In Kate Chopin's stunning short story, "The Story of an Hour,"
Louise Mallard has seen her life as a "long progression of days" to simply survive. She has had
no true freedom, no conscious sense of self. She is married, to a kind man, but he does not see
her as an individual. She is isolated, like a lonely ship on the open sea without a compass: she
has had no direction, passing one day like the next.
When news comes
of Brently's tragic death in an accident, there is concern for the widow, especially in that she
has a "weak heart," but Louise chooses the solitary confines of her room rather than the company
of Richards (the family friend who brings the new) or her sister-in-law Josephine. Instead, she
goes to her room to contemplate her life, her loss, and her
future.
Looking out the window, an errant thought presents itself,
paradoxically horrible yet wonderful:
She did not stop to ask if it were not a monstrous joy
that held her...What could love...count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which
she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being. "Free! Body and soul free!" she
kept whispering.
Whereas she had
formerly seen her life as a long line of empty days lying before her, now she sees a long line of
days filled with endless possibilities. Here we read how her outlook influences her actions. With
a new future ahead (even acknowledging that her husband had been a good man and she had sometimes
loved him), Louise is filled with a sense of purpose.
Finally
leaving her room at her Josephine's pleading, the new widow carries herself regally like a queen
down the stairs, full of hope and plans. In that moment, the door opens and Brently Mallard
appears, totally unaware of what has transpired.
It seems he had
been nowhere near the accident that was reported to have claimed his life. Richards tries to
shield Louise from the shocking sight of her husband, but the desolation that descends on her in
her sudden loss of hope and certainly that she will again have to live a life of repression is
too much for her. She is described as a strong woman, but even this cannot be borne, and she
dies.
The doctors explain that her heart gave out, that she died of
the "joy that kills," expecting the sight of Brently was too great a joy for her heart to handle;
ironically, the loss of her freedom is truly what kills her, what the doctors could not know, and
would not be able to fathom in any case, in the society of men that had dominated Mrs. Mallard's
life.
Did Louise choose to die rather than face the bleak prospect
of endless days without personal purpose? Who can say for sure. However, whereas she holds
herself like a queen in knowing she is free, she, in essence, gives up and dies, rather than
return to the life she had known until that day.
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