Story Of An Hour Analysis

The definition of freedom, according to Dictionary.com, is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In the declaration of independence, American citizens are given freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to vote, right to a fair trial, and freedom of assembly to name a few. These rights that we have enable us to form communities and have our voices heard regarding issues that negatively impact us as a whole or prevent us from moving towards a brighter and hopeful future because that is what freedom is. It is about hope. It is about being your own person without hesitation, without judgement. “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin and “A&P” written by John Updike encounter two very

When her husband is killed in a train accident Mrs. Mallard cries, but for different reasons than would be expected. She is sad for her husband’s death, but, moreover, she is overcome with joy. For now she is free. No one recognizes her true emotions because women fall apart when their spouse dies; it’s required. Marriage is portrayed as a life sentence. "She said it over and over again under her breath: ‘free, free, free!' Her pulse beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body"(1). Mrs. Mallard was relieved that her husband died for she thought her sentence was over. When she realized that he was still alive, and therefore she was still committed to the marriage, she died from the shock and horror of being trapped.

The reader might question as to why Mrs. Mallard’s feelings towards her husband’s death change so quickly. Was she previously unaware of the “subtle and elusive” (227) thoughts that made her believe that this death might be a blessing in disguise? Mrs. Mallard, before her husband’s death, had a romanticized view of her marriage. While she believed she loved Brently and was happy, after his death she became aware of the freedom she would now experience without a controlling husband. The “powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence” (228) would no longer be present. Mrs. Mallard was aware of her yearnings of independence and joy, but would never voice them while locked into her marriage with Brantley. While at first, it may seem as Mrs. Mallard was unaware of these feelings, the death of her husband was just the catalyst that allowed her deepest feelings to be revealed and her dreams of independence to finally

Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of An Hour,” emotionally illustrates the hour in which a young woman with a heart condition finds out her husband has been killed in a mining accident. In the beginning, she grieves over the loss of her husband, but she soon becomes relieved and joyous when she realizes that she is now free. However, her husband returns after having been far from the mines for the day and her heart problems return and she dies. Kate Chopin was an early feminist author and was well acquainted with death after losing many siblings as a child, her husband (who left her a large amount of debt), and her mother with whom she was very close. As a means of therapy, Chopin took up writing and her ideas about feminism and death are very clear. In “The Story of An Hour,” Chopin uses multiple symbols and an allusion to a Greek god to illustrate and support the idea that male oppression harms the souls and lives of women.

The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin is the tragic story of a woman whose newfound position as a widow gives her strength. She develops a sense of freedom as she embraces her husband's death as an opportunity to establish her own identity. The tragedy is when her newfound identity gets stripped away as the appearance of her husband reveals that he is still alive. The disappointment from this tragedy kills her with a heart attack symbolizing the many conflicts that she faced throughout the story. The conflicts the character faces within herself and society show that the social norms for women were suppressing to their strength and individuality as human beings.

In Kate Chopin’s 1894 short story The Story of an Hour, a woman processes the announcement of her husband’s death. The story revolves around Louise Mallard, a young, pretty woman who has just received word that her husband, Brently Mallard, died in a train accident. Upon receiving the news from her sister Josephine, Louise immediately bursts into tears, an emotional display that, once spent, prompts her to retreat to her bedroom. After a time, Louise repeats her emotional outburst—this time with excitement at the idea she will be able to live her own life. However, Louise’s joy is cut short when her husband, having been nowhere near the accident, arrives home. Her disappointment is so profound she dies.

How would one feel to hear the news of a significant other or loved one who has passed away due to an accident? The news is heartbreaking and rather unimaginable. “Sorry to say but your husband has died due to an accident.” No one wants to hear those words or go through the painful time. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin’s, the death of her husband meant freedom and happiness. Chopin’s uses a great deal of symbolism throughout the story in order to depict the theme of freedom and happiness.

Upon hearing the death of her husband's, Mrs. Mallard went through many different emotions. The first emotion is grief, the author tried to compare Mrs. Mallard to other women that would've responded to the news of their husbands death with "paralyzed inability" ( "she

Firstly, we, and Louise Mallard herself, expect her to be very upset about her husband, Brently,’s death, and for a little while she is, but soon she comes to believe that she is better off single than married and then only cries because she had started and could not stop. Secondly, she believes her husband dead, but he really is not. Thirdly, her sister believes that she is very upset about her husband’s “death” but she is not and is really celebrating in her room. Lastly, when she dies from the shock of seeing her husband alive again, the doctors proclaim her dead of joy at seeing him alive again, and say that it was because of her heart problems, but she really died of a broken heart. "

In Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour,” a whirlwind of events occur in a short amount of time. The story begins with the protagonist, Louise Mallard, being told that her husband has died from a railroad disaster. She grieves for a while and then goes upstairs to her room. She stares out an open window for a while until she realizes that she is finally free. She is liberated by her newfound freedom, but unfortunately, Mrs. Mallard’s freedom is snatched away from her in the matter of moments because, surprise, Mr. Mallard was nowhere near the railroad disaster. Once Mrs. Mallard discovers that Mr. Mallard is alive, she dies from a heart attack. This dynamic short story takes place in only an hour. One may ask how could this short of a story can have such an expansive array of events occur, but the answer is simple. The plot of “The Story of an Hour” is able to unfold quickly due to Chopin’s use of irony, her heavy use of symbolism, and the time period in which she wrote.

In her article Kate Chopin’s View on Death and Freedom in The Story of an Hour, Xuemei Wan proposes that Kate Chopin The Story of an Hour expresses birth and death, psychology of Mrs. Mallard, and freedom. The Story of an Hour written by the American woman writer, Kate Chopin (1851-1904) fully shows us the tremendous conflict between life and death among those women who had more self-awareness. Who had less social living space according to the established social norms 100 years ago in a dramatic way. The heroine’s strong desire for freedom and sudden death. This reminds us of the philosophical thought on life and death of Zhuangzi, ancient Chinese thinker, Martin Heidegger, which deconstruct and transcend the conflict between them, and many more. In this essay, I will be critiquing Xuemei Wen article showing the strengths, weaknesses, and notable features.

In the “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, freedom is a luxury that can only be dreamed. The story is set in the 1890's, the Victorian era, a time before the nineteenth amendment, a time when the women suffragists were found in prison as regularly as in the streets. The main character, Louise Mallard, is like every other woman in this time; she struggled to get any freedom of her own. When Louise gets word that her husband Brently died in a railroad accident, she was saddened for a moment, but quickly realized that she was now free. Brently Mallard was in control of Louise’s life, so his death gave her hope for a life of freedom.

Kate Chopin wrote, “The Story of an Hour” in the nineteenth century. During this time, women’s rights were different, and they didn’t have the same freedoms as men. Louise Mallard, the main character in Chopin’s story, was told her husband had passed by her sister, Josephine, and husbands friend, Richard. They feared to tell her because of her troubled heart, but Louise only felt obvious grief and then sudden relief that she knew to keep to herself. In that day and time, women didn’t own their own property unless inherited through their husbands passing.

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin describes an hour in the life of an oppressed woman bound by marriage in the nineteenth century. It is only when Mrs. Mallard’s husband dies in a sudden railroad accident that she realizes she is no longer tied together by the ropes of man. At first she is shocked and horrified by the tragedy, for she did say “she had loved him – sometimes” (Chopin). However, once the tears were wept, a new bountiful life of freedom was now in the eyes of Mrs. Mallard. Chopin uses imagery, third person omniscient point of view, and concepts of relief and joy in “The Story of an Hour” to convey the true feelings of Mrs. Mallard as she is freed from the strenuous and unjust oppression of women due to society’s expectation of gender roles.

Next, Mrs. Mallard was a woman who suffered from the times where women were treated with less value and importance. She lost her own life because rejoice at her husband’s tragedy. Her uncontrollable desire to be free made her become a frivolous woman, who let his personal longing’s end with his own life. When she realized that her husband was alive all his plans vanished. Her happiness was a temporary happiness which lasted less than an hour.