Feminine Self-Assertion in “The Story of an Hour”

[[abstract]]This essay attempts to prove that Kate Chopin explores feminine selfhood in a patriarchal society through the heroine’s spiritual journey to freedom in “The Story of an Hour.” In this story, Chopin presents us with a picture of a complicated and complex development of Louise Mallard’s spiritual awakening triggered by the false news of her husband’s death in a train accident. Louise is a pioneering feminist searching for selfhood and freedom, not “an immature egoist and a victim of her own extreme self-assertion” (Berkove 152) as some critics like Lawrence I. Berkove maintain. While questioning Berkove’s argument that “Louise is sick, emotionally as well as physically” (Berkove 156); “Louise is not thinking clearly” (Berkove 157) and is suffering from an “early stage of delusion” (Berkove 156), this essay suggests that Chopin’s exploration of feminine selfhood and freedom is vividly displayed in a rich and colorful literary style, especially the use of symbolism and ironies. Although Chopin’s presentation of Louise’s self-assertion is in a positive and sympathetic manner, she acknowledges that Louise’s search for ideal feminine selfhood and freedom in a hostile environment of a patriarchal society is extremely difficult, as it has to face strong denial, refutation and powerful resistance from the conventional institutions such as marriage, family, friends and other social establishments. By the death of Louise at the end of the story, Chopin clearly implies that any woman’s search for ideal feminine selfhood is impossible in an age dominated by patriarchs, but by Louise’s search for selfhood and feminine emancipation, Chopin obviously shows her visionary foresight for a possible hopeful feminist era to come