Unhappy Marriage

An "unhappy marriage" is two very contradicting words when put together. Isn't marriage suppose to be happy? “The Story of an Hour “ by Kate Chopin was an interesting story that made me think about marriage. Is a woman still sad and lonely even if she is married? Why do husbands not pay more attention to their wife?  Would someone really be happy if their husband died? All these questions were crossing my mind. Story on the news has shown cases where the wife kills her husband and shows no remorse but usually the case is abuse or something extreme not just being lonely. If marriage is this unhappy then maybe the couple should end it before it comes to bad circumstances.

The quote "And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not." shows that marriage doesn’t give that happy ending that most people want and that even though a wife loves a husband her needs of companionship and communication have to fulfilled of then the marriage will just become unhappy.

Another question that was brought up was the fact that this husband wasn’t dead at all and the fact that he hadn’t been near the wreck at all. Where was he truly at? Was he just as unhappy in their marriage as she seemed to be? I wish the author would have answered more of the unanswered questions that the readers may have.

At the end of the story when the wife passed away from the surprise that her husband was actually alive was a mind-blowing scene.  The quote "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of joy that kills.” was a very strange way for a doctor stating her death. The beginning of the story stated "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."  And if she would have not seen her husband by surprise would she have still passed away from the realization that she is not free?

Over all “The Story of an Hour” was an astonishing story that many readers would enjoy. Marriage should be about happiness. If a person is wishing for freedom then the relationship should end cause people one get one chance in life and need to make the best out of it.

Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour". Literature: An introduction to Reading and Writing.Roberts, Edgar. 9th edition. New York: Pearson Education, 2009.pg 331-332. Print