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 short story is about the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, who has a heart problem, who received the bad news from her sister. Josephine of her husband's death in a train wreck. 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 that awaited her. of her, and all died in an hour. The setting is in the 19th century, which is important to the theme of the story, because at that time women were controlled by their husbands. Marriage was more about monetary comfort, social status and acceptance. It wasn't about love. Few characters were mentioned in the story, Mrs. Mallard, her sister Josephine, her husband's friend Richard and Mr. Mallard. The main character is Mrs. Mallard. In the first sentence of the story it is mentioned that Mrs. Mallard has a heart problem, and this foreshadows that this will affect the outcome of the story, that something wrong will happen. Her sister Josephine gives her the news with "veiled allusions" and with kindness, thoughtfulness and caution knowing that her heart is troubled. Mrs. Mallard burst into tears and went up to her room and “didn't want anyone to follow her".