MARRIAGE AS SOCIAL CONSTRAINT: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF LOUISE MALLARD’S STRUGGLE FOR AUTONOMY IN CHOPIN’S THE STORY OF AN HOUR

Abstract

This paper examines the individual versus social conflict in The Story of an Hour in view of the social contract theory since that is its guidance. It has a qualitative intention that aims at exploring a heroine, Louise Mallard, who at the brief moment sees the opportunity to become free when she learns about the death of her husband, thus revealing the oppressive nature of the traditional gender constraints. The study presents the way in which Chopin depicts marriage as social construct, which is oppressive to individuality in the name of maintaining social order. In this way, the paper places the story by Chopin into a larger context of the European struggles against emancipation processes, and to demonstrate how the example of the patriarchal order and the existing build up of expectation is threatened by the will towards freedom. Dismantling the institution of marriage as a civic alliance that binds partners together, Chopin enlarges the conflict between communal composure and conjugal will. The phenomenological interpretation of the inner conflict of Louise leads to the representation of the broader socially influential factors in the form of the personal experience of Louise. Finally, the results emphasize the way the work of Chopin presents a critique of societal oppression in a contemporary setting that leads to the necessity to reconsider the basics and choose individual freedom.