Conflict Of Conflicts In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

The symbols and imagery used by Kate Chopin's in “The Story of an Hour” give the reader a sense of Mrs. Mallard’s new life appearing before her through her view of an “open window” (para. 4). Louise Mallard experiences what most individuals long for throughout their lives; freedom and happiness. By spending an hour in a “comfortable, roomy armchair” (para.4) in front of an open window, she undergoes a transformation that makes her understand the importance of her freedom. The author's use of Spring time imagery also creates a sense of renewal that captures the author's idea that Mrs. Mallard was set free after the news of her husband's death.

In “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin demonstrates her ability to show characters’ drastic changes in personality and mentality through their way of thinking. Chopin’s protaggonist, Mrs. Mallard is suffering from the news of Mr. Mallard’s death, but her feelings are changing throughout the story. Mrs. Mallard is a feeble wife, who undergoes the grief of her husband’s death, finds relief and freedom, and for that she becomes a strong and independent woman. The story greets it’s readers with Mrs. Mallard’s fragility.

Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour is a brilliant short story of irony and emotion. The story demonstrates conflicts that take us through the character’s emotions as she finds out about the death of her husband. Without the well written series of conflicts and events this story, the reader would not understand the depth of Mrs. Mallard’s inner conflict and the resolution at the end of the story. The conflict allows us to follow the emotions and unfold the irony of the situation in “The Story of an Hour.”

Although true to its name regarding length, “The Story of an Hour,” written by Kate Chopin published in the eighteen-hundreds, is a profound story with a deeply tragic implication. At first glance, one may assume that this story is a short and not very complex read, and while that is partially true, “The Story of an Hour” has so much more to offer upon further analysis. The main character, Louise Mallard, is a woman who feels confined by her “love”, Brently Mallard, who acts as the opposing force in this story; and throughout the plot it divulges a tale of freedom, which inevitably gets torn from her very grasp. This alone is evidence enough that among the devices Chopin uses, irony and foreshadowing being two examples; irony is the most important.

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” focuses on a woman named Louise Mallard and her reaction to finding out about her husband’s death. The descriptions that the author uses in the story have significance in the plot because they foreshadow the ending.

In the 1900s, women were restricted to home and family duties, living a life with low expectations and no encouragement to pursue an education or careers. Women were also deprived of their individual and social life. The short story published in 1894 “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin demonstrates oppression, which can be defined as “the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner. Ms.Mallard (the main character) is overwhelmed by a sense of freedom after finding out of a railroad accident, with her husband being one of the victims. Throughout the plot, the feeling of oppression and repression are subtle, as Louise Mallard has a short glance of independence before her heart gets the best of her.

As she looked through the window, “She could see in the open square before 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 through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window,” (5, 6). Her attention on what she sees as she looks out the window, particularly the “tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life”, denote her new life of freedom and her recently discovered inner well-being. It is clearly shown, through the use of symbolism, that with her husband’s death she now has been given a new life, one without restraints and full of opportunities. These sensations continue as she begins to drink in the “very elixir of life through that open window,” (16). The life that came through the open window was the freedom and opportunities she now had with her husband gone. The open window provides a clear view into the distance of Louise’s new future, which was no longer obstructed by the demands and obligations of her husband. With the freedom and new life she received through the window, it is therefore no surprise that when she turns away from it she soon loses both as well (18, 20). Because the open window symbolized her freedom, opportunities, and new life, her turning away and leaving it symbolized her losing all she had gained from the window. By taking those away from Mrs. Mallard when she leaves the window, it further goes to show the open window symbolized her receiving them with the loss of her husband. The open window shows all the possibilities she had in her new life without her husband, showing Chopin’s views on how marriage in the nineteenth century constrained women, successfully delivering what she intended to show through the story by using symbolism in the open

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is the liberating yet tragic tale of Louise Mallard. It is about Louise Mallard finding independence after hearing news of her husband’s supposed death, and later suddenly dying upon his return. In the story, Chopin does not express the true reason for Mrs. Mallard’s abrupt death, but few insights throughout the narration give indication of the actual reason. The last sentence tells that the doctors said “she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills” (217) which is ironic in the fact that Mrs. Mallard did die of heart disease, but it was not the arrival of joy, but rather the loss of it that caused the imminent end of her life. During the course of the time Mrs. Mallard spends in her room reflecting on her husband’s death, we observe as she goes through different stages of self-discovery: from a grieving widow, to the forbidden satisfaction of her newly found freedom, and ultimately to the acceptance of her situation which elates her as she descends the staircase with her sister in her final moments.

Louise being so happy for her husband being dead is not something you would expect a new “widow” to feel or act. She is happy in her new freedom and imagines what life will now be like. I believe that Mrs. Mallard got what was coming to her; she should not have planned out her life prematurely. Kate Chopin does this intentionally to convey to the reader how this woman is so oppressed at this time that she would find joy in the death of her husband. Louise is quick to think about starting her new life with little to no mourning for her husband’s death.

The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin, is a protofeminist short story that contains emotional twists and turns of irony and tragedy in just an hour. Kate Chopin displays the dynamic between men and women in relationships during the nineteenth century as this story was written in 1894. The story begins with the main protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, who is introduced to us by the heart problem she has. Her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richard, are with Mrs. Mallard to inform her with caution, due to her heart condition, the devastating news that her husband Brently, has been killed by a railroad disaster.

Kate Chopin’s ironic story “The Story of an Hour” contrasts the facts of Mrs. Mallard’s current life to Mrs. Mallard’s desirable future life as widow in quick succession, sentence by sentence, incident by incident.

Kate Chopin begins her short essay with a man named Richards telling Josephine about the death of his dear friend, Brently Mallard, who also happened to be Josephine’s sister’s husband. Josephine was so scared to tell her sister, Mrs. Mallard, of the news about the accident her husband was involved in. Mrs. Mallard suffered from heart conditions and her sister did not know how she would take such horrible news. When she finally built up the courage to tell her sister, Mrs. Mallard fell into her sister’s arms and wept. A little while later, she went away to her room to be alone. She sat in her comfortable armchair gazing out of the open window, admiring the beauty of the outside world. As she sat there sobbing, a peculiar feeling came upon her. She began to whisper one word over and over again, “free.” She could not help but feel like she was finally able to spread her wings and fly. She did not stop to wonder if this joy were repulsive because if she did, she would feel sad all over again. She sat there happily thinking of all the years that would now belong to her, and only her. Her sister knelt beside the door and begged her come out. Mrs. Mallard walked gracefully and contentedly down the stairs with Josephine. They met Richards at the bottom of the stairs to find someone opening the front door, Brently Mallard. Mrs. Mallard then passed out at the sight of her perfectly, alive husband. The doctors, moments too late, declared she died from her heart condition- a joy that kills.

The story of an hour by Kate Chopin is one that shows the various emotions that an individual goes through when they meet grief. It is a representation of a woman that is need of freedom. The joy of a woman that gets bitter sweet news about her husband’s death. The reaction to the news might be considered odd but upon further understanding of the material, one is able to get why the woman, Mrs. Mallard reacts in such a way to the death of her husband. The author relies on setting to pass across her message.

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a short yet complex story, describing Mrs Mallard’s feelings. It focuses on the unfolding emotional state of Mrs Mallard after the news of her husbands death, and has overflowing symbolism and imagery. It is an impressive literary piece that touches the readers’ feelings and mind and allows the reader to have a connection to Mrs Mallard’s emotional process. Although the story is short, it is complete with each word carrying deep sense and meaning. It is written in the 19th century, a time that had highly restrictive gender roles that forbade women to live as they saw fit. Mrs Mallard experiences something not everyone during this time has the luck to have; the happiness of freedom that the reader only

Kate Chopin’s impressive literary piece, The Story of an Hour, encompasses the story of an hour of life, an hour of freedom. We must seize the day and live our lives to the fullest without any constraints. This very rich and complete short story carries a lot of meaning and touches a readers feelings as well as mind. Throughout this piece much symbolism is brought about, which only helps us to understand the meaning and success of Kate Chopin’s work. Kate allows her reader to think and allows us to understand the meaning of her story with the different uses of symbols such as heart troubles, the armchair, the open window, springtime, and the calm face and goddess of victory. We eventually realize little by little that Mrs. Mallard