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Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

555 Words3 Pages

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman who discovers her husband has passed away, only to end up dying when she discovers he’s alive. As a result of this unique plot twist, questions were raised in the minds of the readers. The main question being “What actually happened that lead up to the ending?” As Critic Roland Barthes once said “Literature is the question minus the answer.” In this story, the author’s treatment of this question makes for an abundance of possible answers, thus impacting the reader’s understanding of the work as a whole. In this story, the main character, Mrs. Mallard receives the news that her husband has died in a railroad accident. Upon receiving the news, she is overcome by this euphoric feeling of freedom. This new chapter in her life is short lived, as she goes to the door to discover her husband alive, and immediately dies upon seeing him. Readers are shocked as the story takes an unexpected turn. Instantaneously, questions flood the reader’s head, making them wonder what actually happened that led to the events of the false report of Mr. Mallard’s death, and the actual death of Mrs. Mallard. The author doesn’t leave much in the text to lead readers to an answer to their question, making for each individual reader interpreting it in their …show more content…

While this may seem like laziness on the author’s part, it is, in fact, an artful manipulation by the author to paint a broad and imminent question. By creating this vague and broad question, the author leaves everything up to the reader to create their own, unique meaning. Some authors may decide to provide more details or facts that lead each reader to the same, singular answer, but Chopin elected to let the readers lead themselves to their own, self made conclusion. This was the author’s style of literature, a mysterious puzzle that leaves parts undone, allowing for the reader to fill in with their own

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Essay Comparing The Story Of An Hour And Tobias Wolff

474 Words | 2 Pages

In her 1894 short story, “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin at the mists of Women’s Rights. Louise Mallard, the female protagonist, heard news that her husband, Brentley Mallard, was killed due to a freak accident at the railroad. Whereas in his 1995 short story, “Bullet in the Brain,” Tobias Wolff is a suspenseful thrill. Though significantly different in focus theses story lines seem to be, both Chopin’s and Wolff’s short stories communicate their ideas through the dynamic of their characters, third person omniscient point of view, and the perception of death. Mrs. Mallard, the epitome of youth and beauty, has a heart condition, a warning of a complication for the foreseeable future When Mr. Mallard, the person we believed to be dead is truly alive, and the assumed “widow” is the one who dies, completely an ironic reversal of fortuity in a short-lived moment.

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Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin

1968 Words | 8 Pages

This can be seen when she fees free in a confined room, or how her weak heart sets her free from her husband through death. The author also sets up a subtle melancholy tone to the story that leaves the reader thinking and analyzing the sad events that occurred in the hour. She also use her tone to point out the cruelty idea of marriage at the time and how Mrs. Mallard thought it was a crime which left her powerless because she was a woman. Throughout this short story symbolism is quite clear. For example, when Mrs. Mallard is characterized with heart trouble.

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Comparing The Interlopers And The Story Of An Hour

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Her life was now hers and hers alone to do with what she wished. She walked back down the stairs where her sister and her husband’s friend waited. They all turned at the sound of the front door opening. Who should walk in but Mr. Mallard, who was no where near the train wreck and did not even know about its occurring. Mrs. Mallard died of a heart attack from seeing her supposedly dead

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How Does Kate Chopin Use Dramatic Irony In The Story Of An Hour

725 Words | 3 Pages

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

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My Bondage And My Freedom Frederick Douglass Literary Analysis

616 Words | 3 Pages

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.”

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Louise Mallard Symbolism

541 Words | 3 Pages

Themes or moral lessons which an author shares often helps the reader understand the story on a deeper level. In The Story of an Hour, the author, Kate Chopin uses three different objects as symbols to develop an idea into the theme of the forbidden pleasure that one gains from independence and can enjoy only in their private life. Firstly, the door that leads into the protagonist, Louise Mallard’s bedroom represents the entrance to her inner thoughts and her safe place away from the rest of society. When she is outside her room, she acts violently and shows grief towards her husband’s death, but: “When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her” (74).

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The Ironic End In Kate Chopin's Story Of An Hour

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“The Story of an Hour” is an enjoyable and addictive reading that should be read calmly to truly comprehend it. It is one of those stories in which nothing is what it seems and in which the reader stops to examine and ask the right questions. The ending in unpredictable, and although closed, it leaves the readers wanting to know more as it is full of ironies that can make a reader rethink the situation and think if things are really like the story tells. Chopin’s beautiful writing style provides the readers with the fundamental background, which emphasized the characterization of the characters and the importance of symbols, ironies and plot

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Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis Essay

477 Words | 2 Pages

In “The Story of An Hour” Mrs.Mallard had heart problems. She soon finds out that her husband had been killed in a railroad disaster. When someone passes away it’s always hard to hear, because you never want to believe it. It says She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. This tells me that she truly loved her husband, and the life she knew know was going to change drastically.

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Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis Essay

1372 Words | 6 Pages

Every human being has experienced loss of someone that was dear to him or her. Most of the time, the people affected, respond in sadness and have a difficult time accepting the loss. However, the main character in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour has a different perspective on the situation. Due to a tragic accident, a sudden-made widow encounters a life without her husband.

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Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

1096 Words | 5 Pages

Every person has the right to be 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.

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Disappointment In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

814 Words | 4 Pages

Now that Mrs. Mallard has tasted what life might have been like without her husband, the idea of resuming her former life is unbearably grim. When Mrs. Mallard sees that her husband still lives, she dies, killed by the disappointment of losing everything she so recently thought she had

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The Contrast Of Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

520 Words | 3 Pages

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”

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Literary Analysis Of Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

913 Words | 4 Pages

Literary Analysis “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to the sudden death of her husband. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as sad, yet happy that her husband has been killed. Kate Chopin’s “ The Story of an Hour” argues that when a person is controlled and made to live under another person their mental state of mind is affected. The story also argues that when that person is freed from the controlling person their true self can finally be achieved. Kate Chopin portrays these themes by the use of character development; plot control, and irony throughout the story.

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Kate Chopin Similarities

654 Words | 3 Pages

“The face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.” This moment in “The Story of an Hour,” is relatable to Kate Chopin's own life. Though Kate loved her husband dearly, she was restricted from a lot of the things she wanted to pursue.

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Mrs. Mallards In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

554 Words | 3 Pages

Mrs. Mallards gave the impression of mourning to her sister and her husband’s friend, Richards, when in fact she was actually relieved. When Richards found out that Mr. Mallards was dead, he did not have the nerve to tell Mrs. Mallards. It was her sister, Josephine, who told her. After her sister had told her, Mrs. Mallards when up to her room alone. She sat on her bed and was relieved that he was finally gone.

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