Chopin’s
“The Story of an Hour” is about a woman, Louise Mallard, who finds out that her
husband died in a railroad accident. Initially, she seemed to be overwhelmed with
grief, just as any other wife would be.
However, as Louise went upstairs alone to grieve and collect her
thoughts, her mind seemed to wander in a much different direction. Louise began
to feel a sense of relief and happiness about her husband’s death because of
the freedom that it allowed her to receive. Without her husband, Louise felt as
if the world was full of opportunities and that she could now do anything that
she wanted to without any restrictions or anyone holding her back. At the end
of the story, it was revealed that Mr. Mallard had never been on the train that
day, and that he was alive and well. Louise ended up dying of a heart attack in
the end, but I saw it as more of a broken heart due to her newly found sense of
freedom being demised by her husband walking through the door. Personally, I
felt that the song “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles connected very well to the situation
that Louise went through. The song is about a woman feeling confined and held
down by her significant other, and with the lyrics “set me free, leave me be, I
don’t wanna fall another moment into your gravity,” I was able to relate those
feelings with Louise. Just like the lyrics expressed in the song, Louise seemed
to be confined to her life with her husband, and the thought of him not being there
lead her to explore and embrace the thought of being free. Louise yearned for
freedom, and her sense of joy seemed to escalate at the thought of it. With
that being said, Louise’s feelings of confinement led me to find the connection
that she didn’t want to fall into her husband’s gravity and be forced to be
with him. Lousie, just like in the song gravity, wanted to be free and independent,
yet some gravitational force seemed to keep her with her husband until her lack
of freedom led to her ultimate demise, her death.
I enjoyed listening to this song, she has a beautiful voice. I agree with the connection that you made between it and The Story of An Hour”. The reaction of the wife to her husband’s death was quite surprising. It made me wonder what she had been going through in their marriage to make her so happy to finally be free. Then I thought it was ironic how she ended up dying of too much joy. The lyrics of the song seem as if she is too ready to be liberated from the relationship that she is in. It sounds as if she feels tied down by his love. Great job!
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ReplyDeleteI can definitely see how you made that connection. This was my first time listening to that song and I am astounded by how beautiful and shocked by how eerily similar the meaning behind the lyrics mimic “The Story of an Hour”. Like the story, in the beginning of the song I wasn’t expecting the feelings that she felt towards his “gravity” to be anything besides her love for him. That was until the chorus came in and her feelings of wanting to be set free became known. This is how I read “The Story of an Hour”; I thought she was grieving because she lost the love her life but then her excited readiness for a new life was shown. How ready she was to be set free.
ReplyDeleteYES! I completely agree with you on the fact of Louise feeling liberated from her husband's suppression but even greater male suppression of woman because with him being dead she would be able to live her life as a woman as she sees fit, instead of in accordance to male's standard of how women should be. Also, the connection you made between "The Story of an Hour" and the song, "Gravity" gave me a little taste of Louise happiness being taken away from her because of someone else. If "The Story of an Hour" had a theme song, I truly believe that "Gravity" would be it. Wonderful post, Danielle.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, this is one of my FAVORITE songs! And, second of all, this such a great post!
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