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Story Of An Hour Analysis

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The “Story of an Hour” is a story that represents the negative ideals and impact that marriages had upon women back then as it’s seen when Mrs. Mallard is overjoyed by her newfound freedom even if it meant her husband’s death. Of course the author doesn’t quickly give this away and throughout the story uses various literary devices such as symbolism and irony from portraying the conflicting emotions within Mrs. Mallard to the end of her happiness from her husband’s return. When Louise starts to question what her life was like with her husband, the words that are used to describe Ms. Mallard’s life with her husband are simplistic and dull giving little insight into what their marriage or love was like. This can be because Louise was not led …show more content…

As Mrs. Mallard looks out the window she describes things in such detail such as the “delicious breath of air” and “countless sparrows twittering in the eaves….patches of blue sky”. It is in this moment that Mrs. Mallard has an epiphany and realizes that all her dreams that were once just desires of the heart can become true. When she states “free! Body and Soul free”, this is when she realizes that her thoughts and emotions can finally be a part of who she is and the new life that she is going to make for herself. Another symbolism in this story is her heart problems. The heart attack that is caused by heart disease serves as symbolism for the “disease” that is her marriage and just like any disease the person cannot be truly free of it if the cause is present or in this case her husband. Also it was heart that affected which can be interpreted as an internal problem as the heart is associated with love and emotion. In the story it is stated that the husband loves Mrs. Mallard and she reciprocated by stating “she had loved him sometimes-often not” which the reader can conclude she didn’t return the same

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She learns of her husband’s death in an accident and falsely finds a renewed joy for life as she is free from the burden of marriage. Tragically she goes to the front door as it is being opened with a key, to find Mr. Mallard still alive, causing her to die of heart

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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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The societal expectation of men being dominant and women being submissive has been a pervasive theme throughout history. This is reflected in the treatment of women in both of the aforementioned stories. In “Story of an Hour”, Mrs Mallard is initially seen as a grieving widow, someone who is unable to function without the support of her husband. However, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that her grief is not just about her husband's death, but also about the loss of her percieved security and dependance. This threat of lost security is what commonly kept women in situations of abuse, without the financial ability to become independent, Women commonly had to remain under Men’s oppression.

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The open window represents freedom and new possibilities that for Mrs. Mallard now that her husband has died. Her sorrow is replaced by a

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An example of symbolism from this story is the heart. " Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble" The "heart trouble" is symbolic of the unhappy marriage she was in. When she is starting to realize the new found freedom she is about to have: "Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body. " The last sentence of the story, "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - of joy that kills." represents the overwhelming feeling of freedom she experienced when she learned of her husbands supposed death taken away from her as quickly as she had received it.

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"When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills" (3). When she realize that her dreams could not become real because Mr. Mallard was still alive was when she dies from

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Researchers have varied interpretations on this event. Some may interpret this as Mrs. Mallard feeling restrained by her marriage and unable to live freely. Others saw this as a

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In the opening paragraph to the story, the author tells the reader that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition. The second sentence gives the reader knowledge to believe that her husband Mr. Mallard has died. Upon understanding this, the reader may assume that Mrs. Mallard

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In the beginning of the story, she heard the news of her husband’s death in train accident from her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend, Richard. She was shocked by the news and showed sad feelings in the story. However, when I was reading through the story, I could infer that Mallard had a terrible marriage life with her husband because the story later said that Mallard was happy because she had freedom. In the beginning of the story, she was shocked and sad but later on, she was happy because of in dependence. These evidences prove that she is a dynamic character.

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The Story of an Hour In 1894 women had little to no rights. They had no true identity or self recognition. In the short story “The Story of an Hour” it demonstrates this theme of women being trapped in their own lives. The main character Louise is trapped in her marriage and does not have the freedom she craves.

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In Story of an Hour, the whole central point of this short story is to discuss Mrs. Mallard 's heart condition. After reading the story the first time, it came about that this heart condition means a lot more than you think. Mrs. Mallard 's heart condition symbolizes the troubles that she encounters having a husband. For example, if Mrs. Mallard didn’t have this heart condition, she would still possess emotional heart trouble in her relationship.

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With this information, unknown to Mrs. Mallard, it is said that she has a heart condition of some sort, but the story does not specify on it directly. In my opinion, her heart trouble is self-inflicted. I say this because she is considerably unhappy with her marriage. Although Mr. Mallard has never looked at her empty of love, she still feels the sense of entrapment; as if her life simply belongs to her husband instead of her. “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.”

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Mallard reaches a sense of exuberant liberation. She is overwhelmed with feelings of a newfound freedom. Chopin illustrates this burst of hope once again through nature imagery when she writes, “But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air”(Chopin 237). Though Mrs. Mallard tries, she cannot fight the growing sense of freedom that overtakes her. Chopin writes this change as a powerful realization that Mrs. Mallard cannot help but accept.

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She saw birds flying, blue skies, and new spring life blooming everywhere. Lastly, Mrs. Mallard actually received her freedom while having an epiphany in her bedroom, even though it was stripped from her soon after when her husband, Brently Mallard, came through the door alive as he could be. She had a heart attack from the realization that she would have to go back to her old life of pleasing her husband. On the other hand, Aunt Jennifer never actually received her freedom from her husband. He would always have that hold on

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The story of an Hour Critical Analysis through a Psychological Perspective using both Freud and Lacan’s theory approach. In the beginning of the story, the Chopin informs the audience of Mrs. Mallard serious heart condition. Her friends and family were worried how to break the news to her of her husband’s death. After giving it much thought Mrs. Mallard was given the news as gently as possible of her husband’s death.

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