Isolation, loneliness and alienation; these are three important themes in the short stories, "The Story of an Hour", "Eveline" and "A Rose for Emily. Each story draws you in and provides examples of these three things in very different ways. In discussing these three stories I shall provide examples of how each of the main characters from the aforementioned short stories share the same characteristics of loneliness and isolation; each trapped in their own particular set of circumstances. While each of their stories varies greatly in content, their struggles remain akin and very comparable.
In "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, the author portrays how someone can be trapped in an unproductive and unsatisfying reality because of other's thoughtlessness, exploitation, and domination. When combined with the modern society's belief, presumably the later half of the 19th century, a further understanding of Chopin's thoughts and feelings can be realized. Mrs. Louise Mallard, the victim and messenger of this story, is the image of such a person. Her relationship with her husband is so oppressive, lonely and limiting that even death is considered a reasonable means of escape. The condition of life for Mrs. Mallard is terrible, yet for some reason she doesn't seem to come to the full realization until her husband's death. This might lead one to believe that this may have been commonplace, for women to be unhappy in their marriage and have no conventional means of escape; as divorce may be viewed during current times. .
However, Chopin does not directly make that point. Many women are in search of freedom from their marriage and they believe the only way to be free is to experience the death of their husband. Mrs. Louise Mallard is a repressed married woman that has a heart condition and the reaction to her husband's presumed death is a sign that she is lonely and unhappy.
