Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

The point of view being used in Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour is a non-participating omniscient third-person narrator. By using this kind of narration, Chopin is not limited to just one characters point of view. Being an unidentified outsider can be very beneficial to the reader because we know something that the main character doesn’t and that can cause great anticipation, which usually increases the reader’s interest. Since Chopin decided to use this technique, it is much easier to go into great detail about what the widow, Mrs. Mallard is thinking. In this case, the author is revealing Mrs. Mallard’s unexpected happiness that came with knowing that her husband has passed.

Often fact and fiction intermix in stories because writer’s base their stories of real life experiences and feelings. Kate Chopin largely based her stories off of her own life. Kate Chopin spent her childhood years in an alternative and matriarchal Louisiana town with a family that was unconventional. She challenged her nineteenth century sexist society and used her own life to put strength and feminism into her stories like “The Storm”, “Desiree’s Baby” and of course “The Story of an Hour”. She lived with her mother, grandmother and great grandmother who were all widows. She was one of three sisters but the other two died very young. Her father Thomas O’Flaherty was killed in a train wreck in 1855. She was married by June 1870 to Oscar Chopin but in 1882 he died unexpectedly from a fever. Then 15 years later her mother dies as well (According to Jasdomin Rolento, Pace University, May 5, 2008). She had been around death for a large sum of her life and this largely impacted her stories like “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm” and “Desiree’s Baby”.

Provided that the “open window” is a symbol of her identity, Mrs. Mallard longingly glares out the window hoping for freedom from her husband. With that being said, Mrs. Mallard had an uneasy relationship with her husband because she felt trapped behind her husband’s persona, as if she herself had to share his identity. Given that, Chopin states: “But now there was a dull glare in her eyes whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of these patches of blue sky”. Chopin utilizes imagery to give a visual image of what Mrs. Mallard is viewing; she recalls “rain, scents that filled the air, and colors, which implies the season of spring.

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” was published in 1894 in Vogue, during a time when women do not have any legal rights. They have low education level and have no opportunity to work; what they can do is stay at home and manage the family. All their lives, they rely on their husband. Women at that time do not think about why they should be treated this way; they were being silenced by society. Kate Chopin uses the character Mrs. Mallard as the representative of all women who wants freedom at that time, and she criticizes the way society treats them, yet the difference of Mrs. Mallard’s values compared to society’s makes her become egotistic and her death end up not changing people’s mind of how to treat women properly.

Looking at the early and late 19th century paintings, one can see that majority of them showed women and children in their respective roles. Motherhood was revered and something to be honored and commemorated. The women were seen only in the roles of wives, mothers and caretakers and society considered this their appropriate place. Women who were single were termed as 'spinsters ' and were not given the same status in society as married women. In the story of an hour, the author, Kate Chopin describes the emotions of a woman who is married and tied down to this oath for the rest of her life. The author uses the ways of the society during that time to construct a story that accurately reflects the feelings of majority of women of that

Although she tried to deny the emotion approaching her, when Louise looks out the open window she experiences a feeling of liberation. Chopin describes the liberation of the window by saying, “she could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (236). While looking outside of the window, Mrs. Mallard relates to nature’s new spring life as she now experiences new emotions of freedom from her marriage. Since Mr. Mallard’s death ends the confinement Mrs. Mallard feels, the open window demonstrates her now free, open life full of new opportunities. As Wimmer states in his article, “this 'openness,' then, is really itself a symbol of the boundless possibilities Louise can experience with her newfound independence.” She realizes she can live her

In the “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, is about pleasure of freedom and the oppression of marriage. Just like in Kate Chopin’s story, inside most marriages, even the ones that seem to be the happiest, one can be oppressed. Even though, one might seem to be happy deep inside they miss the pleasure of freedom and living life to the fullest. Just like, in this story Mrs. Mallard feels trapped and when she hears about her husband’s death she first feels distraught, but ultimately realizes that she has gained her freedom. This news leads her to an inner battle within herself, as she tries to keep those feelings from coming out. The story culminates when she dies of a heart attack, because she realizes that her husband is not dead and she would be returning to her old pointless existence. This story has many great literary elements that keep the story interesting throughout its plot, by using great foreshadowing and symbolism.

Kate Chopin provides her reader with an enormous amount of information in just a few short pages through her short story, “The Story of an Hour.” The protagonist, Louise Mallard, realizes the many faults in romantic relationships and marriages in her epiphany. “Great care [is] taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin 168). Little do Josephine and Richards know, the news will have a profoundly positive effect on Louise rather than a negative one. “When she abandoned herself,” Mrs. Mallard opened her mind to a new way of life. The word usage shows that the protagonist experienced a significant change. This life wouldn’t be compromised by her partner’s will, which will enable her to live for

Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor discusses many topics and insights that can be found in literature. Foster explains how each are used and the purposes they serve while providing numerous examples. Many of Foster’s insights can be found in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” which was written during a time in history when women were often restricted by society and marriage. The story speaks of a woman who felt freed from the burden of marriage when she thought her husband died, only to die the moment she realized he was actually alive. Foster’s insights about weather, heart disease, and flight that are evident in “The Story of An Hour” greatly influence the story’s interpretation in several ways.

“The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story with very different point of views. The theme of “The Story of An Hour” is life can be full of surprises. In the story Mrs.Mallard life takes many unexpected turns throughout the short story. Chopin uses her characters in the short story to express her theme in various ways.

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She didn’t 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. Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will—as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been.

The author’s use of the open window to represent the independence of her bright future, tells the reader that they never foresaw the death of Louise Mallard. “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (Chopin 19). An open window is usually a sign of a bright future and usually leads into something better. This is ironic because she should be in a state of grief but is excited for what the future holds. This throws off the reader’s prediction that she will probably not die. When Brently Mallard was called dead, Mrs. Louise Mallard had awakened. However, the narrative suddenly changes the plot and that the opposite occurs; Mrs. Mallard was the one who died and her husband who lives. “She breathed a quick prayer that life might go long… [with] triumph in her eyes… carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory… [with a] piercing cry [dies]” (20-21). This is very important because the plot of the story suddenly changed. Mrs. Mallard was really looking forward for her future, but the opposite occurred. Mrs. Mallard is now understood-she did not grieve for her husband but rather rejoiced for hearing about his death and contemplates about the future; however, she suffered from what really

When she goes in her room alone, she unveils her true emotions. The setting shows comfort and indicates that she feels safe. The "open window" symbolises her new beginning and she fills her mind with fantasies of freedom. "She would have no one follow her" indicates that she had only her room to retreat to and it is from this place that she is able to look out at the world. The metaphor "delicious breath of rain", the "peddler", "a distant song" and the sparrows are all symbolical of spring which represents new hope for a better life for Mrs Mallard.

Throughout my completion of Introduction to Literature, several stories have provided symbols with great significance that relate to the characters. One story that has symbols of great importance is “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. This story has a lot of hidden meaning behind objects that are not commonly focused on. The main character, Mrs. Mallard gets the news that her husband had just been in a treacherous accident, and passed away. Commonly, a women would be distressed over this type of situation, but not for Mrs. Mallard. In fact, she felt the complete opposite.

In the past many decades the definition of what a marriage means changed dramatically in some areas. For the author of both stories, Kate Chopin, she wanted the reader to get something out of the story. She likes to explore all types of themes in her stories such as, racism, the roles of women, and adultery. With these themes and messages she struggled to have most of her stories published. In many of her stories she passed along these messages through the manner of a marriage. In her short stories “The Story of an Hour” and “Desiree 's Baby” she showed just how different marriages could be as well as how similar they can be. Chopin portrays the lives of the main characters, Louise Mallard from “The Story of An Hour” and Desiree Aubigny