physical freedom. And they were not only limited physically, as emotional and other types of limitations also defined their lives.

In conclusion, Kate Chopin’s confinement of the narrative’s setting expresses the isolation, confinement, and limitation of women in society. And although women may attain freedom and joy, Kate Chopin illustrates how this joy is often short-lived.