The Story of an Hour "The Story of an Hour" has many themes, but mainly shows one main theme, which is dysfunctional marriage. Women in the 19th century were prisoners of their husbands. Life was dominated by men. Women were expected to stay at home to cook and raise children. Not many women had jobs at that time, and even those who did, were paid less than men. This story is about the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, who has a heart problem, who received the bad news from her sister Josephine that her husband had died in a train disaster. Her husband's friend Richard was also with them. They brought the news to her delicately because they feared it might put her in danger due to her heart problem. Mrs. Mallard immediately began to cry, went upstairs and locked herself in her room. Ironically, she started to feel happy and free. She felt free from the depressing life she was living, she didn't have to live for anyone else but herself now. When Josephine approached her and took her downstairs, the door opened and surprisingly Mr. Mallard was there. He was far from the accident site and knew nothing about it. Richard tried to hide the scene from Mrs. Mallard. When the doctors arrived they said she had died of heart disease, from the "joy that kills". The title of the story refers to the fact that everything happened in just one hour, she felt happy and free, she thought about the life ahead of her and she died all in one hour. I enjoyed reading the story, it keeps the reader wanting to know what happens next. Through it, and through the analysis of the story and the setting, I learned how women lived in the 19th century, where they were not given all their rights and were prisoners of their husbands. Although women today have many options, they have their rights and opportunities in many fields and can even be more successful than men