Dramatic Irony

The Story of an Hour Literary Analysis In the short story "The Story of an Hour," Kate Chopin uses irony and symbolism to show the importance of freedom to a woman back in the day. Mrs. Mallard is married to a man named Brently Mallard. The news of his death from getting run over by a train was slowly told to Mrs. Mallard. Additionally, the start of the text mentions that “she secretly has heart problems.” The irony used in “The Story of an Hour,” is dramatic irony. The dramatic irony in the story is the story's characters not knowing that Mrs. Mallard has heart trouble. This led to the unanticipated ending of her death from heart disease. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease.” This quote conveys the theme that freedom makes life worth living for because of Mrs. Mallard’s overwhelming emotions that caused her death. She was sad at first that her husband was ‘dead’, but then she realized that she is free to do whatever she’d like. The thought of freedom made her think of the bright and happy future ahead of her. When her husband came

The locked room represented Mrs. Mallard's emotional state. Moreover, the locked door symbolizes the trapped emotions she's been holding ever since she was with Brently. Spending her time in the room, she comes to a realization that she's free from any pressures and other problems because of her husband's death. This is symbolized by the window and the clouds described in the story. At the beginning of the story, it was raining, but when she locked herself in the room. “There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds.” This quote conveys the theme that freedom is worth living for because the patches of the blue sky represent freedom. The weeping from experiencing death should represent an all-gray and cloudy sky, but there were patches of blue. Deep down, Mr. Mallard’s death brought Mrs. Mallard freedom and