Mallard mourned about her husband’s loss until she realized that she was going to like having her life to herself. Chopin writes how “Mrs. Mallard 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 is situational irony because she believes that she will be able to enjoy the next years of her life on her own, when that very life was ended within minutes. It is also ironic that she was happy about her husband’s death and he was the reason that her life ended.
The first paragraph Kate Chopin’s story “The Story of an Hour" tells us the Mrs. Mallard has heart condition, so Josephine must tell her cautiously that her husband died. Her sister Josephine heard the news from Mrs. Mallard husband’s friend Richards. When her sister Josephine tell that her husband died. Immediately, she begins to crying noisily and goes to upstairs in her room. Initially in the story Mrs. .Mallard have seen upset and hearted broken dramatically over her husband’s death.
Mallard, and the girlfriend want to communicate how they feel and do not want to be constrained. Chopin was a feminist which encouraged her to write The Story of an Hour. Women do not want to feel possessed and want to be self-asserted (Chopin, 2004). Women are told to respect their marriages and must abide to society. Mrs. Mallard feels free of duties when she understands that her husband has deceased.
Another case of character development is Mr. Mallard’s character. Critics have described Mr. Mallard as being abusive, and harmful to his wife. In the story Chopin writes, “ she will weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death...” (Chopin) This quote is an example that Mr. Mallard was not abusive or unkind to Mrs. Mallard.
In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” demonstrates the personal growth of the dynamic protagonist Louise Mallard, after hearing news of her husband’s death. The third-person narrator telling the story uses deep insight into Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts and emotions as she sorts through her feelings after her sister informs her of her husband’s death. During a Character analysis of Louise Mallard, a reader will understand that the delicate Mrs. Mallard transforms her grief into excitement over her newly discovered freedom that leads to her death. As Mrs. Mallard sorts through her grief she realizes the importance of this freedom and the strength that she will be able to do it alone.
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.
The Contrast of The Story of an Hour While Mrs. Mallard is just starting a new life, so to say, for herself, her life she has known comes to an end. She is just able to become “free, free, free!” (57) when she loses her life. Kate Chopin uses contrast with the news Richard’s gave, the way Mrs. Mallard felt in the room and the doctor’s news to show how women perceived marriage in the 19th century in her story The Story of an Hour.
The story opens with the narrator telling the readers that Mrs. Mallard has heart trouble. In addition to this medical condition, her sister Josephine breaks the news to her sister, Mrs. Mallard, that her husband passed away. With all of this sudden news, Mrs. Mallard “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.” With everything happening in such a quick time period, Mrs. Mallard might feel a wild abandonment because she just lost her husband and it seems like she feels a lack of love.
This shows a balance between gender roles, as well as the embracing progressive changes within culture and society. In the story “The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, a third-person omniscient narrator, relates how Mrs. Louise Mallard, the protagonist, experiences the euphoria of freedom rather than the grief of loneliness after hearing about her husband’s death. Later, when Mrs. Mallard discovers that her husband, Mr. Brently Mallard, still lives, she realizes that all her aspiration for freedom has gone. The shock and disappointment kills Mrs. Mallard.
In the story “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin demonstrates the role of marriage in defining the individual by contrasting and highlighting the value individuals place on the marriage and love that they consider theirs. "The Story of an Hour" is a short story the author,Kate Chopin, presents a dreadful often unheard of view of marriage. Chopin 's main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, experiences the happiness of freedom rather than the desolation of loneliness after she learns of her husband 's death. Later
The Short Story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin explores the emotions of Louise Mallard a woman with a heart disease. In the hour that the story is told, it ranges from showing Mrs. Mallard different reactions to learning of her husbands death to him surprisingly showing up alive and eventually her untimely death from a heart disease. Although only a brief period of time is shown, many emotions are revealed through the third person omniscient point of view. This point of view shows more than just the protagonists thoughts and is not limited to one person. It allows the readers to know something about Mrs. Mallard that she does not as the story ends after Mrs. Mallard has already died.
Self-Identity and Freedom The story of an hour by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to her husband’s death. In this short story, Chopin portrays the complexity of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as she is saddened yet joyful of her loss. Kate Chopin’s story argues that an individual discovers their self-identity only after being freed from confinement.
Universidad de Costa Rica Carlos Contreras Flores B01884 Literary Criticism The Story of an Hour Divided in Two Millenniums Throughout human history, literature has giving people an insight of what the role of women were in different time periods. In most scenarios, literature has served to establish or spot the role of women as secondary, where they were mere subjects or objects of chauvinism. Although the role changes from time to time, it has one particular characteristic, which is the restraining of their liberty or right to choose. In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin illustrates throughout the character’s fate the only way to escape from the gender role that women were meant to have at 19th century. She achieves
In “The Story of An Hour,” the theme of the story can be derived from two ideals: confinement and liberty. Mrs. Mallard, who feels dominated by her husband and imprisoned in her home, patiently waits her potential freedom. A reader may interpret Mrs. Mallard to be the average, stereotypical wife until her husband is falsely pronounced dead in a train accident. The reader then learns that Mrs. Mallard is not at all who she seems when she reacts in ways that reveal her true desire to live amongst her own company rather than other people. Mrs. Mallard felt confined to her husband and felt only his domination over her.
(Chopin, the Story of an Hour)” It would be prudent to believe by the way Mrs. Mallard was crying that indeed she was devastated about her husband’s tragic death.
