Self-Realization

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During the 1th century women were secondary. They became invisible counterparts to their husbands, with no desires, no voice, no identity (Papke). Married women were addressed as Mrs. Smith or John’s wife. Their responsibilities in society were to become wives and mothers. Very few women were educated at this time. They did not need education to take care of their children and be submissive to their husbands. There were some women that took a stand for women’s rights through their writing. They told stories of the oppression and the inequality of women. Kate Chopin and Mary Lee, Lady Chudleigh were two feminist writers during this time period. Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour” and “To The Ladies” a poem by Mary, Lady Chudleigh are two stories that addressed women’s desire for independence, freedom, and sexuality.

Chopin was married at the age of twenty and a widow less than 14 years later. After her husband passed, her writing career began. She was known as an “American realist, someone trying to represent life in the way it actually is lived” (Reading ). Little is known about her marriage and how her husband felt about his wife’s views on relationships and men. However, “some authors contend that Chudleigh’s was an unhappy marriage” (Smith). Even though her husband was overbearing, dominant, and misogynistic, he allowed her to write and publish several pieces of feministic literary works. She was well known for “her feminist views and willingness to defend her sex” (Smith). Both women were ridiculed and criticized by men and women for writing such scandalous material during that period in history.

In both the story and the poem the two main characters that are used to express the feminist views of their authors. Both Louise Mallard and the Narrator of “To The Ladies” are in unfulfilling marriages with overbearing men. Their marriages “exemplify the status of women in the 1th century, in that the woman is subject to the patriarch’s power.” (Brians)

“Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin 40). This sentence informs the reader that Mrs. Mallard is suffering from some type of illness that may be terminal. The reader is also lead to believe from the start, that Louise is frail, delicate, and unable to handle situations independently. Initially, she weeps at the news of her husband’s fatal accident, wanting to be alone, she “went away to her room” (40). However, when she is alone, in her room, she imagines her future without her husband. Her overwhelming enthusiasm is a sign that she has not been happy in her marriage. For instance, “she said it over and over under her breath “free, free, free” (40). This statement expresses the pleasure she feels, not because her husband is dead, but because she can envision her newfound freedom. Instead of voicing her new liberations, she remains silent and savors this moment for herself. Louise never refers to her husband in a negative way. The way she speaks of him, the reader is lead to believe that Brently Mallard is a kind man, “for he had never looked saved with love upon her face” (404). Louise felt that her only escape from her marriage was through his death. Louise’s marriage can be described as an oppressive condition. There are two ways the reader may interpret her situation. Yes, Louise has a “heart condition” that proves to be fatal, but her life as Mrs. Mallard was actually the cause of her demises.




The unknown woman in “To the Ladies” refers to her marriage as “that fatal knot” (Chudleigh 617). Unlike Louise Mallard, she makes her feelings towards her husband and marriage obvious from the first line in the poem. “Wife and servant are the same” (617). Her statement basically means that a woman is nothing more that a slave for her husband. “When she the word Obey has said, and man by law supreme has made, then all that’s kind is laid aside, and nothing is left but state and pride.” (617). The reader assumes that the marriage is final and all the sweet things he did to win her affection were over. Reality has set in and she realizes that there is no hope in this situation. She is doomed in this marriage forever. She dislikes the role of the wife because she must obey and hasn’t any freedom. She leaves nothing to the imagination. Her strong and blunt words illustrate her frustrations and anger with the way men treat women. “And fear her husband as her god” (Chudleigh 617), gives the reader the impression that she is suffering from more than the tasks of her matrimonial duties. Although, she does not say anything referencing physical abuse, the reader may assume that her husband is abusive.

Louise Mallard is finally getting a chance at freedom. The passing of her husband feels her heart with sadness, which is quickly replaced with “monstrous joy” (Chopin 40). In a few short moments, she begins her journey toward feminine selfhood. She has lost her husband but she is gaining her identity and independence. “Of joy that kills” (406), infers that she ultimately succumbs to her “heart condition” (404). However, her dreams are short lived because her husband returns unscathed. All that she envisioned and hoped for was gone as quickly as it came, in an hour.

The Speaker in “To The Ladies” has no outlet or escape from her situation. She continues to live the life of the domicile wife. She is silent “like mutes” (Chudleigh 617) with her emotions. Though she has expressed her feelings to the reader she would not share her views with her husband. “Value yourselves, and men despise You must be proud, if you’ll be wise” (617). With this conclusion, she suggests to the women that if they are wise, they will stand up for themselves and not fall prey to the malicious manner of men.

Life was hard for women during this time. They were suppressed and belittle by men. Although they express their views in different ways ultimately they want the same thing, self-liberation. Each one wishes for mental and physical freedom from the stereotypical role that women are supposed to uphold.

Work Cited

Angeline, Michelle. “Double Consciousness in Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour.”

CLA Journal 16 (November 14) 5-64.

Brians, Paul, et al. Eds. Reading About the World Volume .

Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour,” The Norton Introduction to Literature.

8th Ed. Jerome Beaty, Allison Booth, J. Paul Hunter and Kelly J Mays.

New York W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 00.

Chudleigh, Mary Lady. “To the Ladies,” The Norton Introduction to Literature.

8th Ed. Jerome Beaty, Allison Booth, J. Paul Hunter and Kelly J Mays.

New York W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 00.

Papke, Mary E. Verging on the Abyss “The Social Fiction of Kate Chopin and

Edith Wharton.” New York Greenwich P. 10.

Smith, Hilda L. “Reason’s Disciples Seventeenth Century English Feminists.”

University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Chicago, London 18.

Wald, Margaret. “Kate Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour’ A Feminist Reading.”

The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. Ross Munfin and

Supriya M. Ray. Copyright 188.

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