Criticism In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

Every person has the right to be free and feel free. They have the right to be independent and live happily. Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour,” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences a revelation about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive. 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

The use of point of view helps the reader know what side the story is coming from. The use of point of view also helps the reader feel closer to what is being said. Chopin uses point of view to connect with the story of Mrs. Mallard, but not in first person. Chopin uses a narrator that speaks in third person to tell the story of Mrs. Mallard. The narrator knows what is going on in the story, but speaks in third person. He or she knows Mrs. Mallard experiences the joy of freedom, rather than the feeling of isolation after she finds out that her husband has died. The narrator also knows that Mrs. Mallard loves her husband to a certain extent. “And she loved him— sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of his possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being” Page 499)! The use of third person instead of first person makes it harder for readers to empathize and connect with the