Kate Chopin, in her story "The Story of An Hour," explores an hour in the life of a woman who has led her life according to what her husband expected of her. Given the news of her husband's sudden death, she experiences not grief but the exhilaration of liberation. The story shows that the attitudes of men and women toward sexuality, love, and marriage stand in stark contrast, at least as far as these two characters are concerned. Chopin is at times blatant in her contrasting the two views, at times subtle, and at times so vague that there is no real difference in the views of the two sexes. Chopin is dealing with a woman who has been under the thumb of her husband, but the nature of his control goes undescribed. Nevertheless, the man is in charge in this marriage and likely in this era, and that is the fundamental message Chopin transmits in this story.
Although the story is very brief, the fate of Louise is rich with irony and her character is complex. She has led a secret inner life, conforming outwardly to her husband's desires and expectations, playing the dutiful wife. Her true character is revealed only when she believes her husband has died. Louise's story leaves many doubts and gaps. She has "heart trouble" (233), but the reader does not know its cause. Is it from the "repression" she has suffered in her marriage and which shows in her face? Clearly, from her reaction to news of her husband's death, her marriage has not been one of freedom and joy, but rather obedience, repression, and duty, in which her "certain strength" (234) has been thoroughly stifled. She experiences no denial about her husband's reported death, but instead "wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment" (233). She is not even sure at first of the reason for such a feeling of release. She has likely up to that point come to accept her fate as the adored and repressed wife in a marriage which reflects the power of the man and the subjugation of the wo...