Mathilde Loisel and Louise Mallard: a Look at Two Protagonists

Kate Chopin's thousand-word short story, “The Story of an Hour,” has understandably become a favorite selection for collections of short stories as well as for anthologies of American literature. Few other stories say so much in so few words. There has been, moreover, virtual critical agreement on what the story says: its heroine dies, ironically and tragically, just as she has been freed from a constricting

“There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.” Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is the story of a woman’s reaction to the news of her husband’s passing. Mrs. Louise Mallard is a young woman most would conclude to be saddened by the passing of her husband. Yet it is in that very moment we find her true feelings.

Mallard says how seeing her husbands dead body will be upsetting, but describes him as “the face that had never looked save with love upon her” (429). Her saying this depicts how she truly feels about her marriage and thinks that her husband didn’t really love her. She begins to realize the freedom she will be able to experience now that he is gone. Mrs. Mallard says “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” (429). She is dreaming of the independence she can now experience and does not want to look back. This challenges society because most women would feel threatened, alone, and vulnerable at the thought of having no income or man, but she views it as the beginning of her life.

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 Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a wonderful short story bursting with many peculiar twists and turns. Written in 1894, the author tells a tale of a woman who learns of her husband’s death, but comes to find pleasure in it. Many of the elements Kate Chopin writes about in this story symbolize something more than just the surface meaning. Through this short story, told in less than one thousand one hundred words, Kate Chopin illustrates a deeper meaning of Mrs. Mallard’s marriage with her husband through many different forms of symbolism such as the open window in the bedroom, Mrs. Louise Mallard’s heart trouble, and Chopin’s physical description of Mrs. Mallard.

Deneau, Daniel. "Chopin's 'The Story of an Hour'." Explicator, vol. 61, no. 4, Summer 2003, pp. 210-13, eds.a.ebscohost.com.libproxy.lamar.ed. doi:10.1080/00144940309597815. Accessed 19 Nov. 2017.

Suffering in Marriage Mrs. Mallard is a woman that is suffering in marriage. We realize that she was not very optimistic about her married life. The night prior to the "death" of her husband, she had quietly prayed for her life to be short. She had reached a point of disillusionment and would gladly welcome death as an option out of the marriage. When she learns that her husband had perished in the train accident, she first reacts by

The Necklace is an engaging short story, making hearty use of irony to convey essential ideas. Guy de Maupassant’s famous short story “The Necklace” makes use of various forms of diction to display Madam Loisel’s vain and longing personality to the reader. With uses of dialogue, thought, action, and the pursuit of more than what she has, Loisel’s conceited disposition, regards to the grandeur of vanity, and suffering wishes for a life full of easiness and luxury are conveyed.

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

In conclusion, The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin demonstrates how a woman desires individuality and freedom. She goes through an emotional rollercoaster to achieve the short amount of independence she will live through but still shows how she is a loving wife even after she makes us believe she has a horrible marriage. Her cause of death can be inferred to be her loss of freedom rather than the joy of seeing her husband

Although true to its name regarding length, “The Story of an Hour,” written by Kate Chopin published in the eighteen-hundreds, is a profound story with a deeply tragic implication. At first glance, one may assume that this story is a short and not very complex read, and while that is

The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin, is a wonderful short story filled with many different peculiar twists and turns. Written in 1894, the author tells a tale of a woman who learns of her husband’s death, but comes to find joy in it. Many of the things Kate

In Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin tackles complex issues involved in the interplay of female independence through brief effective characterization of the supposedly widowed Louise Mallard in her last hour. Chopin utilizes symbolism, motif, and irony to suit the equally mixed story line and underlying concept in this story.

Mallard’s love for her husband to be genuine. “What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being” (202) serves as evidence that Mrs. Mallard did not cherish her memories with her husband, but yearned for and valued her independence. Considering, this story was published during a time frame when women's rights were oppressed. Women were treated as property of their male counterparts in the patriarchal society because they were destined from birth to serve men. They had to adhere to men’s rules which were implemented by society because women were worthless if they did not attain the role of a housewife or mother. Women had to depend on men to provide for them even if they did not love them because they knew they could not deviate from the social norm. Also, there were arranged marriages to ensure that women were married young, so they would not be among the minority of women who were not married with children. With that being said, Mrs. Mallard married her husband so she would not deviate from the patriarchal society’s rules. Therefore, she died when her husband walked through the door because she could not bear to continue a life of misery to a man whom she did not love unconditionally but to only satisfy society. She thought it was pointless to live her life knowing she would never have independence until the

Works Cited Chopin, Kate. ""The Story of an Hour"" "The Story of an Hour" N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2013.