How Does Kate Chopin Use Irony In The Story Of An Hour

Dramatic irony is also used in Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through Mrs. Mallard's realization that she is free from her husband and with her death. During the time Mrs. Mallard spent alone in her room, she experienced a revelation that she no longer would be bound to her husband. However, no one else in the story knew of this realization. They all believed that she was extremely depressed, and that was the reason she had gone to her room. Josephine even thought that Mrs. Mallard was making herself sick. She

In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” allows one to explore many ironic instances throughout the story, the main one in which a woman unpredictably feels free after her husband’s assumed death. Chopin uses Mrs. Mallard’s bizarre story to illustrate the struggles of reaching personal freedom and trying to be true to yourself to reach self-assertion while being a part of something else, like a marriage. In “The Story of an Hour” the main character, Mrs. Mallard, celebrates the death of her husband, yet Chopin uses several ironic situations and certain symbols to criticize the behavior of Mrs. Mallard during the time of her “loving” husband’s assumed death.

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

When it is revealed that she has “heart trouble”, her sister uses extreme caution when breaking the news about the death of Mrs. Mallard’s husband. Chopin makes use of certain things in the short story where things can be taken literally and figuratively. Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition can be looked at literally and figuratively because Chopin incorporates it as both a physical and symbolic problem. Mrs. Mallard did have mixed feeling about her marriage and the lack of freedom that she had. When Mrs. Mallard realizes that she has this

Mallard is excepted to be a wreck but she is just the opposite: “there stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, … She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless… there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on… It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought” (Chopin 1). Getting away from the brutal life and freedom from societal expectations she has a moment of relief as she sat unnerved, steady and secure in her chair, which represents her “final” resting moment of getting over her husband’s death and the start of her

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’s suppressed self that she has endured in the formalities of her life (1). Chopin continues to express how afflicted Mrs. Mallard is with her struggle to come to terms with her current state of emotions and her vision of self by describing Mrs. Mallard’s “dull eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky.” While Chopin depicts Mrs. Mallard’s glance as not being one of reflection “but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought,” it can be inferred that Mrs. Mallard is processing her self-being not on a rational level but more on her emotional stimuli.

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.”

From the moment Mrs. Mallard finds out the news of the death of her husband, Chopin immediately begins using vivid descriptions. “When the storm of grief has spent itself” lets the readers know about a theme slanted towards the weather (Meyer 15). This also gives the audience a mental image of a dim and ferocious scenery that signifies demise and grief. The way Mrs. Mallard reacts at first is what society would deem normal and to be expected. One can come into a conclusion that she is a sentimental and affectionate person due to her initial reaction.

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.

Lastly Chopin uses multiple symbols to show Mrs. Mallard freedom after her husband dies. According to Chopin, an open window or door can express freedom, “there stood, facing the open window . . .” which expressed Mrs. Mallard is not enclosed any more by her husband” (1). “Free, free, free!” expresses how Mrs. Mallard’s heart and mind feels after she knows her husband is dead. Chopin uses the opening window and door expression again when she stated, “No . . .

In paragraph eight, Chopin begins to use personification as well as imagery. Mrs Mallard “young, with a fair, calm face” (158) is sitting in the armchair with a “dull stare in her eyes” (158) which “indicated of intelligent thought” (158). Reading this, the reader can form an idea of what Mrs Mallard looks like, and we understand that there’s something going on in Mrs Mallards head, something changing everything in her mind. Mrs Mallard is still struggling to figure it out but “she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching towards her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air”. From this we understand that she is beginning to realise it, and her soul is beginning to fill with happiness of freedom, which is in all the sounds, smells and things she sees. For one moment, however, she is somewhat afraid of feeling happy about her freedom and “she was striving to beat it back with her will” (159). This shows that Mrs Mallard is a “product” of her time, and is striving to feel what is socially accepted. She realizes that society would determine her thoughts of freedom inappropriate, but she can’t stop herself from feeling that way.

Mallard “and referred to as “she” for most of the narrative. Only when Louise has become “free body, free soul!” , she is addressed directly in the text by he own name. Regardless of the love and care she has for her husband, the problem she sees is the unequal relationship in which one individual exercises his powerful will on the other. This is the reason that she is now regaining her freedom. It seems from the description that Mrs. Mallard has been trapped in this marriage for a long and she wants independence from her unhappy marriage. Hence, Chopin uses irony in the story to show the unequal relationship in late 1800’s.

She illustrates the issue first through Mr. Mallard’s death that creates his wife’s mixed feelings of grief and happiness (Chopin 429). According to Mrs. Mallard, the positive part of the story resides in the fact that she acquires her freedom and self-esteem back long years after engaging in her marriage which she indirectly describes as a state of imprisonment with a person she has to be submissive to. The irony comes towards the end with the narrator mentioning “a joy that kills” (Chopin 429). When Mr. Mallard actually crosses the door, Chopin describes the wife so shocked by his return that she immediately surrenders to death from desolation and despair (Chopin 429). His sudden yet unexpected return washes away the brief moment of freedom she dreams of in front of the window, that leads her to take the initiative to strive for it after his death. Frustrated and determined to make a difference, Chopin’s intent for creating such a tragic story resides once again in her will to relate her personal struggles from being “restrained under Catholic dogma at home” (Snodgrass) to her writings about the “revolt against double standard” (Snodgrass). She also wishes to continue supporting women of her time by showing the struggles in their battles for freedom and independence from men’s

There are myriad levels of symbolism which Chopin invokes in order to express the principle theme of this work. The very fact that the protagonist of the story, Mrs. Mallard, learns that her husband has died symbolizes the fact that she is now free from his will and influence upon her life. However, Chopin chooses to express this notion most efficaciously by expressing Mrs. Mallard's newfound liberty or what she believes is her newfound liberty through the symbolism of spring, as the