Throughout this short, twisting story, Chopin crafts the plot with several examples of situational and dramatic irony. The narrator alludes to Louise Mallard’s “heart trouble” that creates dramatic irony in the plot. Louise’s sister and friend are aware of the physical side of the heart trouble,
Mrs. Mallard’s sister “Josephine” and her husband’s friend “Richards” knew she had heart issues so they took care of her. Even though they assumed her husband was “killed” by in an accident, they slowly and calmly wanted Mrs. Mallard to know about it. After she was told “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms”, (Chopin, 3). So shocked Mrs. Mallard came back to reality knowing her husband had already “died” and couldn't do anything else but be filled with her emptiness.
In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, after hearing the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard’s emotions did not portray sadness or despair instead she was relieved and rejoiced. Even though Mrs. Mallard admits that her husband was kind and loving, she feels joy after hearing the news of her husband’s death that she will no longer be known as Mrs. Mallard. Although it was acknowledged in the story that Louise Mallard loved Bentley Mallard, we can tell by the statement “had never looked save with love upon her,” (Chopin, 1894), the favor was not returned. The main theme we see in this story is the oppression of marriage. Death of her husband shows that Mrs. Mallard finally has freedom.
Because of how excited Mrs. Mallard is, t is easy for the reader to feel the enormous weight of disappoint fall upon her upon seeing her husband. This excellent character development by Chopin creates a great ending. The second theme that is evident through the voice of the character is irony. In one section of the story, Mrs. Mallard declares that even though she loved her husband, she will only mourn his loss in public at his funeral for the sake of her image. It is this total lack of remorse for the loss of life that makes it so ironic that her husband will be the one mourning her death at the funeral
Chopin makes her strong statement in this quote from the story. Mrs. Mallard has no one to answer to but herself, and she feels liberated that her husband can no longer control her. During the late nineteenth century, women quite frequently had to suppress themselves to the will of their husbands, or to some other man who had a significant amount of control over their lives. Chopin successfully uses vivid imagery, point of view, and irony that gives a different view of marriage that is not typical of today.
Chopin also writes in her piece “She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.” , This is the prodigious shift in Mrs. Mallards emotional wellbeing, it proves the mistreatment and neglect she has been receiving from her husband for her to be gleeful about his death. Kate Chopin’s story is indistinguishable of today’s modern society when looking through the scope of marriage, considering the fact that nearly one out of every two marriages end in divorce. The mutuality in marriages in today’s culture corresponds to Mrs. Mallard marriage, simply because the mistreatment of many people in relationships nowadays evolves into failure and hatred.
In paragraph five of “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard could see the new growth in the forest, hear distinct songs and smell fresh rain from her window, which symbolizes the new life she is going to embrace from her husband’s death. She could see the trees that were “all aquiver with the new spring life” (Chopin 307) from her window. She is free from her oppressive marriage and the trees show new life in the same way she can live free. The air was full of the “delicious breath of rain” (Chopin 307) in spring which even though it’s raining, Mrs. Mallard sees the rain as a wonderful thing that will lead to new life. The use of this seasonal change clearly excites Mrs. Mallard as its symbolic to the way her marriage life has changed.
“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.
Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" tells us about some things like what is it like to be free and the importance of Self Identity and how death can affect a family. The story of an hour lets us see into the life of Mrs. Mallard as she is reacting to the death of her husband. In the short story Mrs. Mallard emotions are portrayed to be very sad but also to be surprisingly joyful that her husband is now dead. Kate Chopin's story makes an argument that people really only see their true self only after they realized that they are no longer trapped and just stuck in one endless loophole. It also brings up that your mental mind and emotional state will be tested by the strong pull by freedom.
In Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour”, a story is told of a woman who feels stuck in her marriage and is craving freedom. The story starts off when the main character, Louise Mallard, receives horrid news that her husband has died while away at work. “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance.” (Chopin 205).
This first line suggests that because she was a woman, she was emotionally weak, but that is soon proven to be untrue. Later in the story it is revealed that after her husbands alleged death, she was not as distraught as most would’ve believed. Kate Chopin recognizes this display of false portrayal, and reveals it in the story to readers through a woman temporarily being freed of her husband. Once Mrs. Mallard is told of her husband’s death, she is struck with grief and experiences an expected emotional reaction.
Chopin also describes Mrs. Mallard as “young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength”. At the beginning Mrs. Mallard is thought of as being controlled, and weak. In the 19th Century, when this story was written, husbands controlled their wives. Perhaps Mrs. Mallard wasn’t like most women of her time. After she hears of her husband’s death she morns for what feels like only a moment.
One of Kate Chopin’s most popular works is “The Story of an Hour”. The story features a woman named Louise Mallard and one of her greatest emotional struggles. Louise received the news that her husband had passed away in a tragic accident. At first she reacted as many women would, but her mood quickly changed to an emotion not typically appropriate for this occasion. This hinted to some underlying questions about the Mallard’s marriage, marriage in the nineteenth century, and how marriage has evolved to now.
The story “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin, starts out with a woman named Louise whose husband has died. The woman has a serious heart condition so her relatives try to break the news to her through hints. She eventually understand the hints and starts to cry, after crying, she comes to the realization that she no longer has a person to live for, that she were to only be able to live for herself through the next few months. The wife formerly locks herself in her room, following after she began thinking of all the spring days and summer days coming before her that would be her own happiness,”She was drinking the elixir of life”. Her sister Josephine was banging on the door worried she was in her room making herself ill from the
Chopin clearly states that women felt that they lost their freedom and that they were just mere prisoners of marriage. Mrs. Mallard’s tragedy is a good example to understand that women were unhappy and depressed, since society forced them to play a secondary role, where happiness and independence cannot be achieved. Kate Chopin, in reality, lost her husband, and perhaps she wrote ‘The Story of an Hour’ to tell that she could not find freedom with her husband’s death, and that the character’s fate was the only possible way to find it, not only for herself but for most women as
