Foreshadowing In The Story Of An Hour

Chopin expertly adds irony to the story by stating, “When the doctors came they say she had died from heart disease - of joy that kills” (8). However, the readers know that she died because of the sudden loss of her new found freedom. This develops irony because the characters didn’t know the excitement she felt when her spouse “passed away”, but the readers know she rejoiced in her freedom. From the characters point of view, it may seem she died because she was so excited her husband returned safely. After Mrs. Mallard barracked herself in her room, it is stated that she “Abandoned herself” and then started chanting “Free! Free! Free!” (7). This displays her excitement towards her husband's death. However, the other characters are fearing for her health since they believe she is not strong enough to get through the

In “The Story of an Hour”, the main character Mrs. Mallard, gets news that her husband has been killed in an accident. Her sister delays telling her the news because she has a bad heart, but when she finally tells the news, Mrs. Mallard wants to be left alone. They think that she is very upset by her husband’s death, but

The crash and clatter were what she wanted to hear.” (Chopin 61) “I would give up the unessential; I would give up my money, I would give up my life for my children; but I wouldn't give up myself .” (Chopin 55) “A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before” (Chopin 30)

Mallard’s emotions towards the “death” of her husband because of outside inspiration that took apart in her epiphany. When she first discovered her new emotions and did not know that they were tied to how she had felt in her marriage, she had questioned what she was actually feeling “What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air” (Chopin 476).The emotion that she had of the liberation her husbands “death” gave her was reaching out to her from the window and the forethought of a life where she lives as her own

Her husband Brently Mallard then walks into the house and Mrs. Mallard has a heart attack and dies. In the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the literary elements foreshadowing and irony are used effectively to augment the story. The author uses the literary element foreshadowing to forewarn the reader of

At the end of the story, Mrs. Mallard’s husband walked through her front door in the flesh, but Mrs. Mallard’s heart could not handle the excitement. The

Mallard’s unexpected bout of joy also supports the theme; if she was not feeling confined, her feelings of grief would not have been replaced by excessive joy. Time moves along, and she continues to whisper “free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin 2). It is further understood that the character was released from a constricted marriage because the words willingly slip roll off her tongue.

“Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.” (Chopin, pag.1 pg.21) Mallard dies from the shock of seeing her husband.

I n the Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin gives us the feeling that Mrs. Mallard is unhappy in the by telling us “she was presses down by physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (227). We learn right off that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition and should be treated tenderly. When she heard the news of her husbands death, she was at first upset and distraught. She did not begin to feel better until she had time to sit and think, with “the delicious breath of rain was in the air” (227). Mrs. Mallard felt lonely and did not know what to do with herself anymore. She realized that there would no longer be someone there with her to be there when her life expired. She often had the feeling that life was too long and that the end would never come for her. That was a sign that Mrs. Mallard was a lonely and isolated woman. She was sitting there in the chair when it came to her in a sudden rush. That she is “Free! Body and soul free” (228). Mrs. Mallard knew then that life was not short after all. Life was short and she should live it to the fullest. She is now free to do as she pleases. Mrs. Mallard has a feeling of freedom, freedom form the loneliness and isolation that she has felt for a very long time. She is now free to be herself

Her love for life and the desire to live long, take an ironic twist when she sees that her husband is actually alive. Watching the husband alive in front of her is indeed the real shock of her life. It strikes with such a force that it takes her life. It is very likely that her weak heart simply could not bear, what indeed was for her, the most tragic news. Her husband’s death meant life to her which she hoped would be long enough. “She says a prayer that her life might be long to enjoy all the seasons in her life”. (Chopin 262).

The end to this story enhances Chopin’s explanation because once she finds out that her husband is not dead it puts her in so big of a shock that she dies herself. The story gives a reason for her death which said, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills”( para, 23).

Mrs Mallard's awkward attitude after learning of her husband's death establishes an irony- somebody who is really happy in marriage will not enjoy nature in peace and have mixed emotions; the person will feel genuine grief upon hearing of the death of her husband. Here, Mrs Mallard's reaction portrays the extent to which her thirst for freedom was strong. Kate Chopin allows us to visualise the moment that Mrs Mallard is able to shed the bondage of marriage: "free, free, free!." She feels liberated through her husband's death. Much emphasis is laid on her joy upon finding freedom- "there would be no one to live for." The author also points out that "she knew that she would weep again.....folded in death." This only highlights the fact that it is not an expression of love but seems more like a duty that

Mallard should have been in tears but it did not bother her. “ She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.” ( Chopin, 4 ) . Her marriage aged her, she was no longer the young woman she once was. The news of her husband's death did not upset or make her mad it gave her a sense of peace. Mrs. Mallard had a taste of freedom which gave her strength.

Mallard’s heart trouble, after she goes to her room, “we realize that the problem with her heart is that her marriage has not allowed her to ‘live for herself’.”(Hicks) With the news of her husband’s death Mrs. Mallard has now been reborn. She is now free, free from the shadow of her husband. Although the author gave little details about the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Mallard, the story suggests it had not been unhappy but Mrs. Mallard had felt repressed. “She knew she would cry when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead.”(Chopin) She knew her husband loved her and she said she loved him sometimes. However, after his death, “there would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers..."(Chopin) Mrs. Mallard felt it was a crime to impose one person's will on another person. The thoughts of her freedom brought out a joy from within her. This she describes as a "monstrous joy" because it comes from her husband's death but allows her complete happiness to be free. As Berkove says,” The monstrous surge of joy she experiences is both the cause and first sign of a fatal overload to her feeble heart. Physically, her heart is weak, and emotionally, it had no room for anyone else.

Chopin addresses emotional freedom through small waves of fear and insecurity which are ironically surpasses by great waves of joy. When told about her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard “did not hear the story as many women heard the same, with paralyzed inability to accept its significance” (Chopin 65) instead she was immediately filled with grief. The idea of her husband being dead was not unbelievable, possibly because she had thought, or even fantasized about it before. Mrs.Mallard