Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

Though there are a few different ways to approach Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour", I feel that the historical critical theory serves best. Chopin lived during a difficult time for women; they were oppressed by male superiority and greatly undervalued. When this information is taken into account, it appears as if her character Mrs. Mallard is also burdened with these issues. She longs to feel independence. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard as "young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines [bespeak] repression and even a certain strength" (Chopin 121). This implies that she has spent a good bit of her life being subjugated, like many women of this time. When she first learns of her husbands death, she is quite upset. However, after a moment