Mallard's Irony

The first example of situational irony would be Fortunato’s name, which means fortunate in Italian, an ironic name for someone who is about to be left in the catacombs to die. Another example of irony is when Montresor says, “It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe, 3). Obviously this is dramatic irony as Fortunato has no idea that Montresor is smiling because he will kill him rather than actually being happy to meet him. Also verbal irony is present when Montresor says,

Throughout the story, Chopin adds bits of foreshadowing to hint at the demise of Mrs. Mallard. On the opening page of the story, the first sentence states, “Knowing Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble, great care was taken to break her...husband's death” (6). This sentence leads the reader to believe that Mrs. Mallard is already gravely ill. On the final page of the story, Mrs. Mallard argues with her sister, Josephine, who fears that Mrs. Mallard is making herself sick from heartbreak. Mrs. Mallard shouts, “Go away. I am not making myself ill” (8). This foreshadows that she is already making herself sick.

In this story, the two irony’s that we’re used are the situational (or cosmic) irony and the dramatic irony, because when Mrs. Mallard had gotten the news that her husband was killed in the railroad disaster of course she cried, but when she went into her room to probably take in all that was going on, that’s when her true feelings came out. She felt a sense of relief and a sense of freedom in the fact that soon she will be able to just please herself and not have to deal with someone else’s demands. But come to find out the roles reversed when she went downstairs with her sister and that front door opened, her husband walked right in with no harm done to him. Out of shock, she collapsed and died. These ironies are related because nothing

One explicit example of situational irony would undeniably be when Lucy is in the process of recovery. Lucy’s mother, rather unexpectedly, ends up removing the garlic flowers and ultimately spoiling the recovery process. “I feared the heavy odour would be too much for the dear child...so I took them all away and opened a bit of the window to let in a little fresh air” (Stoker 129). The situational irony in this quote is that Van Helsing had never expected Lucy’s mother to be the one individual who essentially ended up sealing Lucy’s fate, as she was left defenseless without the garlic flowers in the room and the window was left wide open for Count Dracula to enter and attack Lucy. One more example of situational irony would be in regards with the importance of Mina to her male counterparts, as she is heavily undermined and judged throughout the entirety of the novel primarily and solely due to her gender. “Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has man’s brain...and a woman’s heart” (335). Despite being undermined constantly, however, Mina effectively continues about the miniscule amount of tasks she is entrusted with. Eventually, Mina is granted with the ability to come along with her male counterparts, for instance when they are tracking Dracula down, and be fully involved in conversations regarding

When Mrs. Mallard was looking out of the window all of the outside world seemed to be coming to her indirectly in a way that it reached her faintly and not all at once just like the emotions of her freedom had did. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (Chopin 476).Mrs. Mallard was not looking at the trees themselves she was looking past them and looking forward to what was ahead of the trees and not what the weather was like at the current moment. This I believe is how she unwarily started to come by her emotions by not focusing on the now but rather on the future without her husband just like she was looking forward on to the spring, such as “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a

Situational irony is used in "The Story of an Hour" through Mrs. Mallard's reaction to her husband's death and the description of the settings around her at this time. Upon

An example of dramatic irony is when Fortunato tells Montresor not to worry about his health and that “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I will not die of a cough” (POE 238) Montresor then replies, “True–true.” When the reader reads this, they see that Fortunato is clueless of Montresor’s true plan is and while he tells Fortunato he will be all right. That he will not die, he is planning to kill him. This is dramatic because we as the reader feel a sense of sorrow because we know the truth about what will

These thoughts were a bit suspicious and frightful to acknowledge. As Mrs. Mallard sits next to her window she begins to contemplate what feelings are emerging from her, “There was something coming to her and she was wanting for, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name” (Chopin 653). This depicts the anticipation of change that is about to come into her life. Chopin describes it not as a physical object, but something she internally knows when it fact it blossoms into a new realization. With all these perplexed emotions she encounters from looking out the window to “patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds” (Chopin 653), these thoughts become the factor of releasing herself from her forbearing attitude into the new impression of individualism and

Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble is symbolic of her broken relationship with her husband, Brently. Of all the possible health issues that Mrs. Mallard could have been battling, it is heart trouble that she if faced with. It is noted that Josephine speaks “in broken sentences; veiled hints” (Chopin, “The Story”), so that the news of Brently’s death is revealed to Mrs. Mallard as carefully as possible. However, the news of her husband’s death actually brings a new life to Mrs. Mallard: “Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body” (Chopin, “The Story”). Mrs. Mallard’s marriage has confined her to her home and has caused the loss of her freedom, which is represented by her heart trouble. Her death is not caused by the joy of seeing her husband like the doctors thought, but rather due to a loss of joy, as she loses her newly found independence upon seeing Brently walk through the front door. Chopin shares: “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills” (“The Story”). The window in Mrs. Mallard’s bedroom also serves as an important symbol in the story, representing Mrs. Mallard’s freedom. Upon seeing the beauty throughout the streets as she looks out her window, Mrs. Mallard is finally able to realize that the rest of her life is full of countless possibilities (Rosenblum,

Upon hearing the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard “wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment” (Chopin 65) Specifically, Chopin makes us believe Mrs. Mallard was never happy, even from the shock in the beginning to a new outlook; she never had the life she wanted. She sits calmly down: "There stood, facing an open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair."(Chopin 65) Mrs. Mallard in turn shows us that the word “comfort” is used to imply a different reaction than we would expect normally from losing a loved one. Discovering when she looks out the window she views life in a different way. Mrs. Mallard starts studying the nature outside the window: "The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves."(Chopin 66) Bringing attention to new life, and a fresh start I believe the author was emphasizing on. At the same time we see as she runs off to her room. “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 66).  This feeling; the feeling of freedom is obviously something Mrs. Mallard hasn’t felt for a very long time I believe. Mrs. Mallard has felt restrained and controlled throughout her whole marriage, emotionally and physically by her husband as we see in the

The entire story takes place within a short of only an hour, Chopin proves that drastic life-changing events can happen at any time in any time frame. Although Mrs. Mallard had just heard the news of her husband she is thinking of the impact it will have on her future as the text states, “But now she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms to them in welcome” (66). Mrs., Mallard is excited and looking forward to her new future in a time of freedom. She could not help but to look at the future and picture her new life as the text reads, “Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own” (66). Her outlook on life changed instantly to hearing the news of her husband’s death, she could live her own life and all of her life would be hers. Chopin compares Mrs. Mallard’s freedom to Spring as it represents new life and a new beginning. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of the trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life,” this represents that Mrs. Mallard gets a new life and a time to live without oppression and with rights” (65). Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard new life and view of time in her life as, “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (66) Just before hearing the news of her husband Mrs. Mallard hoped that her time in life would be short, but after gaining rights and freedom from oppression in marriage she hoped her life would be long. Her new life was cut short when her husband came home alive and not involved in the railroad incident. The theme of time is showcased because the drama throughout the story shows how

For example, verbal irony is shown as the reader witnesses Kim stating “how can you cry for those things” and “I think they’re disgusting”(537). It’s verbal irony because at the end of the story Kim leaves the narrator for a caveman. There's also dramatic irony because Kim is having an affair with a caveman. The reader understands this, there's several signs of her being intimate with a caveman in the basement, she would come back up all wet. The narrator is clueless on what's going on with his girlfriend of ten years. In addition, Kim and the narrator experience a stark role reversal, an example of situational irony is because at the beginning of the story the narrator is a sloppy mess.The narrator starts to clean the house, dress up nicely for her, and

There are a couple of examples of situational irony that is apparent throughout “Story of an Hour“. Mr. Mallard being dead is one. The messenger comes and says that there was a train crash and Mr. Mallard was in it. Mr. Mallard is indeed not dead but we think he is but at the end he comes walking in the door.

As her tears fade sitting in her comfortable armchair adjacent from the open window, she stares out into the new spring life. The four seasons spring, summer, fall, and winter are symbolic of the stages of our life. Chopin chooses spring as the season for this story to symbolize the new life that Mrs. Mallard thinks is awaiting her. Her husband’s death is no longer a burden to the life she will be living, but is key to the life she had been missing. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life.” She first weeps at the thought of living life without her husband, but when she stares out into the world she sees all that she has to offer and that the entire time her husband was holding her back. Now she has the opportunity to live her life to her fullest and is excited with

The use of imagery is displayed heavily throughout the story to reflect the feelings of Mrs. Mallard following the news of her husband’s abrupt death. The setting outside her window is very descriptive and allows the audience to connect this imagery to the future that Mrs. Mallard is now seeing opening for her. As she is looking out of the window in her bedroom, she sees “trees that were all aquiver with new spring life” as well as sparrows “twittering in the eaves” (Chopin). This represents the joy and realization of a new life for Mrs. Mallard. She can now start over as a free woman instead of living as a man’s property trapped inside the house; this is where the woman’s place was during this period while only