Story Of An Hour Situational Analysis

Every human has a different approach when enduring the loss of a loved one. In Kate Chopin’s, The Story of an Hour, Louise Mallard received the news of her husband death. During this time, widows normally grieve for a long period, but Mrs. Mallard is an atypical widow. She grieves for a short period of time, but then she is overcome with a sense of freedom because she is free from an oppressive and unhappy marriage. This is an example of how The Story of an Hour portrays irony. Kate Chopin implements three types of irony: situational, dramatic, and verbal. Kate Chopin’s ability to successful use irony causes the story to have many unexpected twists and turns while the story progress.
Mrs. Mallard reaction to her husband death represents the situational irony presented in this story. When Mrs. Mallard first heard about the death of her husband, Brently Mallard, she was startled. The passage states that “she went at once, with sudden, wild

Mallard “a heart problem” is an instance where verbal irony was used. At the first glance, it seems that Chopin is taking about the human organ. In reality, she is using the “heart” to represent the figurative heart, which is the soul. The actual trouble with Mrs. Mallard’s heart is that she is going through problems with her soul. Her death at the end of the story is proving ironic because Chopin’s say that she died of heart disease and overwhelming joy, but she actually died because of the failure of her soul. Another example of verbal irony is shown in the title of the narrative, The Story of an Hour. The word included in the title suggests that the events happen in a short period of time in which a lot of events normally don’t occur. The Story of an Hour seems like it lasts a lifetime ,but Mrs. Mallard experiences freedom, happiness, sadness, depression and grief in a mere hour time span. The title, Story of an Hour and in describing Mrs. Mallard troubled