Amy Rourke
“free, free, free!” -Symbols of Liberation in “The Story of an Hour”
“The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin, was first published in 1894, but the themes and
ideas explored within its brief form still register as modern today, over a century later. On the
surface, the story, told within a few pages and spanning only one hour of time, seems quite
simple. It is the story of Louise Mallard, a woman with a history of heart problems, who learns
from her sister and friend that her husband, Brently Mallard, has been killed in a train wreck.
She weeps immediately, before retiring to her room. Later, upon exiting her room and
descending the stairs, Louise is greeted by the site of her supposedly dead husband entering the
home. Louise immediately falls to her death, which the doctors accredit to heart failure.
Although seemingly simple, Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is actually a deeply symbolic
work, fraught with daring irony used to achieve major themes of liberation and self awareness.
The beginning of the story sets up what will be the major irony of the work. Louise
Mallard is introduced as having “heart trouble”, and news of her husband’s death is relayed to
her “in broken sentences” and “veiled hints… revealed in half concealing”. Immediately, it is
clear that Louise plays the role in society of the delicate, fragile wife, and consequently any
strength or passion she possesses remains buried beneath layers of repression. The figure on
which she is supposed to be wholly dependent, Brently Mallard, actually represents the force
which has stifled her personal development. While those around her perceive Louise as a frail,
sickly woman, her actions later in the story seem to counter that idea. The transformation she
undergoes in this story reveals that her perceived physical weakness symbolizes the repression
she has endured, rather than a true medical ailment. Selina Jamil, a professor at Prince George’s
Community College, eloquently writes, in her analysis, Emotions in the Story of an Hour, that
Louise Mallard’s “heart trouble” is not a health disorder, but rather “a sign of a woman who has
unconsciously surrendered her heart.”
Chopin’s physical description of Louise once more reflects the internal restraint she has
endured throughout her life. Louise is a woman who has not been free to express her needs,
desires or individuality; her appearance reveals her mundane past. Her face is “young and
calm” having never experienced the independence and maturity needed to mar it. It is a face
“whose lines bespoke repression”; the picture Chopin paints of this face, a face without depth or
spirit, provides a visual representation of Louise’s soul. As Louise’s soul opens to the
possibilities of life, her face and outward appearance mimic her inner revolution. Chopin reveals
that the look upon her face “indicated a suspension of intelligent thought”. With the physical
symbol of Louise’s repression removed, through her husband’s death, her spirit springs forth
inevitably. An attempt is made by Louise to contain her emotions through the sheer strength of
her will. The description of her thin, pale hands serves as a metaphor for the part Louise has
played in allowing herself to be contained to a joyless life for so long. Her hands are powerless,
as is her will to stop the internal revolution she is undergoing. At this point, the physical
description of Louise shifts, continuing to echo her inner transformation. Her once lifeless eyes
become animated and eager, the blood pumps vigorously through her body, as she becomes
excited and confident in her new identity. All signs of uncertainty and fear melt away from
Louise as she is able to not only embrace her new found identity, but completely embody her
liberation. As the words, “free, free, free!” “escape” unconsciously from her mouth, she begins
to come alive in a sense, now aware of the possibilities of an unfettered, independent life.
The changes Louise experiences do not represent a deliberate or conscious undertaking,
but rather an unstoppable force of emotional nature. When Louise learns of her husband’s death,
her spontaneous reaction represents an unleashing of withheld emotion, wherein the repression
Louise has felt is lifted. She is described as “(weeping) with sudden wild abandonment” and
experiencing a “storm of grief”. As her soul is released from restraint, a force begins to
overtakes Louise. The force that overtakes Louise’s body is consciously nameless and abstract.
Instead of designating the force with a certain word that would carry certain connotation, the
force is simply described as “something” and “it”. By associating this force with the unknown,
the feeling of apprehension and horror felt by Louise is captured. Louise tries in vain to “beat it
back with her will”, and to remain in the suppressed state that was considered ladylike and
acceptable during this time in history (Toth 2002). Daniel Deneau, a professor at Minnesota State
University, points out in his analysis, that perhaps Louise’s transformation takes place devoid of
a clear “intelligent” thought pattern to prevent the reader from turning her into a villain, a
heartless widow who has wished for her husband’s death. Louise might no longer be identified as
repressed if she were to reach her liberation through some “logical” process of her own doing.
She would then be in danger of becoming a “hard, calculating, and therefore unsympathetic
woman.”(Deneau 2003) There is no evidence that Louise has wished for her husband’s demise,
rather her thought process seems to indicate that the mere thought of his death or its
consequences is something she had never seriously contemplated.
Although Louise is only able to reach her state of freedom through her husband’s death,
he is not represented as a symbol of evil. He does, however, symbolize the constraint that
repressed Louise’s life. The real repression in Louise’s life was more likely that of society, and
it was her role as a wife which dictated the standards for her behavior within that society. While
Louise’s husband is not a force of evil, Chopin makes it clear that repressing another and
denying them free will is wrong regardless of motive. She criticizes the “blind persistence with
which men and women believe they have the right to impose a private will upon a fellowcreature.” Clearly, Chopin is warning against the way in which society expects people who are
married to behave toward one another, foregoing all free will, calling that possessive behavior a
“crime”. The criticism is equally placed on both men and women who wish to control another
person and figuratively shackle them into a life of slavery. Chopin further distinguishes that the
intention of a person who represses another is irrelevant; the outcome is the same. So while
Louise does not have hate towards her husband, she is joyous to be free. She celebrates not his
death, but her own rebirth.
The vivid spring imagery in the following paragraph parallel not only Louise’s
new awareness of the beauty contained in the world surrounding her, but also her symbolic
rebirth as a self aware, liberated woman. The open window in Louise’s room symbolizes her
once repressed, enslaved self becoming free. She feels a “physical exhaustion…(that) seemed to
reach into her soul”, as though this outpour of emotion has opened her soul, recalling themes of
the liberation and self awareness. The description of the scene beyond Louise’s window: “the
tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” and “the delicious breath of rain in
the air”, is new and exciting to Louise, and represents the transformation she is undergoing. The
patches of blue sky peeking through the clouds, metaphorically represent glimpses into the
person Louise truly is, which have until this moment has remained hidden. All of the senses are
stimulated. Louise is discovering, for the first time, countless sounds, feeling, scents and images
she was oblivious to for so long. Adding to the idea that Louise is a woman reborn and liberated,
she is likened to a child “who having cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.” The
analogy of Louise to a child also portrays the idea that she has lost control of her emotions,
something she would have not been allowed to do when she was repressed within her role as a
good wife. She experiences the multitude of spring imagery around her, each sight, scent, and
sound with the curiosity and wonder of a young child, in awe of each detail.
The act in which Louise flings aside her repressed nature and becomes individually free
has been viewed by some critics to represent a sexual awakening (Denaeu 2003). The
description of the changes Louise undergoes, especially when Chopin describes “her pulses
beating fast” and “the coursing blood (that) warmed and relaxed every inch of her body,” could
be likened to that of a sexual experience. The sexual enlightenment of women is a common
theme within Chopin’s extensive body of work. However, this interpretation seems to be one
which is based mainly on knowledge of Chopin’s subsequent work and not entirely on what is
present in the story. It is a debatable interpretation, but the passage seems to symbolize more of
a spiritual awakening, one that is steeped in the utter ecstasy of being freed after being unaware
of the possibility of a life without chains.
Chopin describes Louise of being able to attain “a clear and exalted perception” after her
spirit is freed. This conjures up images of a religious or spiritual awakening, rather than a sexual
experience. Her perception is symbolic of the freedom one gains from being purely individual
and self aware. The idea seems more akin to the Buddhist principle of nirvana or enlightenment,
which is reached when a person is able to gain freedom from all earthly desires through
meditation. The feeling Louise gains from freeing her mind and soul from the confines that her
marriage represent for her seems closer to experience of nirvana than an awakening of sexual
impulse. To further support the idea of a spiritual awakening, the epiphany into self awareness
comes from a force that Louise feels “creeping out of the sky” which could be representative of a
divine force, or a cosmic truth sent from the heavens. If the reader interprets the sky to
symbolize Louise’s own soul, this force could simply be her spirit which is uncovered after so
much repression.
Despite her joy at her new found freedom, there is a brief psychological struggle
in which Louise tries to decipher her feeling toward her husband. She ultimately comes to the
conclusion that the love she felt for her husband was an enigma, and the “possession of self
assertion” she feels at the moment is more obvious and genuine and therefore more valuable.
Even love pales in comparison to the freedom of someone so repressed. Louise describes the
feeling as so real and true that “she suddenly recognized (it) as the strongest impulse of her
being!” Thus her liberation now defines the new identity she has attained through this emotional
transformation.
The characters Richards and Louise’s sister represent societal pressures for Louise to
conform to repressive forces within her life. The character Richards, Louise’s friend who
initially learns of her husband’s death, seems to represent the force in society which wishes to
shield women from anything unpleasant or upsetting. He makes sure he is the one to give Louise
news of the tragic death and he later attempts to shield Louise from the sight of her husband
when he returns home safely. He ignorantly believes that he is protecting Louise, when
ironically it is the repressive force he embodies which ultimately ends her life. Louise sister
represents another set of repressive standards common in this time. When Louise is in her room,
her sister comes to the door and tries to calm her stating, “Open the door, you will make yourself
ill.” This refers to the belief in the 19th century that emotions were actually thought to be
indicators of poor health (Jamil 2009). When Louise expresses a great outpouring of emotions
after learning of her husband’s death, her sister believes she may actually damage her health by
releasing her feelings. This paradox represents an example of irony within the story. Despite the
social implications of emotional freedom during this time, Louise feels quite the opposite about
her freedom, as if “she was drinking in the very elixir of life.”
The theme of liberation is clear in the paragraph in which Louise finally emerges from
her room. She is proud and enjoying her freedom, like someone being released from jail after
many years. This paragraph, very near the end of the short story, is the first in which Louise is
referred to by her first name, before this she was introduced only by Mrs. Mallard.
Metaphorically, this indicates her new identity emerging, one that is separate from her role as
simply Brently Mallard’s wife. The symbol of “a goddess of Victory” is used to describe her
demeanor as she exits her room with a new found identity and self knowledge. This symbolizes
the triumph she feels over her prior repression. She able to let her mind wonder to all of the
wonderful things she will be able to partake in due to her new found freedom. Using the image
of a goddess to describe Louise, also seems to allude to the idea that her transformation has made
her superior to the others around her who are still trapped in repression. They do not
comprehend Louise’s reaction to her husband’s death, because they have not reached the level of
insight throughout their lives that Louise gained within one hour.
The conclusion of the story represents the major ironic twist within The Story of an Hour,
through the death of Louise. As she realizes that her husband has returned from his trip, and was
not killed, Louise drops to her death. The final line of the story can be interpreted to illustrate
the importance of Louise’s transformation beyond the person she was only an hour prior: “When
the doctors came they said she died of heart disease—of joy that kills.” Perhaps Louise did die
because of a certain joy, but, obviously, that joy was not attained by witnessing her husband’s
safe return. The true joy that killed was the joy of realizing pure freedom and self awareness.
After such a revelation, Louise could not go back to living in the shackles of marital repression.