757). Chopin (2002) writes: "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (p. 757). Louise is discovering that she will have say over what she does and there will be no one who, even unwittingly, is able to get her to do something that she has not decided to do herself. Chopin (2002) continues: "A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination" (p. 757). Here Chopin (2002) seems to be saying that whether or not a man does exerts his will over a woman in an abusive or non-abusive way makes no matter -- it is still controlling someone else. This is where Louise becomes fully aware of how she has been locked inside very strict gender roles for all of her life with her husband. Though, like Mathilde and her night at the ball, Louise's freedom and happiness is short-lived. Shortly after Louise's illumination, a key is heard in the front door: It is Brently Mallard, Louise's husband -- unaware that there had even been an accident. It is her husband's return that kills Louise. The doctors say she died of "heart disease -- of joy that kills" (2002, p. 758).
Both Mathilde and Louise share in the fact that they both endure ironic outcomes, outcomes that seem to ironic yet at the same time fateful in that there is the sense that when it comes to breaking free of their gender roles they do not stand a chance. Mathilde can pretend for a night, but it is her foolishness and her unreasonable belief that she could rise above reality that sends her plummeting further down into the despair and the suffering that she endures in her working class life. Unfortunately for Louise, she is not even aware that there is something else out there for her until she is given the news of her husband's death. In this one hour of believing that he is dead, it is then that she becomes enlightened and strongly aware of all the things that she could do and have outside of him. She becomes aware of his oppression -- though he is not a bad man or an abusive man. She becomes aware of the fact that a man does not have to be cruel in order to keep his wife down and from living a life that is her own. It is the realization of what she has missed all her life with him and the idea that she will never have it once he returns home that kills her.
Both Louise and Mathilde are women who are defined by the roles that they hold in society. There is the general idea that the wealthier a woman was the less she was defined by a social role. Mathilde -- before going to the ball -- was a woman who did not have to do common jobs. She did have servants. But she wanted what the women at the ball had -- a life of leisure and being cared for and adored. It was not until after the ball that Mathilde had to resort to doing mundane and menial jobs in order to pay off the debt of the necklace. Mathilde and her husband were forced to fire the servants and thus all of the household duties fell into Mathilde's hands -- literally. She was forced to scrub pans and floors, which aged her physically. There is the belief then that Mathilde would have been able to keep her beauty much longer is she had not been forced to physically work so hard. In general, this is still the thinking today. Women who work as house cleaners or in other so-called "menial" jobs are seen as being lesser than in society than women whose husbands have a lot of money and whose only responsibilities are to charity work. These wealthier women will even have nannies that take care of their children and so they are less defined by the stereotypical "woman as mother and nurturer" role as well.
It seems from the beginning of "The Story of an Hour" that Louise is viewed as being a weak woman -- especially because of her heart condition -- though Chopin makes it rather obvious that it is more of an emotional heartache...
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