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Story Of An Hour Analysis Essay

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Growing up as a woman has been quite difficult in this generation, however, growing up around thirty years ago must have been more difficult. Back in the 1900’s, women had different social norms to deal with in society. Women had to stay at home, be housewives, do the laundry, and cook while men went out and worked to obtain money for their family. In Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, she tells the struggles that women went through back in the 1990 's and the social norms that women had to go through. Chopin addresses many instances of symbolism to portray the feeling Mrs. Mallard has about her own thoughts and experiences with or without a man in her life. 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. This use of …show more content…

In Story of an Hour, there is a constant theme about Springtime. Not only does Springtime have warm weather and animals, it also portrays happiness and freedom. In this short story, Chopin discusses springtime as a relief that Mrs. Mallard’s husband has died. Springtime shows Mrs. Mallard being “set free” in a time of despair. Dark and gloomy weather usually represents death and pain while springtime portrays the new life that Mrs. Mallard will soon encounter after her husband 's death. Chopin writes, “She could see in the open square of her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life...there were patches of blue sky showing here and there,” (Chopin 307). This quote is implying that even when Mrs. Mallard got the news of her husband’s death, the world is still going on and she has a whole new life ahead of her being a single

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"The Story of an Hour": Rhetorical Appeals "The Story of an Hour" is a rather sad and short essay, but is filled with description and the main rhetorical appeals. Such as logic, credibility, and emotion; the writer Kate Chopin does an excellent job at displaying these. Therefore aiding her in expressing what it is like to be a wife and the struggles of marriage in the late 1800 's. She also expresses that you can never really know the truth unless you really look, and it took the death of her husband to realize that she was unhappy in her marriage.

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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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Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” is set in the late 1800s – a time when women were considered inferior to men. Women had traditional roles as wives and mothers. In this 19th century patriarchal society, Chopin shows us Louise Mallard, the main character, who does not comply with the female gender norms of the Victorian period. When Louise learns about the death of her husband, her reaction and the reaction of her sister and the doctor tell us a great deal about gender stereotyping during this time. Louise Mallard is described to us as “firm” and “fair.

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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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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 Everlasting Symbols of Irony “When the Doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - - of the joy that kills.” (Chopin 4). The Story of an Hour is a short story published by Kate Chopin that consists of a woman who was diagnosed with a heart disease and appears to present a rather complex relationship with her husband who was presumed to be killed in a work-based accident.

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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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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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“The Story Of An Hour” uses Literary Devices. Literary Devices are specific language techniques which writers use to create text that is dear, interesting, and memorably. The literary devices in “The Story Of An Hour” are Irony, Symbolism, Imagery, and Allegory. Irony means the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically, for humorous or emphatic effect. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

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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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Kate Chopin informs the reader of an important note about Mrs. Mallard: “And yet she had loved him–sometimes. Often she had not” (Para. 15). This woman was not a woman of companionship; she would thrive on being single. However, considering the story’s setting, she would have hit rock bottom if she never chose to marry. Failing to find a husband could have resulted in her living in poverty and dying in extremely poor conditions.

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1239 Words | 5 Pages

While both stories are unique in their conflicts and resolutions, they each take place in a similar culture and hold a similar theme. In “Story of an Hour” the main conflict facing Mrs. Mallard is identified within the first sentence, “the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin, 32). At first, Mrs. Mallard, behaves how a reader would expect one to at the news of a loved ones passing. “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment…” (33).

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1267 Words | 6 Pages

The text says, “There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window” (Chopin 13). This tells about the sadness and sorrow that has piled up in her married life. Mrs. Mallard has no children and she is unhappy in the couple. The scene opens up, “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin 13). The opening sentence of the story foreshadows the

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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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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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