The Story of an Hour - Essay Example

From Kate Chopin’s book, in the story titled “story of an hour”, I find the main proponent as a very sympathetic character from the varied emotional torture and finally fulfillment she gets from her husband. From the story, it is evident that all this while that Mrs. Millard has been married to Brently, her husband has put her under a repressive marriage, which she clearly hates. The audience can feel her pain and regret of her marriage evident when she expresses sentiments of a person imposing unwarranted will on “…a fellow-creature” due to love’s sake (Chopin 14).
One can feel Mrs. Mallard’s sentiments of relief and liberation when reports of her husband’s death finally dawn on her. Although she openly weeps in the presence of her sister Josephine, she locks herself in her room and all of a sudden feels relieved from her husband’s death. According to Chopin, Mrs. Millard kept whispering “free! Body and soul free!” as a show of exhilaration (Chopin 13). Mrs. Millard openly questions the meaning of love in human life. She claims it is meaningless if one only loves unwillingly. She wonders, “What could love the unsolved mystery count for in face of this possession of self-assertion” (Cunningham & Reich 725). In addition, Mrs. Millard terms this as the strongest impulse of her being.
She goes on to wish she that could have existed a bit longer life now that her companion was supposedly dead. The author cites the main proponent’s fancy was running towards the days ahead of her. This is a clear indication of how unwillingly married she was to Brently and wished they could separate because this will add meaning to her life. Her husband had been silencing her will since she married him and his death adds meaning to her life, as she felt free from an authoritarian husband.
Personal ideas about marriage, nationality, race, religion, age, and economic background influence attitude.
Marriage
I believe the kind of marriage that individuals involve themselves in highly determines the kind of life the individuals lead and their attitude in general. In many instances, when one's marriage is not comfortable and the person has an oppressive spouse, he or she has a negative attitude towards several things. Freedom plays a vital role in a human being’s attitude and in marriage, it is essential that each spouse is free to express their views and ideas.
Nationality
One's nationality also influences someone’s attitude in diverse ways. For instance, when one identifies him or herself to a certain nation that has done well, the person is more confident in the midst of others and proud.
Economic background
One’s economic ability also plays a major role in someone’s attitude either negatively or positively. If one has a poor economic status he or she tends to have a low attitude towards varied aspects of life like taking up the same challenges with people with good economic status and vice versa. Read More