Discrimination against women has been prevalent for centuries now. From emotional and affectionate stereotyping to housewife status, lower wages in the job market, sexual abuse and much more, women have suffered it all. However, Kate Chopin gets to the heart of what women have been most deprived of, a personal right without which freedom would have no meaning or value: self-affirmation, reflection and independence. According to Harold Bloom, "Chopin offers concentrated descriptions of moments that break social complacency, that quickening of consciousness that gives rise to self-desire, self-recognition and, in Chopin's fictional world, despair and despair." 'self-alienation' (51). . Critics mostly agree that in her highly acclaimed short story, "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard's death was the result of a more complex spiritual reason than simple heart problems. Having experienced an intense process of self-reflection that gave her the opportunity for a spiritual awakening and liberation that few women then experienced, the sight of her husband reminds Mrs. Mallard that she should once again give in to her husband and patriarchy. As such, his mind and body automatically choose physical death over spiritual imprisonment, having discovered the joy of freedom. Kate Chopin drew on her own experiences to paint a picture of the extremely limited lives of women in society and in marriage, particularly in "Story of an Hour." According to "Unveiling Kate Chopin" by Emily Toth and "Women's Issues in Kate Chopin's The Awakening", Chopin's father died suddenly following a railway accident when she was still a child (9-11). Mrs. Mallard's husband would have died in a similar form Now, Toth states that there is ...... middle of paper ...... could under the influence of the patriarchy and her husband Everything was worth. the pain of maintaining such powerful liberation, even losing one's physical life Works CitedBloom, Harold Ed. Whitman, Walt: Bloom's Modern Critical Views Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2007. Print.Bryfonski, Dedria. in The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2012. Print.http://my.hrw.com/support/hos/hostpdf/host_text_219.pdfJamil, S. Selina. “Emotions in the Story of an Hour.” The Explainer 67.3 (2009): 215-20. Print.Reed, Melissa Ann. “…That inside which the spectacle passes”: the character of being, poetic therapy and the performatives of self-transformation in the story of a Ho by Menander, Shakespeare and Chopin. " Journal of Poetry Therapy 16.1 (2003): 29-44. Print. Toth, Emily. Unveiling Kate Chopin Jackson: University of Mississippi, 1999. Print..