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Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

1369 Words6 Pages

“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” These words were published in 1762 by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Although more than 130 years separate the publication of these words and the publication of “The Story of an Hour” in 1894 by Kate Chopin, Rousseau bespoke a truth as true in 1762 and in 1894 as it is today. What was meant by these words is simply that man creates enslavements which we subject upon ourselves and our fellow beings. This is made evident in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” when met with a character who was prisoner confined and repressed to her inner life of intense, conflicting emotions and a secret desire for autonomy and self-expression. She lived like a bird in a cage, merely observing from behind bars, the …show more content…

Her husband’s friend and her sister, Richards and Josephine respectively, broke the news to her as carefully as possible. Mrs. Mallard violently weeps for his loss and then seeks the solitary refuge of her room. While sitting at the open window, she begins to take notice of the life taking place around her. Suddenly, she is confronted with this uncontainable joy in the face of her husband’s death as she realizes that life will be all her own from that day forward; she abandons herself. Once she embraced the newfound freedom, she composes herself and descends the stairs with her insistent sister, where Richards awaits them. Suddenly, the front door opens and her husband arrives, shocking the present party. The doctors attributed Louise’s death to heart disease, the cause: “a joy that …show more content…

Using the 1890’s time period, which we know by the use of a telegram, and the description of Louise Mallard, the reader is able to fill in the gaps left by the lack of detail about Louise’s marriage. The word usage and previous knowledge about women’s rights in other eras uncover the reason for Louise’s emotional state. For a woman who lives in a world with “equal rights” between men and women, I find myself unable to imagine life repressed by men as Louise had to endure. Death is a double-edged sword that can be both bitter and sweet. In the case of Louise, her death was bitter because of her lack of a free and full life; her death was sweet because it was a better alternative to being alive without truly living. Chopin couldn’t have chosen a better ending for her short story; Louise’s soul was set free from the cage that was her body stuck in that

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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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Louise Mallard's Condition

823 Words | 4 Pages

Louise Mallard's heart condition makes sudden shocks life-threatening. When her husband Brently is believed to have died in a train accident, Louise's sister Josephine and her husband's friend Richards break the news to her very gently. Mrs. Mallard is now depressed and going crazy. Louise starts to hear things when she goes outside. She says she hears spirits talking to her.

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The Awakening And Story Of An Hour Analysis

822 Words | 4 Pages

In Kate Chopin 's novel The Awakening and the short story “The Story of An Hour” feminist beliefs overshadow the value in moral and societal expectations during the turn of the century. Due to Louise Mallard and Edna Pontellier Victorian life style they both see separating from their husband as the beginning of their freedom. Being free from that culture allows them to invest in their personal interest instead of being limited to what 's expected of them. Chopin 's sacrifices her own dignity for the ideal of society’s expectations. Chopin 's sad, mysterious tone seems to support how in their era, there was a significant lack of women 's rights and freedom of expression.

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Louise Mallard's Death In The Story Of An Hour

922 Words | 4 Pages

Through textual evidence, I believe that Louise Mallard did not see her husband at the bottom of the stairs, but rather passed from the prospect of freedom that she could not handle, and therefore the last line of the story is not sardonic, but in fact truthful; Louise Mallard truly did die of joy that kills. Firstly, Louise’s death was a result of her dissatisfaction with life. In the text, Louise repeatedly makes clear to the reader that she did not enjoy her married life despite Brently’s “kind, tender hands... [and] face that had never looked save with love upon her (Chopin 525).”

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Story Of An Hour Independence

978 Words | 4 Pages

Kate Chopin wrote the short story “The Story of an Hour” in the late nineteenth century. The main character, Mrs. Mallard, is a representation of all of the women of that time. Although they may be in relationships where their husbands treat them well, it is not enough. All a woman wants is her freedom and independence. A woman wants to do as she pleases and not be dependent on her husband or her family.

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Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin Essay

498 Words | 2 Pages

In Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of An Hour,” Chopin criticizes the subjugation of women from their husbands in the late 19th century. She tells of a woman, Louise Mallard, who had just heard news that her husband had died in a railroad accident. It initially started out with Louise heavily grieving the death of her husband and being exceedingly saddened by the fact. Indications of the anguish Louise was going through was described as “...young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes…”

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Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

683 Words | 3 Pages

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” portrays the strain marriage can have on a women. In the past and even today, marriage is seen as being one of the biggest accomplishments a woman can make. This may cause women to rush into a commitment they were never ready to make. In “The Story of an Hour”, Louise Mallard, a woman with heart problems, reportedly loses her husband, Brently Mallard, to a “railroad disaster” (Chopin 1).

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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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Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

526 Words | 3 Pages

Instead of grief, Louise is actually relieved in a way. Her husband’s death has

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Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

755 Words | 4 Pages

Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour, has been widely interpreted from the feminist perspective. This story was written in 1894, a time when the roles of husband and wife and equality in marriage were viewed differently. It was a forbidden pleasure for a woman to be independent in those days, and in the story she unveils the deep rooted longing for independence that Mrs. Mallard experiences. Chopin uses symbols, imagery, and irony to convey meaning to the illumination that comes to Mrs. Mallard as she is secluded in her room upstairs, as well as to give insight on the struggles of a 19th century wife.

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Oppression In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

694 Words | 3 Pages

Around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s women’s role in society was drastically different than they are now. Women were expected to take care of the house, her husband if she had one, her children and anything other than factory labor. They had no control over their lives; everything was controlled by men. In “The Story of an Hour” (1894), Kate Chopin exemplifies the role, treatment, and conflict of a woman through the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard. Throughout the story, examples of oppression, happiness, and freedom are shown through the conflict of man v. man, self, and society.

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Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin

270 Words | 2 Pages

In the “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin the theme is imprisonment. This theme shows the restrictions that the husbands place on wives in the late 1800’s. “There would be no powerful will bending hers”(12). From this quote we can see that Mrs Mallard feels like her husband has control over her and she has to obey whatever he says. This treatment of women was considered normal at the time when the story was set.

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Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

1195 Words | 5 Pages

Mrs. Mallard’s character clearly depicts a woman’s oppressed marriage life. After her husband’s death she embraces a new freedom and a new and pleasant life of her

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Emotions In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

953 Words | 4 Pages

Further, situational irony is present through the reaction that Louise Mallard has after learning about her husband’s death. Upon first learning of her husband’s death she is very devastated and distraught. As soon as she is alone in the bathroom however, it is clear to the readers she is not as upset. In fact she is slightly relieved in that “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” (235).

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Oppression In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

1610 Words | 7 Pages

The topic I chose to conduct my research on is the short story “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin. While reading this story the deeper meaning may not be initially apparent, but after some careful analyzation it is clear what led to Mrs. Mallard’s demise. I have chosen to conduct my research on “The Story of an Hour” because I previously studied it in my Intro to Fiction course last semester and it’s impactful message stood out. The deeper message being communicated through “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is how oppression by patriarchal forces hinders female independence.

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