Loss Of Loss In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

“The Story of an Hour” is a great short story written by Kate Chopin in 1894. This story is full of ups, downs, and surprises that keep the reader on the edge of their seat. Chopin begins the story by introducing the main character Mrs. Mallard, who upon learning that her husband has been killed in a tragic railroad accident does not respond the way the reader anticipates. Instead of trying to process what has happened, or even denying it, Mrs. Mallard immediately begins crying hysterically. After a few minutes she decides that she needs to be alone. As she sits in her room and thinks about the events that just unfolded, joy starts to flood over her. Instead of mourning the death of her husband, she is happy to finally have the opportunity

Mallard. The two true themes of this story are loss and irony and Mrs. Mallard embodies both of these. The theme of loss is littered throughout this story; first Mrs. Mallard thinks that she has lost her husband; second she finds out that she has lost her new freedom, and finally Mr. Mallard loses his husband. While many readers may see Mrs. Mallard’s death as the greatest loss, Chopin’s writing suggests that it is instead the loss of new life that Mrs. Mallard has so quickly discovered. She had her entire new life planned out, and it all came crashing down within an hour. 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