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Story of an Hour


In society, men are almost always considered to be the stronger gender, while the women are seen as weaker and more helpless. It has been this way for thousands of years, dating back to the ancient Greeks. In this story, Mrs. Mallard is the weaker woman struggling to free herself from the stronger man, only to be able to do so when he dies. The first reason I can think of that she would need to get away from him is that she is the victim of an abusive marriage, as are so many women. She, being the weaker woman, feels that being married to the dominating man is controlling her life. She is chained down to him and forced to do as he says. Feminists focus on the kinds of relationships that depict women to be the victim. .
             Chopin also shows the physical inferiority of Mrs. Mallard to her husband very clearly. Mrs. Mallard has a bad heart that will eventually be the cause of her death. Now look at her husband. He has just survived a terrible railroad accident well enough to make it home to his wife. This clearly shows his strength and physical superiority to Mrs. Mallard.
             Another section of gender theory is the ever so controversial gay and lesbian criticism. This focuses on how homosexuality is seen in literature. Now looking at this story from this point of view suggests a number of different things that focuses on Mrs. Mallard herself. While Mrs. Mallard's crying over the loss of her husband may have seemed like an act of heartbreak, it's not that at all. Mrs. Mallard gives away the real reason when she stops crying and says, "free, free, free!" (Meyer, 19) This is a clear expression of Mrs. Mallard's homosexual tendency. She has just been relieved of her attachment to her husband, and now she can focus on pursuing a more desired relationship with another woman. When her husband finally comes home, her hopes of having such a relationship have been taken away from her. This, in fact, causes her broken heart and sudden death.


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