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Mrs. Mallard In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

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In the short story, “The Story of An Hour,” written by Kate Chopin a woman named Louise Mallard is given the devastating news leading her to believe her husband had passed away. Mrs. Mallard’s close friend and sister try to tell her this news in the most gentle way possible since she had a heart condition, but almost immediately Mrs. Mallard started crying and locked the door to her room. Once the crying halted she quickly realized all the freedom she now had in her life because of her husband’s passing. After all the exciting thoughts of her new life, her sister bangs on the door and gets her out of the room. Mr. Mallard walked through the front door, unknown that everyone had thought he was dead. Once seeing her now alive husband, Mrs. Mallard’s heart problems drop made her dead down to the floor. In this story Mrs. Mallard is a dynamic character who Chopin uses to show how MARRIAGE OFTEN OPPRESSES PEOPLE INTO RESTRICTIVE THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING A SELF SUFFICIENT, INDIVIDUAL AND FREQUENTLY STOPS THE CURIOSITY OF WHAT ELSE THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER. At the beginning of the short story Mrs. Mallard is taken by the news of her husband’s death, since their whole lives seem to revolve around each other. The childish weeping in her room portrays her as a weak and fragile wife, but nonetheless loving toward her spouse. But in that same amount of time she realized the joys that can come from such a tragic death, making her seem almost unaffected by the situation. Her key trait in this
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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.

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Chopin’s use of irony enhances every part of the story and takes it to a new level not commonly reached by authors. It turns out that the real conflict in Mrs. Mallard’s situation wasn’t really that she had lost a loved one. It was really that her freedom and joy was taken from her once her husband. who in the time frame really just controlled her and was seen as her superior in every way, came back home and was realized to be alive. The use of Irony in this short story really brings it to a new level by, giving insight into what kind of person Mrs. Mallard is, indirectly showing when this story happened, and by bringing this story all the way to its breaking point where Mrs. Mallard unexpectedly

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While reading the story, it was clear that Mrs. Mallard was happy for the beginning of her new life and the start of freedom. Chopin uses descriptive diction throughout the story, such as irony, symbol,

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Louise’s victory in accepting her husband’s death is a feeling that she now cannot live without. The ultimate death of Louise Mallard is one that represents physical and emotional defeat. In this dramatic short story, Chopin uses imagery to sew together a tapestry of emotions all encompassed in an ill-stricken widow. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.”

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Kate Chopin wrote a story about Mrs. Mallard, a married woman who suffers from heart problems and also has to cope with her husband recent passing. Mrs.Mallard, she showed sincere grief about her husband passing. However, looking back at how controlling her husband Mr.Mallard were in their marriage, Mrs.Mallard felt a sudden joy when processing her husband death After her sudden emotional change, Mrs Mallard felt liberated when she started thinking about what her life would be like without Mr.Mallard, but regardless of the happiness she feels, she knows that once she sees her husband in corpse that sadness will return. Through her writing, author Chopin readers/ audience would be women who feel trapped and controlled in their marriage. Anger, loneliness and heartbroken are feelings that women who're coping with the death of their loved one feel.

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Although it is a short story, it has lot of elements making it a successful story. Chopin’s story has many prevalent themes that are showcased. The idea of forbidden happiness was one major theme present. When Brently Mallard dies, Mrs. Mallard comes to the realization that she is now an independent woman. Although she has to keep this joy private, she tries her best to hide this contentment, Her resistance to her true feelings show how forbidden her emotions are and that society would never accept Louise’s true emotions.

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Kate Chopin introduces her main character as “Mrs. Mallard” to signify her being married. However, within her marriage, she loses herself. Being married, she took her husband’s last name and became a wife. In a way it changed her personality. She was no longer her own self, she was someone else’s “property”.

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(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.

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In the story, Chopin begins with the issue of female identity. The story, just like several other stories, begins with Mrs. Mallard being at home; two assumptions can be made, one she is married, and two, she is probably waiting for her husband to return home. What is particular about it, is how Chopin only mentions her name after she knows about her husband’s death and when is realizes that she is free. By doing this, the author criticizes the fact that women adopted her husband’s name in marriage as a signal of men’s property. This fact could mean that for a woman to recover her identity or freedom is by becoming a

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Kate Chopin was an independent woman even while being married to her husband she walked alone through the city of New Orleans, and she argued with others about politics and social problems which were also not normal for a woman to do around the 1880’s. Her husband later died and though she mourned his death she embraced this independence even more. Chopin wrote about the life and the people of Louisiana (since she moved there after her husband 's death) and focused most of her writings on love, marriage, women, and independence. In the short story “The Story of an Hour” Chopin introduces the themes of freedom/Independence, the oppressiveness of marriage, and mortality through these three themes Chopin depicts the struggle of women during the 1880’s.

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