Promptly and critically, we come to the observation that Mrs. Mallard’s views about death are too overwhelming for her because of the fact that she has a severe heart condition. In the Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, we can see a sense of sorrow yet joy, between Mrs. Mallard’s continuous reflections about life. Through a closer look at Kate Chopin’s use of diction and imagery we first believe that Mrs. Mallard’s husband’s (Brently Mallard) sudden appearance is the only cause of her heart failure which leads to her death. This continues to develop and leads us to understand that Mrs. Mallard leaves her room because Josephine (Mrs. Mallard’s sister) convinces her to walk downstairs. Once she walks down the stairs, she becomes overwhelmed with emotions because she witnesses her husband is in fact alive and standing at the door; these events lead to Mrs. Mallard’s heart failure and overall death.
Choplin’s second paragraph explains that, Josephine and Richards (Brently Mallard’s friend) break the bad news to Mrs. Mallard. Richards was at the newspaper office when the news came in. Josephine explains to Mrs.
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In fact he is “opening the front door with a latchkey” (Chopin 14) but no one inside the house knew who it was at first. Simultaneously Josephine and Mrs. Mallard are making their way down the steps. Once Richards realizes who is at the front door, he quickly tries to move in between Brently and Mrs. Mallard to try and keep Mrs. Mallard from laying eyes on her husband. Richards’ quick action is symbolized as the last line of defense before Mrs. Mallard identifies her husband as the person at the door. Richards is a split second too late. Mrs. Mallard cannot contain her emotions and as soon as she lays eyes on her husband she immediately dies from heart disease. This quick death symbolizes how severe Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition is and how surprised she was to see her
Mallard processes her husband's death and the theme of death. Once Mrs. Mallard learns of the passing of Mr. Mallard, she has a brief period of indescribable grief. She soon realizes the benefits of her husband passing and she is feeling conflicted. She has an internal debate thinking that she should be grieving and upset but she is actually finding the benefits and positives of it. Chopin writes, “And yet she had loved him - sometimes.
Her sister, Josephine, goes up to the room to check on her. Finally, Mrs. Mallard and her sister come out of the room. Suddenly, Mr. Mallard walks in and Mrs. Mallard quickly finds out he’s not dead. She sees him and has a tremendous shock and dies. According to the doctor she dies of shock and joy.
With this belief Mrs. Mallard now looks forward to a long life. Previously to her husband’s death she dreaded the years ahead spent under the thumb of her husband. Now, though, Mrs. Mallard is someone who has much to look forward to and many joys to appreciate. Soon this opportunity is taken from her, just as her chance of freedom is taken from her she learns that Brently is still alive. When Mrs. Mallard sees Brently walk through the front door, the disappointment and the devastation of loss that she suffers cause her heart
From the very beginning irony is used. Jenifer Hicks brings out the point of irony when she quotes that Mrs. Mallard “would have no one follow her to her room”. Mrs. Mallard might have also meant that she would have no one interfere with how she lives her life again (Hicks). Another source of Irony is at the beginning when Mrs. Mallard’s sister thinks she is deeply saddened by Mr. Mallard’s death. “Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission.
Today, most people would assume that the reaction to a loved one’s death would be immediate grief; however, that would not be the case in the late 1800s. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” women were expected to grieve differently than men. The story conveys the main character Mrs. Mallard’s distress and joy after she discovered the supposed death of her husband. The story does not demonstrate Mrs. Mallard following the stages of grief that would be expected when grieving over her husband. In spite of the fact that Mrs. Mallard was grieving she was likewise encountering joy and satisfaction since she then realizes that she is currently free.
The story begins with Mrs. Mallard getting the news that her husband had died in a terrible train accident. At first Mrs. Mallard was racked with grief for the loss of her husband. As the story progresses, Mrs. Mallard says, “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know.”
Mallard, has just been informed that her Husband, Mr. Mallard has passed away. Though Mrs. Mallard feels sorrow, she soon discovers the bright future she will lead with the absence of her antagonizing husband. She begins to think of all the things she will be able to do, that she was restrained from by her husband for so long. It's almost as if at that very moment, a burden was taken from her, and she could finally move on with her life. In the end, her husband returns and the shock of losing her precious future vanishes, causing Mrs. Mallard to have a stroke, and ultimately dying.
Throughout the story readers can see Mrs. Mallard being characterized through the ironic events. The story says, “And yet she had loved him - sometimes. Often she had not” (8). This shows how Mrs. Mallard cares for her husband but doesn’t enjoy the power he carries over her, which nobody in the story realizes. “She arose at length and opened the door to her sister’s importunities.
but she was waiting for other Although Mrs.Mallard felt overly joyful, she knew that once she sees Brently corpse her heart will be broken
Mrs. Mallard’s actions cause the readers to contemplate a hidden meaning woven into the story line. Mr. Mallard is assumed to die in a railroad accident, leaving Mrs. Mallard devastated. Instead of feeling sadness or grief, Mrs. Mallard actually feels free. "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Page 499).
While both stories are unique in their conflicts and resolutions, they each take place in a similar culture and hold a similar theme. In “Story of an Hour” the main conflict facing Mrs. Mallard is identified within the first sentence, “the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin, 32). At first, Mrs. Mallard, behaves how a reader would expect one to at the news of a loved ones passing. “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment…” (33).
The Short Story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin explores the emotions of Louise Mallard a woman with a heart disease. In the hour that the story is told, it ranges from showing Mrs. Mallard different reactions to learning of her husbands death to him surprisingly showing up alive and eventually her untimely death from a heart disease. Although only a brief period of time is shown, many emotions are revealed through the third person omniscient point of view. This point of view shows more than just the protagonists thoughts and is not limited to one person. It allows the readers to know something about Mrs. Mallard that she does not as the story ends after Mrs. Mallard has already died.
Self-Identity and Freedom The story of an hour by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to her husband’s death. In this short story, Chopin portrays the complexity of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as she is saddened yet joyful of her loss. Kate Chopin’s story argues that an individual discovers their self-identity only after being freed from confinement.
When Richard’s heard the news of her husband’s death, he assumed Mrs. Mallard would be devastated. While everyone knew Mrs. Mallard was “afflicted with heart trouble” (57), him and her sister, Josephine, wanted to give her the news with “great care” (57). Josephine broke the news to Mrs. Mallard in “broken sentences”
Mallard, one can conclude that she suffers defeat by being the lesser of her marriage. After years of being an accessory to her husband, Mrs. Mallard could not help but to feel completely taken with pleasure at the thought of her husband’s supposed death. In her mind, her husband’s death meant that she would finally be open to the world, that she could now live her life in whichever way she dreams. This new-found feeling of freedom caused her to act in ways she would never consider around her husband. She locks herself into her room to collect her exuberant thoughts and to confirm it to herself that she no longer must live according to her condescending