Louise's Untimely Death

In “The Story of an Hour,” the author, Kate Chopin, places several literary writing elements into her short story. However, one of the most prominent would be the character analysis of Louise Mallard, the story’s protagonist. Kate Chopin uses situations and events throughout the story to mold the emotions and thoughts of Mrs. Louise Mallard. Despite the eighteenth century’s idea that women should willingly give up their lives for their husbands, Louise’s mindset after hearing of her husband’s passing shows otherwise. Moreover, Mavis Chia-Chieh Tseng wrote an analysis of Mrs. Louise and concluded, “after hearing the news of her husband’s untimely passing, the protagonist, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is grief-stricken at first, but soon other thoughts creep into her mind” (29). This statement validates the belief that Louise Mallard responds differently than people, such as her sister Josephine, would expect her to react in the unfortunate situation that has been placed upon her. Kate Chopin portrays Louise Mallard’s character as a strong and independent, yet deeply troubled woman struggling to live in an unhappy and restricting marriage during the late eighteenth century, when women had little to no personal freedom.

“When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-- of the joy that kills.” At the end of Kate Chopin’s short fiction“ The Story of an Hour”, the wife dies from a shock at the sight of her husband, who reported dead in a train disaster, unexpectedly return home. Throughout the story, there are many clues as to the true reason that causes Louise's death, the loss of freedom. Chopin uses irony to reflect a sharp illustration of women’s inferior position in the early century. At the same time, herself as a feminist of the nineteenth century represents women’s desire to gain autonomy and independence.

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” grabs its readers from the start and creates an unexpected twist at the end of the short story. Louise Mallard is given the news that her husband has died in a terrible train accident. To her surprise, he arrives home and “did not even know there had been one” (Chopin, 607). Upon the death of Louise who once believes she was a widow only to find that her husband is still alive, the confusion begins. The death of Louise is questioned by many critics as a state of shock, depression, and sadness. However, Mark Cunningham’s criticism of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” states that her death was instead a discovery of freedom from the physical strains of her marriage with her husband and societal views

In Kate Chopin’s “Story of an hour,” The main character is described as an obedient housewife. But, as the story progresses and shocking news surfaces about her husband’s death, she begins to revolt against the ideas of the cult of domesticity. The main character Louise follows her husband’s orders and demands while remaining pure and chaste. It is true that this is not enough for her. She has a heart condition which causes her to not handle very large situations well. When the tragic news of her husband’s death arises, the family takes great care to put it on her gently. Once she receives the news, her heart breaks and she locks herself in her room. Staring out the window, trying to comprehend the ews, she realizes that she is now free, and

As humans, we live our life within the boundaries of our belief systems and moral guidelines. Yet, one unexpected event can suddenly knock us out of our comfort zone and thrust us into a completely different arena. Such is the case of the central character in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” Louise Mallard, upon hearing the news of her husband’s tragic death then subsequent revelation of its fallacy, finds herself quickly moving from grief, through a sense of newfound freedom, and finally into the despair of the loss of that freedom.

“When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!” (Chopin). During the late 1800’s women were obligated to give obedience to their husbands and basically be a housewife. In the “Story of an Hour” Louise Mallard was an intelligent women living in the 1800s with a very bad heart problem. So when the news struck about her husband’s death, Josephine, her sister had to inform her with great care about the tragic death. Instead of other women in her time who would be dreadful over the news was very understanding and decided to grieve in pain alone in her room where she felt a sense of freedom. Kate Chopin’s 1894 short story “The story of an Hour” displays a theme of freedom and the oppressiveness of marriage at the end of Victorian era with setting, symbols, and distinctive characters.

Written by Kate Chopin in 1894, “The Story of an Hour” gives us a glimpse into the past where women were without many legal or fiscal rights. Men were the head of the household and took care of all “domestic affairs.” (128) In the first part of the story, Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband’s supposed death. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment. (128) As she shuts herself away into her room to contemplate the news she had just heard, there is a sense of fear. Perhaps fear of independence? She was waiting for it, fearfully. Throughout “The Story of an Hour” there is a central theme of freedom that Chopin presents but also a theme of oppression which has now seemingly been lifted by the death of Louise’s husband. Mrs. Mallard has long been oppressed and caged from her freedom as many women were back in the years of patriarchal code.

“The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin is about a woman named Louise Mallard, who was very unsatisfied with her marriage and she did not know what happiness was until the death of her husbands’. As a result, in the story, “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin states, “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life.”(Chopin 278) It happens to infer that her husband 's death was not giving her grief, but an open door to a new beginning to her new life. The theme for this story would be the forbidden independence

The “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman who struggles with the oppression she experiences at the hands of her husband and her secret desire for independence. Louise Mallard didn’t realize how upset she was in her marriage until she found out about her husband’s death. She grieves for only a short period of time before mentally creating a new life for herself. This new life she envisions help her to see the silver lining in a tragic event. Chopin uses symbolism throughout the story to portray the theme of a quest for identity.

In the short story, written by Kate Chopin we are able to live through Louise Mallards’ emotions after she was given the dreadful news that her husband, Brently, had been killed in a railroad accident. She is finally beginning to feel a sense of freedom and independence, an hour has gone

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.

Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, tells the reactions of a woman who believes she is now widowed. Although the reader would expect Mrs. Louise Mallard to experience only grief and despair, the author hints to the idea that Mrs. Mallard now feels free. Unlike the many other women who have heard the same story, Mrs. Mallard did not react to the news about the death of her husband “with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance.” (15). However, Mrs. Mallard’s grief overtook causing her to weep immediately. Weeping is a reoccurring motif throughout the short story. The motif can be interpreted as either a sense of grief for the death of a spouse, or a sense of relief that Mrs. Mallard is finally free of a binding marriage.

In Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour”, the main character, Louise Mallard, is burdened with the news of her husband's death. As the story continues, readers believe that her actions are done out of grief, but when the reading is analyzed closer it is easy to see that Mrs. Mallard was not grief-stricken at all; she was quite the opposite. By clearly basing “The Story of an Hour” in its cultural context, Kate Chopin reveals a society steeped in the oppression of women.

Death can cause a person joy instead of sorrow or grief. “The Story of an Hour,” a perfect example, was written by Kate Chopin. “The Story of an Hour” is a short story that shows how the main character, Louise Mallard, views her marriage and the death of her husband. Mrs. Louise Mallard brings several different themes into the story that may be viewed very differently by different readers. The two themes, confinement and freedom, show how Mrs. Mallard feels before and after learning the news of her husband’s death. “The Story of an Hour” shows how several incidents can occur in just one hour. Set in the home of Mrs. Mallard, the story originates when Mrs. Mallard is told by her sister, Josephine, about her husband’s death. Normally, when a person’s spouse passes away, the passing brings grief, regret, and sorrow. However, Mrs. Mallard feels as if she is confined to her husband; therefore, she is now free and can enjoy life by herself. Chopin uses Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to illustrate how confinement, freedom, and irony can occur from marriage and death.