Story of an Hour is a piece that was written in defiance of the times. The story follows a woman, Mrs. Mallard, and the Hour of time that she knows her husband has passed. I mention that the piece was written against the grain of the culture at the time because of the time period of the piece, in contrast to the subject matter.
It is very clear that before her husband's passing, Mrs. Mallard lived a very subservient lifestyle. This lifestyle was typical of the time period of the piece (1894). In this time period, speaking against husbands, divorce, and equal between the gender gap were almost nonexistent. Although Mrs. Mallard was unhappy with her marriage, she was unable to do anything about it, or maybe even for her, ignorance was bliss.
This all changed when news was forwarded to her about her husband's death. Mrs. Mallard goes through a wide range of emotions, from pain and sufferring, to finally realizing that there holds new life beyond her husband's shackles. This creates a new energy for her, and although she mourned the loss of her husband, the feelings she had for being free of him super ceded the her mourning period. The flip between both extremes of the emotional scale was dangerous enough for a woman with her apparent heart condition, and she could not overcome the shift. Ironically, the husband comes home, as he was luckily out of harms way. This also does not help contribute to the wide shifts in emotion.
