Setting Analysis of the Story of an Hour Essay

Once Mrs. Mallard calms down after being given the news of her husband's death, where she goes (or, perhaps, doesn't go) is evidence to the fact that there was very little love between her and her husband. "She went away to her room alone." In a time of grief such as this, it is expected that she would want to go to their bedroom because it is the room they would have privately shared. However, the story refers to the room as "her room" and when she enters it, the piece of furniture that she sought comfort in was an armchair. It would be assumed that their bed would be her place of comfort, yet there is no mention of the presence of a bed in the room. It is when she closes herself in her room that her feelings begin to take hold and are revealed. The description of the room and the scenery unravel simultaneously with her inward thoughts. As she enters the room, the immediate

The story of the hour is, to me, an interesting short story of the insight into the life thoughts of a woman struggling with a life that is proper and sociably acceptable and her own desires. Upon reading the opening passage “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death.” (1) The reader, in this case I, would understand quickly that the main character of the story, Mrs. Mallard, must be treated with tenderness. We also learn that grave news is coming her way in a most careful manner. Reading further the actions of the main character would show shock, confusion, surprise, and other anxiety of a life without

Mallard is unsatisfied with the limitations of her marriage, however, like Desiree, she is submissive and believes that the end of her duties as a wife will come at the death of her husband and her freedom will be given to her. Also, she experiences little or no feelings because of her marriage. This is shown when Mrs. Mallard, after hearing of her husband’s death, cries, but ironically she senses a moment of euphoric pleasure at the awaiting freedom in her remaining life. “She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” Mrs. Millard is now aware of things that were not noticeable before such as: the beginning of spring, patches of blue sky through clouds, the twittering of sparrows and the smelling of the pending rain, which may signify the nature of her freedom. Mrs. Mallard would now be able to live her life outside the home and find her identity.

I chose to do my analysis on the short story, “The Story Of An Hour”. The themes I see in this story is the quest for identity/coming of age, romantic/love, birth, and death. It is about a woman named Mrs. Mallard. She was an elderly lady and had a heart complications. Her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richards had to break the news to her that her husband, Brently Mallard, has been killed in a railroad disaster. Mrs. Mallard was sorrowful and sobbed in her sisters’ arms. After her grieving process, she wanted to be alone, so she went to her room and locked herself in. As she sat in the window, she seem to be calmer and accepted her husband’s death. She was not distressed of what had happened. She began to say the words “free” and her heart

Her emotions overtook her immediately and she was forced with the realism of the situation. She went to her room and would have no one follow her, because she needed to deal with this conflict alone. Though others were there who cared for her and wanted to help her through this hard time, Mrs. Mallard knew that she would be best left alone to resolve her emotional conflict.

In “The Story of an Hour”, the main character Mrs. Mallard, gets news that her husband has been killed in an accident. Her sister delays telling her the news because she has a bad heart, but when she finally tells the news, Mrs. Mallard wants to be left alone. They think that she is very upset by her husband’s death, but

In "The story of an Hour," Kate Chopin reveals the complex character, Mrs. Mallard, In a most unusual manner. THe reader is led to believe that her husband has been killed in a railway accident. The other characters in the story are worried about how to break the news to her; they know whe suffers from a heart condition, and they fear for her health. On the surface, the story appears to be about how Mrs. Mallard deals with the news of the death of her husband. On a deeper level, however, the story is about the feeling of intense joy that Mrs. Mallard experiences when she realizes that she is free from the influences of her husband and the consequences of

Mrs. Mallard never explains in details on why she feels as though she is trapped in her marriage. After she finds out about her husband’s death she is heartbroken realizing she would never see him again in this life. Though she had loved him, she felt as though he oppressed her either by meaning to or not out of care for

Meanwhile, after the news of the death of her husband Mrs. Mallard went to her room alone and, "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." The chair symbolizes a gateway to her first step of freedom and that she is officially open to change in her life . Also, the chair is a symbolic of how she found relief in the chair to even see her future. Mrs. mallard whispers, “Free! Body and soul free!” (721) Mrs. Mallard can finally move around in life she is no longer confined to her overpowered marriage.

“The Story of an Hour” tells a tragic story about a women, who has a heart condition, and receives the news of her husband's passing. At first the woman, Louise, cannot comprehend what she is hearing. She runs up to her room and looks out her window at an image that calms her. She than begins to think of her future without her husband around. She than comes to the conclusion that she is free.

Mallard has a heart condition and her husband recently has died. She feels depleted at first, but then she starts to not feel sorry as she realizes she has more freedom. However, Mr. Mallard comes in through the door being alive this whole time and everyone is in shock. Once Mrs. Mallard see her husband she is in shock and passes away at the sight.

In “The Story of an Hour” the main character Louise Mallard suffers from a bad heart, but otherwise, she is young and cute. Louise learned from family members that her husband had just been killed in a railroad disaster. As she grieves alone in her upstairs bedroom, she suddenly is hit with new emotions. She realizes that she did love her husband and he loved her, but what she wants more than anything is to be free. Free to go and do as she pleases without anyone watching over her. Later

“There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not 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” (7). Mrs. Mallard started to feel a minimal amount of freedom from her husband. “ 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! The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stared keen and bright. Her pulse beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body” (7). Mrs. Mallard’s emotions are described through imagery. Imagery helps us to get a feeling of what is happening in the story through wordplay, and

Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour" presents a young married woman named Mrs. Louise Mallard, who has a "heart trouble"(26). Suddenly, Mrs. Mallard receives a news that her husband, Brently Mallard has died in a train accident. She weeps and ascends to her room. Within a short period of time, she is able to fully come to terms with her husband's sudden death. Instead of mourning over his death, she feels joy and excitement. She can now act as herself and has the freedom she is longing for. Ironically, her husband comes home alive and she dies of the realization that her freedom and identity will be taken away again. The imageries that Chopin uses help the readers imagine Mrs. Mallard's excitement and the new life waiting for her.

Author, Kate Chopin, presents the character of Mrs. Louis Mallard. She is an unhappy woman trapped in her discontented marriage. Unable to assert herself or extricate herself from the relationship, she endures it. The news of the presumed death of her husband comes as a great relief to her, and for a brief moment she experiences the joys of a liberated life from the repressed relationship with her husband. Finally, she recognizes the freedom she has desired for a long time and it overcomes her sorrow: "Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering." In her soul, the dark clouds are disappearing because she is illuminated. All the memories of her husband are now of the past. She is living in the present. At this point, she is no longer "Mrs.Mallard." She is Louise and is ready to welcome a new horizon of freedom : "Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own." Overwhelmed with a new sense of herself, she feels as if she