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Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

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The Story Of An Hour Essay Analysis In the 1800s women were viewed as a man's property and did not have rights like women of today do. In The Story Of An Hour, Louise is trying to learn how to cope with the newfound events that have changed her life forever. As she goes into solitude to discover what every woman hopes for during the time period which is freedom. Louise Mallard demonstrates grievance for the loss of her husband. As it states in the beginning of her delicate condition they are afraid to shock her too much to where it can affect her heart in a stressful way. “Great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.”(Chopin 168) When Louise heard of the news she was overwhelmed by sadness as it states that “when the storm of grief had spent itself she went to her room alone.”(Chopin 169) As her mind catches up with the situation she feels as though she needs to deal with her loss in isolation. As she does go into isolation she is trying to gather and actually make coherent thoughts as she …show more content…

“There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it fearfully.What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name.”(Chopin 169) Louise soon realizes what this strange feeling as she goes through the roller coaster of emotions trying to decipher what exactly she is feeling. Then she realizes with the race of her heartbeat and the rise and fall of her chest that she is feeling intense rejoice. “ She did not stop to ask if it were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.” Louis soon comes to the actualization that she is finally free from her bonds and can accept her new life with “open arms.” Now with a new sense of strength and power she feels as though she is invincible and that she can face life as a new profound

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78 Words | 1 Pages

1. Chopin writes, “Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously” (par. 10). 2. There isn’t a doubt that Louise has triumphed over her grief since she is now experiencing the “very elixir of life” (Chopin, par. 18). 3.

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635 Words | 3 Pages

In the short story “The Story of an Hour”, By Kate Choplin was about a main character named Louise Mallard, who had a tremendous change in her life. The open window and the independence Louise Mallard is experiencing is a forbidden pleasure that represents her way of new life and opportunity. The life of Louise Mallard was always been in control by his husband and she never gets any freedom until the news she receive about the death of his husband Brentley Mallard. Mrs. Mallard reaction to the death of her husband was “She wept at once,” this describe how she felt when they told her about his husband was “killed” (Para 2, Line 6), she felt as she was hopeless and not herself anymore and that she will always be the wife material of Brentley Mallard.

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432 Words | 2 Pages

An analysis of dynamic character like Louise Mallard, (the protagonist) of “The Story of an Hour”, illustrates a central theme of the story, independence is sometimes a prohibited satisfaction we behold within all of

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469 Words | 2 Pages

it was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought”(Chopin 60). In this quote, Louise is not actively trying to process the information of her husband’s death, but she is trying to hold onto the tinge of optimism she feels revolving around the news of her husband’s death

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849 Words | 4 Pages

The symbolism and imagery Chopin utilizes to emphasize the idea that Louise deserved to be her own individual are detrimental to the passage. An especially notable moment is when Louise is “striving to beat [her excitement] back with her will—as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been” because the image Chopin paints of Louise symbolizes her powerlessness throughout her marriage (Chopin 96). This also displays how she cannot help but be excited about the possibilities in her future to find her own purpose and meaning. This idea is expounded upon in “Time and Gender in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Kate Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour’” by Fahimeh Berenji when it is explained that Louise and Jane were both in situations where there was an “impossibility of. success in their struggle” (223).

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929 Words | 4 Pages

As when told the news of her Husband’s death the initial reaction of it seemed like she was sad: “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had passed itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.” (Chopin 1). This is what everyone in the room thought as she left the room, wanting to be alone to grieve off the news.

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822 Words | 4 Pages

This was bitter irony since everyone thought Louise died from being excited to see her husband when she really died from not wanting to see him. “She thought of Leonce and the children. They were part of her life. But they need not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul. ”(Chopin 137).

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1296 Words | 6 Pages

to herself, demonstrating how she now feels independent. Her "heart trouble" doesn't return until Brently enters the room, and this time it is so severe that it kills her. The irony of the ending is that Louise actually dies from the loss of joy rather than from joy as the physicians believe she

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632 Words | 3 Pages

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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1215 Words | 5 Pages

At first, she does start crying, but after having some time to herself, she begins to whisper “Free!” (Chopin 426). Louise understands that she has this new-found freedom from the oppression of Brently, and that is why she seems both happy and upset. Even though he loved her, he still oppressed her. This leads to the conclusion that even though Brently was kind with his “tender hands” (Chopin 426) he still had the ability to oppress his wife even if he did not mean to.

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940 Words | 4 Pages

Although there is no clear statement that shows Louise to have an oppressive marriage, there are ambiguous statements about the marriage that show she feels caged. During the event of finding out about Brently’s death, Louise did not respond “as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden wild abandonment” (Chopin), due to Brently’s death she is finally able to let out emotions that she has held in for so many years of being a dutiful wife. Once Louise is left alone to grieve she reflects upon her feelings and her marriage. The narrator points out that Louise knows she will cry again for him when she sees his funeral, remembering his “kind, tender hands...the face that had never looked save with love upon her” (Chopin).

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828 Words | 4 Pages

Now she is no longer pitiful and heartbroken but joyful and excited for a life free of her husband’s dominant presence. The story says for the first time in her life, Mrs. Mallard prays for a long life. Gary Mayer describes Mrs. Mallard’s new situation by writing: "Louise's joy, it may be argued, is her thought of being single, not the realization that her husband is alive"(Mayer 95). When this change occurs, Chopin expresses Louise Mallard’s new found freedom by finally using her first name rather than her surname as she writes, “Louise, open the door!”(Chopin 237). This signifies the rebirth of a woman formally suppressed by the name of her husband; she is no longer defined by someone else, but she defines herself and her

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1610 Words | 7 Pages

If the last line of “The Story of an Hour” is taken in the literal sense, it can be perceived that Mrs. Mallard was not oppressed and was ecstatic that her husband was alive, ultimately being killed by the excitement. Although the latter it is a logical presumption, the thoughts and actions of Louise Mallard reinforce the argument that the true meaning behind this story is one of marital oppression. She blatantly stated that she welcomes the upcoming years free from her husband with open arms. Louise Mallard’s internal dialogue following her husband’s death suggests oppression and her reaction to her husband’s death was hardly one of a distraught wife. It is true that the blame doesn’t

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1575 Words | 7 Pages

The story “A Story in an Hour” was written by Kate Chopin, a recently recognized feminist writer. In this short story we find four characters, the protagonist Louise Mallard a women with heart problems that cannot get overly excited or extremely sad situations. Brently Mallard Louise’s husband, a kind and loving man. Josephine Louise’s sister cares very deeply about her sister and helps Louise with her heart problems. Finally Richards, he is Brently’s friend he is present during one of Louise’s, supposedly, difficult moments.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

Another theme that is present is the theme of freedom. At first, she does not have much freedom at all and throughout the duration of they story she is confined in her home. Her newfound freedom gave her much joy but as she left her room, it was cut much too short due to her untimely death. The Story of an Hour has many structural, stylistic, and literary approaches that make it a very powerful

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