Louise's Short Story Of An Hour '

Josephine is concerned that when Mrs. Mallard has herself locked in her room will make her sick. However, she is not grieving and taking in the disturbing news she received, but thinking about how great her future life will be. “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully…She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her…When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her… She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free’” (19-20). The reader knew about the actual feelings that Mrs. Mallard is having regarding her husband’s death, while others such as Josephine, believed that she is fraught from the news that was given to her. Mrs. Mallard dies when she experiences the shock from seeing her husband alive at the door. When the doctors came, “they said that she had died of heart disease—of the joy that kills” (21). We clearly know that Mrs. Mallard is not even close to being nearly full of joy. This is dramatic irony because the reader knew that the main character was having different hopes and emotions but the other characters such as the doctors did not really know the cause of her death. This is important because it shows how husbands take care of their families and expect their spouses to love and care for them in return. Mrs. Mallard was not grieving the way others was expected her to feel; she cried for joy and happiness. Because

Written in 1894, “The Story of an Hour” is a story of a woman who, through the erroneously reported death of her husband, experienced true freedom. Both tragic and ironic, the story deals with the boundaries imposed on women by society in the nineteenth century. The author Kate Chopin, like the character in her story, had first-hand experience with the male-dominated society of that time and had experienced the death of her husband at a young age (Internet). The similarity between Kate Chopin and her heroine can only leave us to wonder how much of this story is fiction and how much is personal experience.

In “The Story of an Hour” we see Mrs. Louise Mallard receives news of the death of her husband. The

At the beginning of the story no one wished to tell Mrs. Mallard about the death of her husband due to her heart condition. Her heart trouble is a symbol for the way she feels crushed or hurt by her marriage. During this time period women were expected to live under the control of their husbands, so while being married to Brently, she begins to lose her identity. In the story, she is only referred to as Mrs. Mallard she isn’t referred to as Louise until after her husband’s death. She is an accessory to her husband is forced to live in the shadow of her husband and as a result of this she has lost herself over the years. Louise’s character is used as a symbol to represent the women of this time period and show the sacrifices they make for their husbands and the troubles that come along with the inequalities they experience in marriage.

Mallard’s marriage has extinguished her freedom. Her visage “spoke repression”(paragraph 7). This quote elucidates that Louis has been restrained from her true emotions towards her marriage. Furthermore, when Louis receives the news of her husband’s death, she is aware that “there would be no powerful will bending hers”(paragraph 11). She knows that, because her husband has died, there will be no one to believe that they have any “right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature”(paragraph 11). In paragraph 10, Choplin declares “the face that had never looked save with love upon her.” This quote illuminates that Mr. Mallard did, in fact, love Louise. This paints the picture that Mr. Mallard was not a bad husband, he simply felt it was his obligation, as a husband, to direct Louise in everything that she takes part in. This role of a “controlling” husband and the role of a “dutiful’ wife is not a matter of choice, but rather put in effect by

The author makes a point of assuring the reader that Mr. Mallard was a kind man, but Louise’s response to his death indicates a loveless marriage and one that possibly

As Louise stares into nature, she begins to reminisce about the great moments of her marriage, but she instantly realizes that now she is independent without anyone to hold her down. Even though Louise loved her husband dearly, she is now ecstatic and decides to ignore everyone to think of the life that she is planning ahead because she is now free. The last paragraph in the short story, The Story of An Hour states, “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 the 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.” Given that, Mr. Mallard was not dead, but Louise had suddenly died due to a heart disease of being exceptionally happy thinking that now with Brently dead she could be

Marcus Tullius Cicero stated, “What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes.” Freedom is a gift many people crave, but often something that many people don’t receive. It is difficult to obtain full independence, and that is often a roadblock to the things one wants to achieve. This is demonstrated in Kate Chopin’s realistic fictional story, “The Story of an Hour.” This story introduces us to Louise Mallard, a dynamic character afflicted with heart trouble. One day, over the course of an hour, she is told that her husband has been killed in a railroad accident. Shocked and distressed, Louise falls into a state of grieving and depression as she stares through her bedroom window by herself. She begins to attempt to picture her life alone, without her husband, but it pains her to think about living in her lonesome. Her mood quickly takes a turn as she sits and thinks, realizing then that she would be living for herself- distanced from her troubled marriage and able to be free for the first time. She becomes thrilled to live her life independently and envisions her life finally belonging to herself. Her vision is quickly ripped from her when her husband walks through the front door of their house, completely alive, despite what Louise had been told. Louise dies instantly at the sight of her husband, her freedom- and her life- ripped away from her.

‘The Story of an Hour’ and ‘Desiree’s Baby’ by Kate Chopin have many differences and similarities. Both stories are written by the same author, but both are very different from each other. Chopin shows even though that she writes many stories they all can be different and have a some similarity. The women in the story are the main characters who have the most differences and similarities. They each had marriage issues and each issue was solved in a very extreme way.

By Saturday afternoon, the eighty-seven residents in the rural southern town of Wrongberight have borne the wrath of four days of intensive intermittent rainstorms. Yet another storm approaches the town from the northeast, augmenting their woes. One of the locals, Clemmy Sue Jarvis since birth has lived here and has a homespun philosophy concerning weather – ‘weather will be weather and it will not prevent her from doing as she damn pleases’. Therefore, around four on this particular Saturday, as ominous clouds lace the sky and soaring Pines bend to the rhythm of gusting wind, she lifts her petite frame into her rusty Ford pickup, and gradually eases out of her driveway. Cautiously, she turns onto Flat Bottom Road and follows it south

“Free! Body and soul free” (Chopin) Louise Mallards expresses proudly and boldly when she stops fighting and starts accepting her fate. The story of an Hour begins with Josephine (Mrs. Mallards sister) and Richard (Bentley Mallards friend) coming together to inform Mrs. Mallard of her husband Bentley Mallards’ death. They feel that great care has to be taken when delivering the sad news of Bentley’s death because of Mrs. Mallards “heart problems.” (Chopin) They do not want to worsen her situation but little do they know something strong and powerful is lurking within Mrs. Mallard. In The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin explores Mrs. Mallard’s awareness of her new found freedom and the joy she finds that ultimately kills her in the end.

At the very end of the text “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin, Louise passed away because she “was afflicted with a heart trouble” triggered by an intense rush of emotions. Doctors attributed Louise’s death to “the joy that killed”. They indeed believed her heart attack had been provoked by the shock of her sudden relief after discovering her husband alive at last. However, the readers know the true reason of Louise’s death: to the contrary, her heart attack had been actually triggered by the tremendous disappointment of seeing her husband finally alive again. After trying to refrain her emotions, Louise silently exulted and felt so liberated because a new life would be starting for her. She wouldn’t have to live anymore in the

In the story, the label that Chopin gives to Mrs. Mallard’s problem is “heart trouble’ which involves both physical and emotional factors. Similarly, I think it’s very ironic for the writer to use the phrase “joy that kills” in the last sentence of the story because it is actual joy that Mrs. Mallard feels when she realizes her husband is dead, and pain so great that kills her when she sees her husband walking through the door. However, other characters are unaware of the transformation that has occurred in Mrs. Mallard. The dramatic irony in the end is that Louise doesn’t die because of joy as the doctor claims but actually because of loss of joy. Her husband’s death gives her a glimpse of new life and when that new life is swiftly taken away, the shock and disappointment kills her. Therefore, the main character, Mrs. Mallard

The use of irony makes this story enjoyable and lets readers understand Mrs. Mallard’s true feelings about her husband. The story begins with the irony that Mr. Richard and Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister, were very cautious in telling Mrs. Mallard the news of the death of her husband. However, they did not know that the news will bring her happiness. It is ironic that her sister was afraid that bad news is almost more than Mrs. Mallard could bear, but she did not know that this was the happiest hour in Mrs. Mallard’s life. Mrs. Mallard believed that there would be no one to take control of her life.

Reading the short story for the first time, I interpreted Louise’s death as the result of her overjoy that her husband is alive. This initial reaction did not take into account the symbolism and importance of the many ‘hidden messages’ in the story. The second time I read the story, I realized that Louise was overjoyed of the freedom she was given with the death of Brently Mallard, but when he came home alive that was taken away. By taking away her ‘freedom’ again, she died. Her death was also foreshadowed in line 9: “there was something coming to her and she was waiting for it”. In context with the time it was written, the story is also written by a feminist. At this time, many women in America were fighting for women suffrage and equality