Feminism

Kate Chopin is a writer who represented women’s literature in the 20th century. “The Story of an Hour” is one of her writings, and it represents the position of women at that time. Many people think she is feminist and her grandson said about her opinion of feminists, “Kate was neither a feminist nor a suffragist, she said so. She was nonetheless a woman who took women extremely seriously. She never doubted women’s ability to strong.” As you can see, Kate had compassion for many woman. She was interested in the life of women and the struggles of how women find their identities. Therefore, her writing “The Story of an Hour” occupies an important position in women’s literature.

“The Story of an Hour” shows exactly the position of men and women. In the story the main female character Louise Mallard is described as Mrs. Mallard, not her real name Louise. It shows that married women cannot hold their name and have to be called someone’s wife or daughter. When she heard about her husband’s death, she saw the beautiful view of spring outside, but inside the room is full of grief and sorrow about her husband’s death. This shows how different visually and auditory the inside room’s atmosphere was from the outside room’s atmosphere, also those differences reflected her mind’s division. The view of spring represents her freedom in her life without her husband. However, she still feels fear of new life. When she said “Free, free, free!”, her life is totally changed from the past and she feels reborn without any emptiness and fear, and those feelings are express by her physical sense. Her reaction makes it seem like she doesn’t like her husband but this is not true. She loved her husband, but she felt free from the pressure society puts on women. The problem is an androcentric society with a patriarchal marriage and her husband seems like he tried to be a good husband with kindness purpose. She wants to refuse the social system’s pressure and rules, then wants to get her own inherent will. 

Feminism is a difficult and sensitive subject. Today, many people try to speak a lot about feminism and try to find women’s rights, but unfortunately society still weak about women’s rights. When women speak their opinion, men find them stubborn instead of strong. Kate Chopin’s many stories contain feminism, and she frequently got the question, “Why are women less free than men?” I did not know about the feminism and never felt anything about the issue before, but recently I got interest in feminism and I think I have to be getting interested about this issue, because I am a female. In this story, the main character Louise shows how her rights get pressure from society and how society’s rules limits on women’s rights, and these days still nothing has change. In this story, Louise’s feelings makes it seem like she is selfish and does not love her husband but her feelings represent one of the powerless women under the influence of society. I believe that men have never felt this before.