Historically, during the late 19th century, great importance was placed on women to fulfill their roles of motherhood and homemaker. Society established ideals that a woman should provide her husband with a “happy home,” so that her husband would have a place to rest after fulfilling his nobler duties of fatherhood and manhood. In "The Story of an Hour", Louise clearly shows that this lifestyle is not for her. Her self-centeredness shows that she can't wait to experience the excitement that life has to offer. At the same time, however, she is conflicted with herself and struggles to identify whether she has feelings for her husband. Because of Louise's disbelief regarding her husband's death, it ends up being her own demise due to the internal issues she struggles with, the cultural norms she must live by, and the enormous weight she felt on her heart when she saw her husband. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay When the news of Mr. Mallard's death got back to Louise, she was in disbelief. She had trouble identifying how to feel at first, until reality sunk in. Her abnormal response to the news of her husband's death and lack of emotion suggest that she struggled with the news. At one point in the story, the narrator exclaims: “Free! Free body and soul!” (129) From Lawrence Berkove's perspective, this implies that “there is meaning with Louise and that she wants to 'live for herself.' It could also commonly be interpreted that she had to sacrifice her freedom to her husband” (234). Louise's reaction to the news of her husband's death revealed that she had likely been subjected to the oppression of her husband's authority. Her undiagnosed mental health disorder exacerbates Louise's struggle with her internal problems, which shows that her indecisiveness in not leaving her husband contributes to her own death. “Legally and culturally, however, women's lives were still very limited compared to those of men, and Chopin's story reflects both these constraints and many women's growing desire for 'liberation' of various kinds” (“Introduction” ) “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin explains in depth these ideals that women had to live by during the nineteenth century by stating, “There would be no one to live for in the years to come” ( Chopin 129).The severity of the restraint Louise experienced while married to Mr. Mallard was evident from the excitement she expressed in the minutes following the news of her husband's death. In the nineteenth century, many women sought to escape the social norms placed upon them imposed during that time. According to Michael O'Malley, "Some argued that women should focus on the home and domestic life, that women had a particularly loving and gentle nature, and that they were naturally suited to childcare and domestic arts. ' of decoration and education. .” O'Malley goes on to state, "Man's world was understood as hard, rational, selfish, competitive, and tough, and woman's world was soft, irrational, emotional, selfless, and loving." The stigma that women faced during the nineteenth century contributed to why Louise felt as if she had no control during the duration of her marriage to Mr. Mallard. Because the nineteenth century was seen as a “man's world,” the lack of value women's roles held in society led to Louise's death. Towards the end of the story, Chopin reveals that Louise's husband was not always dead. Chopin states: “[Someone] stood 2016.