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Mrs. Mallard's Conformity

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“The Story of an Hour” is one of Chopin’s most renowned short stories based on the usage of many different types of irony. This story is comprised of Mrs. Mallard who finds out about her husband’s untimely due to a tragic accident. Mrs. Mallard is devastated at first when she receives the news of her husband’s death; however, she quickly embraces the idea that she has the rest of her life to live in freedom without the ties of marriage. Ultimately, she finds out that her husband is alive and well when he walks through the front door, but Mrs. Mallard dies of heart disease and the shock that her husband returns home. The theme of conformity and rebellion is most prevalent throughout this story based on Mrs. Mallard’s embracing the idea of the …show more content…

Mallard’s death is inevitable, she rebels to societies standards by embracing her newfound freedom, which makes her character symbolic of women during this time period as well as the institution of marriage. Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble becomes an imperative symbol to her decision to rebel against society’s expectations as well as her emotional distress ultimately resulting in her demise. The heart is often a symbol of love as well as marriage, but we find in the first sentence of this story that Mrs. Mallard’s heart is periled with trouble both literally in a physical capacity as well as metaphorically in an emotional capacity. For example, Chopin states, “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble” which explains the reason that news of her husband’s death must be broken “gently” to her (Chopin). Thus, this symbol foreshadows the trouble that the marriage in this story was faced with which could explain why Mrs. Mallard decided to embrace and rejoice about her husband’s death rather than continuing to grieve. The theme of romantic love is stated explicitly because Mrs. …show more content…

Mallard embraces her newly gained independence when she goes into her room alone in the “comfortable, roomy chair,” which originally symbolizes her previous oppression as she sits and thinks of a future without her husband (Chopin). She is extremely upset to begin with, but then she moves forward to begin accepting her future when she describes the symbol of new spring life through her window. This spring life brings about many symbols, which include “patches of blue sky […] through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other” which represents the hope that Mrs. Mallard can see through the obstacles, or clouds, that have hindered her from experiencing this freedom at any moment before ( Chopin). Thus, Mrs. Mallard begins to see hope in this new life that she may lead without her marriage. She may now be an individual in society rather than being forced to live her husband’s shadow as many women of this time were forced to do. Furthermore, this hope that Mrs. Mallard finally experiences furthers her character’s representation of how oppressed women were in society during this time

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Mallard’s husband, fake death. While the narrator states “Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.” (Chopin, page ) This shows Mrs.Mallard’ psychological state, in her deep heart there is a feeling of the desire to freedom which is causing her frustration on freeing her forces that have dominant in her. The emotional state of the sudden news of her husband’s death and the longing for freedom have caused her to become insanely happy with the news that will allow living herself and breathe fresh air once

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The reader soon discovers, this feeling that comes to Mrs. Mallard is joy and relief, she feels this because she can now finally be her own person. Mrs. Mallard comes to the realization that her husband had been oppressing her for years, “There would be no powerful will bending..”, and she was finally free of that. Before the passing of her husband, Mrs. Mallard was scared of living a long life because of the treatment she received from him. After his passing she had a much different outlook, “There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself.” This shows that Mrs. Mallard was excited to now live her own life without being told what she was to do.

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Throughout the story readers can see Mrs. Mallard being characterized through the ironic events. The story says, “And yet she had loved him - sometimes. Often she had not” (8). This shows how Mrs. Mallard cares for her husband but doesn’t enjoy the power he carries over her, which nobody in the story realizes. “She arose at length and opened the door to her sister’s importunities.

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Since Mrs. Mallard locked her door, no characters were able to enter her room and see what she was thinking and feeling. The reader knows that Mrs. Mallard did not die of joy; she died because she was shocked and upset to see her husband alive. The story also features situational irony. After reading the first line of the story that states, “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble…” the reader may infer that Mrs. Mallard will be struggling with health issues throughout the story (167). However, that is not the case.

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Mallard of her husbands death, Chopin writes "It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing" (194). Chopin conceals the verbiage Josephine uses to announce the death of Mr. Mallard to protect not only Mrs. Mallard's heart from the trauma of delivering the difficult news, but to protect the reader as well. Mrs. Mallard suffers not only from a physical heart condition, but an emotional heart condition also. Chopin uses Mrs. Mallard's "heart trouble" (194) symbolically. Her heart condition represents the unhappiness and mixed feelings of her marriage and the lack of freedom she experiences throughout her marriage.

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This story connects to modern day issues because some women are actually being oppressed by their husband or significant other and feel a strong sense of freedom when they pass away. In this analysis there are four main literary devices that are used to illustrate the theme which are metaphors, irony, foreshadows, and similes. The theme that kate chopin used to idntfy the story line is a womens freedom. In this quote, “’Body and soul free!’”, Mrs. Mallard verbally recognizes her freedom now that her husband has died, and it is important to the story because it highlights her true feelings about her husband. Mrs. Mallard felt oppressed physically and spiritually by her husband to the point that his death has resulted in her freedom and happiness.

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Mrs. Mallard’s actions cause the readers to contemplate a hidden meaning woven into the story line. Mr. Mallard is assumed to die in a railroad accident, leaving Mrs. Mallard devastated. Instead of feeling sadness or grief, Mrs. Mallard actually feels free. "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Page 499).

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Mrs. Mallard goes to her room, and looks out into the patchy blue sky. Chopin uses the patchy blue sky to create an image of darkness clearing out of Mrs. Mallard’s life. When reading the story, a sense of relief comes to mind as Mrs. Mallard thinks of her life ahead without Mr. Mallard. This is when Mrs. Mallard’s character finally starts thinking for herself. She no longer has Mr. Mallard to hold her back.

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Mallard has a heart problem (Chopin 128); this will become important as she later dies “of heart disease” (Chopin 129) which makes a pattern as the story both starts and ends the story. Because of Mrs. Mallard’s heart problem, both Josephine and Richards tried to break the news as gentle as possible. So Josephine told her “in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing” (Chopin 128) about her husband’s death. The way Josephine tried to convey this message shows that it should have had a longer effect than the short moment she cried “with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms” (Chopin

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Mallard acts when finding out about the death of her husband. She confines herself in order to process what the death of her husband really meant, “When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her” (Chopin, 129). The death of her husband made her emotions feel different in a way she did not feel before. No woman should have to trapped inside of their own bodies and cannot act the way they want to without having to be judged.

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Mallard’s emotional journey. From her initial reluctance to her ultimate freedom, Mrs. Mallard reflects nature’s everchanging beauty. Chopin conducts a symphony of imagery that pieces together the life and death of Louise Mallard. It is evident that Chopin uses Louise Mallard’s story to convey her perception of women and men’s roles during the late 1800’s by showcasing her acceptance of the freedom that could only be gained by a single woman. The descriptions used in Chopin’s work are a marvelous representation of her character’s struggle with inner conflicts.

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However, as the reader continues, Mrs. Mallard actions take a turn, which would surprise a reader. She only grieves for a little while before she goes to her room—alone. There, Chopin hints at the truth behind Mrs. Mallards marriage. While most new widows, in that

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Mallard’s life now that her husband has passed. Spring represents rebirth, hope and growth, all of which she can now experience with her newfound freedom. Looking through her window, Chopin specifies the comfortable, roomy armchair Mrs. Mallard sinks into, this represents the rest from her oppressive life and societal expectations she is now free from; she is no longer restricted. In a similar way Ibsen uses symbolism to represent Nora’s oppression and freedom as well. The tarantella dance which Torvald insists she does represents Nora’s frustrations with being oppressed over matters that wouldn’t be an issue if she were a man.

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770 Words | 4 Pages

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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1346 Words | 6 Pages

We think that the form of the “Imaginary” mentioned in Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory of Mrs. Mallards family and friends “imagining” that the devastated new of Mr. Mallard’s death would cause her a heart attack, however later on in the story it was mentioned that she was in fact relieved to know she was a free woman of her marriage. Consequently, the reality of Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts, perceptions and feelings were not the same as others may have assumed or imagined to be. Based on stereotypical standards of society this was misunderstood because a wife should feel an enormous pain for the death of her husband. As the story continues, when Josephine whose Mrs. Mallard’s sister told her about the death of Mr. Mallard, instead of reacting in shock as “many women would’ve (Chopin, The Story of an Hour)” done so, Mrs. Mallard “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.

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