Story Of An Hour Critical Analysis

Chopin's use of language effectively conveys the intensity of the emotions that overcome Louise. Repetition of the word "free" reveals the exaltation Louise experiences in being released from possession by her husband's will. The diction aptly portrays the significance, emotionally and physically, of Louise's transformation. Tumultuously, Louise's bosom, the seat of passion, rose and fell as the "monstrous joy" possessed her. As the elixir of life "courses" through her once weak heart, Louise's "pulses beat fast." When Louise's fancy runs "riot along those days ahead of her", the reader feels the excitement Louise feels. Through the image of Louise as a winged "goddess of Victory", her inner strength from triumph over repression becomes palpable. That strength is reaffirmed in Chopin's use of words that connote potency. Louise has a "clear and exalted perception" of herself.

In these paragraphs, the story's omniscient narrator takes us into Louise's mind. However, while the attitudes expressed are definitely Louise's there is no textual justification for also ascribing them to the narrator. Further, it would be a mistake to project them onto Chopin, for that would confuse narrator with author, a move that denies Chopin the full range of literary technique, and that would reduce this brilliant and subtle work of fiction to behind-the-scenes sermonizing.

Chopin employs the use of symbolism to further her theme by using Louise’s heart and its disease as key symbols. In the beginning of the short story, the author informs the audience that Louise “was afflicted with a heart trouble,” which caused her husband’s friend and her sister to try to tell her about the mining accident gently. Shockingly, after her worrying phase of initial grief, Louise becomes joyful and “her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.” Her sister was worried that she was stressing her

Her husband labels her as crazy and restricts her to a single room and forbids her to do most activities. Her husband demeans and belittles his wife’s condition by dismissing the severity of her depression. The Narrator has no say or control in her relationship. She has no control over the activities she’s allowed to do while in her room so she takes control of the only thing she can, her mind. She soon begins to imagine images within her room and within her wallpaper. The Narrator says, “Life is very much more exciting now than it used to be” because every day she now looks forward to helping the women behind the wallpaper escape. Now that Louise has complete control over her mind, she is beginning to taste freedom, even if she is destroying herself. Because John thinks he’s superior to his wife, he misjudges her condition and ends up making her condition worse by repressing her even

This stereotype is negative, as if having emotions is a bad thing. However, it is the women’s emotions that alters the course of their stories. According to Jamil, Louise has been repressing her emotions for many years to avoid this stereotype and to please her husband. When she looks out the window and sees the spring weather, it causes her to feel joy for the first time in a long time. All of a sudden, a rush of emotion crashes over her, and she discovers her true self (Chopin 15). Jamil contends that emotions are an enormous part of who one is, and without them, life is far harder to endure. This is exactly what happens to Louise. When she thinks that her husband is dead, these emotions return, and she can be her true self (Chopin 15-16). However, Jamil explains that psychological health can affect physical health, and the effect of repressing herself for so long might be a direct cause of Louise’s heart troubles. When she allows herself to feel, her heart pounds strongly and surely, but when she sees her husband again, her heart troubles return. In that moment, she allows herself to succumb to her failing heart. It is a lack of emotion that kills her, not a

An intelligent woman, Louise knows that she must conform to societal expectations and act distraught at her husband’s death. This does not mean Louise is cruel; in fact Chopin writes that “she would weep again (Chopin 57)” when she saw her husband “fixed and gray and dead (Chopin 57).” She feels emotions deeply, and while she had not always loved him, she sometimes did, and knows she would mourn him later. But now, Louise mostly feels free to live her life the way she wants to. Upon the realization that her husband lives, Louise’s shock and despair is so intense, she dies of sorrow.

This newfound freedom is in effect a new motivation for Louise. Before experiencing such freedom, Louise was petrified of the thought of life being long; now however, she felt herself wishing, even praying for life to be long. This is evidenced with the following quote, "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." (15). This depicts an ever embracing Louise, finally liberated of the powerful institution of marriage. What is more, this quote serves to further support the idea that Louise indeed felt trapped, she was unhappy and yet, the thought of her husband dying hadn't crossed her mind, only the relief from her own passing was her wish.

In 1940’s, women are expected to bear children, take care of their husband and children and keep the house clean. Chopin points out that Louise was happy to be free, body and soul free from her husband which shows that men believes women are considered weak. Louise seeks freedom from their marriage and she believes the only way to be free is the death of her husband. Women couldn't divorce their husbands and if the husband left the wife, he would get their children, home, money and all the women owned. But now, women can divorce

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.

The beginning of the story sets the theme for the whole story. We are told about the heart condition that inflicts Louise. This is significant throughout the story. The heart condition is a symbolic way of describing her thoughts of oppression she felt about her marriage. She was trapped and isolated by the marriage. She felt the need to hide these feelings. Women of her era were supposed to be home and under their husbands command. The story has her going through this journey privately. That is significant in the fact that now in her husband’s passing, she will be alone. She will need to work through things by herself. She will be able to go through the whole process on her own, without being judged and persuaded to feel differently.

In the story we find that, Louise feels overcome with satisfaction about the passing of her husband. After Louise's brief moment of sorrow for her husband, author Kate Chopin “Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. [...] She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free! Free! Free!’” (Chopin 630). She feels as if a great burden has been lifted. Her initial response, where she wept and had great sorrow for her loss, was appropriate to the news of the loss of her husband. However, her second reaction, in which she rejoices as if a curse has been lifted, is completely inappropriate. If she had truly loved the man, she would have continued to feel sorrow and grief, not freedom. Although her

In the story independence is something most people don’t ever experience, its something that really only ever thought about it. She tries to get rid of the feeling of being free which show how forbidden it is however she accepts it. Chopin suggests that all marriages are oppressive and even if you are in a loving marriage you still lose your independence. The open window in the room represents all the possibilities and When Louise is looking out the window she see’s fluffy clouds, treetops, and blue skies everything suggests spring and a feeling of

Louise is informed that her husband has been killed in accident, and due to a heart disorder, the news is broken to her very carefully. The reader acknowledges that Brently was oppressive by her reaction to the news of his death. Instead of reacting with melancholy feelings, she expresses her joy for her fallen husband. Chopin writes, ?She did not stop to ask if it were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial? (par 12). Louise knows that she should feel upset about her ?dead? husband; however she cannot help to feel relieved that the oppression has ended and that she can finally behave in the manner in which she chooses. It is soon discovered that Brently did not actually die in an accident, which causes the Louise to die.

In the story, The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, there was a lady named Louise Mallard. Mr. Richard and Louise’s sister, Josephine, got the news that Louise’s husband was in a terrible railroad accident. Josephine and Mr. Richard had to break the news to Louise gently, I figured because of her heart condition. After she cried, Louise locked herself in a room where she then stopped feeling sad. She then started to feel free and exited. She feels this way because she looks forward to all of those years of freedom that lie ahead of her. She realizes that she will grieve the husband that she loved only sometimes but I believe she is also looking forward to all the years of freedom she has to herself. Josephine thinks Louise is going to make herself

In addition to a restricted setting, Chopin expresses a theme of marriage confinement through the portrayal of Louise’s epiphany and her death that soon follows. As Mrs. Mallard is contemplating her feelings in regards to her husband’s passing, she comes to the eventual conclusion that she is indeed saddened but, “Then she realizes she has a newfound freedom: ‘There would be no one to live for during these coming years; she would live for herself’. She is ecstatic” (Mayer 94). As a result of Brently’s death, Louise has been released by the bonds of marriage and is now free to live as she sees fit, not by what her husband deems acceptable. It should be noted, however, that Mrs. Mallard is not in high spirits because her husband has died; she did in fact love him at times.