Story of An Hour
The Examination of Marriage in the Early Years
In the early nineteenth century, many young women were simply expected to get married and have children. The society dictated that wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women’s most significant profession. Women have very few rights in the 1900s and divorced women were treated like outcasts. If a woman is married, she stayed at home to look after the children while the husband worked and supported the family. Many wives could not leave their husbands, because they did not have the financial independence that was needed to survive at the time. With these obstacles, many women were forced to stay in unhappy marriages. In the “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the author conveyed a negative progression of marriage from love, oppression and freedom. Love in marriage could be defined in two ways; romantic love which is the feeling of incredible attraction to someone and caring love which is meeting someone’s needs. “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her” (Chopin 550). An assumption is that Louise’s husband loved and cared for her well-being. After all, she has a heart condition for which her husband is fairly well off to maintain her treatment. “And yet she had loved him – sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter” (550). In a committed marriage, where two people are involved and really love each other, problems and disagreement occur but their love would still be there. Louise’s love for her husband was not deep enough or her husband was doing something really bad to Louise for her to feel this way. . In the early years, arrange marriage was a way of life for women. Women did not have any rights and were controlled by men in their lives. At a young age, daughters were used as a tool for negotiation. Fathers determined how their daughters can affect the family economically.
In the early nineteenth century, many young women were simply expected to get married and have children. The society dictated that wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women’s most significant profession. Women have very few rights in the 1900s and divorced women were treated like outcasts. If a woman is married, she stayed at home to look after the children while the husband worked and supported the family. Many wives could not leave their husbands, because they did not have the financial independence that was needed to survive at the time. With these obstacles, many women were forced to stay in unhappy marriages. In the “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the author conveyed a negative progression of marriage from love, oppression and freedom. Love in marriage could be defined in two ways; romantic love which is the feeling of incredible attraction to someone and caring love which is meeting someone’s needs. “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her” (Chopin 550). An assumption is that Louise’s husband loved and cared for her well-being. After all, she has a heart condition for which her husband is fairly well off to maintain her treatment. “And yet she had loved him – sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter” (550). In a committed marriage, where two people are involved and really love each other, problems and disagreement occur but their love would still be there. Louise’s love for her husband was not deep enough or her husband was doing something really bad to Louise for her to feel this way. . In the early years, arrange marriage was a way of life for women. Women did not have any rights and were controlled by men in their lives. At a young age, daughters were used as a tool for negotiation. Fathers determined how their daughters can affect the family economically.