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Story of an hour analysis theme
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Story of an hour analysis theme
Symbolism of the story of an hour
Themes in the story of an hour essay
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01.05 Prompt 2 The short story, “The Story of an Hour”, is about a woman being told about her husband’s death. Her sister and her husband’s friend came to tell her the news the best they can, because Louise Mallard had heart trouble. When she was told the news of her husband, Brently’s death in a railroad accident she screamed and wept. Mrs. Mallard experienced many emotions.
Unsurprisingly, this article discusses the emotions in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” S.S. Jamil shows the irony in stereotyping women as overemotional, when the conventional roles Louise Mallard lives in force her to suppress her emotions. Jamil suggests that this is the cause of Louise’s heart trouble, since psychological health does affect physical health. The self-assertion that Louise discovers is permission to be herself, since emotions are a substantial part of who we are. The narrative of this article paints Louise as the victim and society as the culprit.
Someone who will cherish them for all eternity. In a close examination of the way Louise Mallard, the protagonist of “The Story of an Hour”, and Delia, the protagonist of “Sweat”, react to their encounters with their marriages demonstrates that authors Kate Chopin and Zora Neale Hurston both use short stories to tell similar stories about the difficulties of their emotional states in their marriages. First, it is seen that Louise Mallard is an unchanging character who values her freedom from her marriage. Throughout the story it becomes obvious how self-centered Louise Mallard is.
Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" is a brief compelling narrative that shows the complicated feelings of a recent widow, or so she thought. Our protagonist in the story is a woman named Lousie Mallard. The story is set in the nineteenth century and revolves on the news that Louise's husband Brently, has died in an tragic accident. This character analyis will overview the protagoinst perceptions, feelings, and societal expectations that she encountered within her experience. Louise Mallard is portrayed as a gentle woman by her sister Josephanie in the beginng of the story.
In this character analysis I’ve chosen to review Mrs. Louise Mallard from Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”. Louise is the protagonist in this story and even though the story covers a short span of time, we can see that she is a dynamic character. The story begins with Louise being told of the death of her husband, shown how she processes this information and through it finds a new joy, and then she suddenly dies after discovering realizing that Mr. Mallard was still alive. Throughout the story she’s seen by other characters as frail, but the narrator shows her inner strength. Some readers might view her as callous while others might see her as an abused woman redeemed.
Where do people tend to find love from? Most of the time the answer is in relationships with other humans. Most everyone wants to be loved by someone else. We all seem to try and find that special someone to make us happy. Kate Chopin and Zora Neale Hurston demonstrate how people have different relationships in “The Story of an Hour” and “Sweat”.
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.
Following the failure of her husband’s business, Kate Chopin spent her time attempting to flirt with various men. Kate Chopin’s numerous attempts to get another man to replace her husband proves that women of the time were submissive, because as soon as her man was gone she desperately attempted to get another rather than continue on alone. The submissive attitude described in the cult of domesticity was overwhelmingly present in Kate Chopin’s writing as well as in her life. In Kate Chopin’s short story “Story of an Hour”, the main character Louise Mallard is never referred to by others as her own personal title, instead always mentioned under her husband’s name. Louise Mallard is clearly submissive throughout the story since she has no identity separate from her husband, even being put under her husband’s name after his death.
In the story of an hour, Kate Chopin described Mrs. Mallard situation in many ways. They were so many emotions at once that she couldn’t just say them. A lot of allegory, irony, symbolism were used in this story. Mrs. Mallard has so many emotions she couldn’t plain say them. Her emotions are many before and after the “death” of her husband.
The doctors say that Louise had died because “of joy that kills” after seeing her husband (Chopin 785). It is ironic because Louise didn’t die because of happiness. She died because she is somber that she is not free. It’s like the oppression she feels from her husband and society is the bars that kept Louise from freedom, and it opened for a moment, yet it suddenly shuts down and traps
Those sentiments show that her husband was not a cruel man but a kind one. With that information, it is still noted that “she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not” (Chopin) which could mean her marriage was of convenience and not a choice. Even though this relationship may have been amicable Louise still struggles with this new emotion, that of
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.
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.
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.”
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.