Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

“Story of an Hour” is a tale of great controversy, a concept well known to the author Kate Chopin. Focusing on marriage and joy after death, Chopin planned to explore the possibilities of a scenario and invoke thought in the readers. Upon hearing the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard “did not hear the story as many women had heard the same” (15). Instead of pondering over the news of her husband’s death and beginning the stages of grief, she instead accepts the news and simply cries. This is the first odd reaction brought to the reader as Mrs. Mallard’s controversial tale begins. Mrs. Mallard proceeds to run to her room and stare outside where she sees the beauty in the world and the nature around it. She notices “there were patches of blue sky showing here and there…” an oddly hopeful sign in this time of what should be grief to her (15). This is the first part of the story in which the reader can start to perceive joy coming to Mrs. Mallard in her realization of what has happened. As the joy begins to build and culminate within her “she did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her” (16). Within this phrase, Chopin brings light to the fact that Mrs. Mallard no longer cares whether or not she should feel guilty

Often she had not” (16). This insight into the mind of Mrs. Mallard allows the reader to infer about the home life between her and her husband also supported by the statement that “it was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (16). Mrs. Mallard not loving her husband often and dreading the fact that life might be long with him alludes to a more grave issue between the two, possibly hinting at an unhappy marriage or even something more serious. With these two small details, it is easy to see why Mrs. Mallard may be expressing joy in reference to her newfound freedom and how it can be