The Story of an Hour"The Story of an Hour" has many themes, but mostly shows one main theme, which is dysfunctional marriage. In the 19th century, women were prisoners of their husbands. Life was dominated by men. Women had to stay at home to cook and raise children. Few women had jobs in this era, and even those who did had lower wages than men. This short story is about the main character, Mrs. Mallard, who has a heart problem and received the bad news from her sister. Josephine of the death of her husband in a train accident. Her husband's friend Richard was also with them. They broke the news to her gently because they were afraid it would put her in danger because of her heart problem. Mrs. Mallard immediately began to cry, went upstairs and locked herself in her room. Ironically, she began to feel happy and free. She felt free from the depressing life she led, she no longer had to live for anyone but herself anymore. As Josephine approached her and took her downstairs, the door opened and surprisingly, Mr. Mallard was standing there. He was far from the accident and knew nothing about it. Richard tried to hide the scene from Mrs. Mallard. When the doctors arrived, they said she had died of her 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, thought about the life that awaited her. from her, and died within 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 are mentioned in the story, Mrs. Mallard, her sister Josephine, Richard the husband's friend 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, which foreshadows that this will affect the outcome of the story, that something bad will happen. Her sister Joséphine announces the news to her through “veiled allusions” and with gentleness, attention and prudence knowing that she has a troubled heart. Mrs. Mallard broke down crying and went up to her room, and "didn't want anyone to follow her".".