Have you ever been so excited that you feel like your heart might burst? In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, Mrs. Mallard’s heart stops but not from excitement. Right before Louise Mallard’s heart stopped beating, she finally felt a sense of freedom. Until she learned the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard was stuck in her unfulfilled late 19 th century marriage. Once her mourning was over, Louise saw that there was more to life than being a slave to a man. ”When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: “Free, free, free!”(Chopin 129). She began to change her whole world view, although this did not last long because of her ironic death. Kate …show more content…
19 th century marriage, although good for men, could be unfulfilling for women. One of the most prevalent uses of dramatic irony that Chopin uses is when Mrs. Mallard dies when seeing her husband. Since Louise did not tell others of her feelings of discontent in the marriage, the other characters believe that she dies from joy, while in fact she dies from the exact opposite. In this time period, once married, men essentially owned women. When “I do” is said the man then takes on all of the women’s possessions, including their property, and can control them in all ways. Once Mrs. Mallard found out her husband had passed, she could see a new horizon Baker 2 open in front of her. “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending her in a blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature” (Chopin 129). At first Mrs. Mallard was heartbroken over her husband’s death, she grieved fiercely, crying and locking herself in their room, but soon she saw the light. She no longer had anyone controlling her; she was