Story Of An Hour Critical Analysis

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.

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” examine the complex relationship between a husband and wife. The two works take two different approaches to convey the same message: Marriage is not a fairytale, it requires sacrifice and unselfish behavior in order to work. Relationships are difficult to begin and harder to maintain. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and Aylmer and Georgiana are two relationships that shatter the surreal perception of marriage and expose readers to the raw truth, marriage is not a fairytale.

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is a short story of a married woman reacting to the news of her husband’s death occurred in a train accident. During the late nineteenth century, women were to be dependent on their husbands as they did not have any power to express their emotions in the society. Women were meant to do all the household chores and take care of the family while the husband went to work. In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin skillfully uses the character, Mrs. Mallard, and symbols, such as closed door versus open window and heart trouble to give a better understanding of the theme of the joy of independence in the story.

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” explores the depth of a woman’s reaction to her husband’s death. The story begins with Mrs. Mallard learning of the death of her husband. Her reactions is that of a typically woman which is, sorrowful. Later, as she sits looking out a window in her room, she then goes into deep thought about her situation and discovers that she can now live life in a way that pleases her. Only to be disappointed, an hour later she finds that her husband is yet alive and immediately clasped at the sight of her husband and dies from a heart disease condition called “joy that kills”.

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin has many different analyses. One analysis being that the main character Louise Mallard, truly begins to feel freedom over her life. Critics often argue about Louise Mallard’s humanity and consider her a bad person because of her reaction to her husband’s death. Chopin only describes this brief hour of Louise’s life, leaving the readers in the unknown about her marriage with her husband. Given the literary evidence “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. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination” (The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin) you can see that Louise almost despised her marriage, but why? In this essay we will look at different ways to prove Louise Mallard was a good person just in the wrong marriage, whether it was a bad marriage, or she just felt trapped.

In “The Story of an Hour”, author Kate Chopin tells the story of Mrs. Mallard, a woman who hides her liberation after hearing of her husband’s death, and the following events that all occur within one hour. While the death of a loved one is supposed to be sad, the narrator makes the reader feel more sorrowful for the widow instead. In using different literary elements throughout the story, Chopin conveys the characterization of Mrs. Mallard, the symbolism behind her heart trouble, and the theme of the story. When Mrs. Mallard initially learns of her husband’s death by her sister Josephine, she displays a loud, dramatic cry.

Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour,” is an interesting portrayal of the institute of marriage, from one woman’s perspective, in the late 1800’s. Chopin details a wife’s emotional journey, during the span of one hour, as she discovers that her husband has unexpectedly passed away. Through this character’s innermost thoughts on her marriage and her future, the role of marriage in the story is revealed to the reader. Upon learning that her husband is deceased, the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, becomes distraught and withdraws to her room to be alone with her thoughts.

From the very beginning of “The Story of an Hour,” the audience is able to infer the kind of marriage Brently and Louise Mallard have. Mrs. Mallard seemed to have loved her husband because of the

Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour was first published in 1894 (The Story of An Hour). The main theme of this story is oppression and loss of freedom for people, especially when they are married. In the Era this story was written marriage bound a couple together in a union that could not be undone except through death. The oppression happens to both women and men. This theme is demonstrated many times throughout the story. Chopin keeps us in Mrs. Mallard’s head through the entire duration of the story, letting us listen to her thoughts. Chopin uses character actions and imagery to further illustrate the emotions that Mrs. Mallard is feeling.

During the 19th century marriage was more like a dictatorship between husband and wife. Women cleaned the house and stayed home with the children. The only way a woman could break-free from their husband was unfortunately through death.

One of the conflicts Mrs. Mallard faces in her new life is that she finally feels like she can do something with her life, and she feels bad that her husband had to die for her to feel that way. “She was beginning to recognize this

Countless pieces of literature create context clues so readers can establish where the story is taken place. Literatures can give away great pieces of information where readers are able to connect the past time periods to the current time period. The nineteenth- century is all about the controversial standards for women. Author Kate Chopin writes literatures about women during the nineteenth century. One of her stories show a glimpse of the modern-day standards for women. “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is about a woman name Ms. Mallard, who found out her husband passed away. While mourning for her husband, she realizes that she wasn’t living for herself. Louise is now feeling free. But it all came to an end when she found out her

We are introduced to Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour, in which the central character, Mrs. Mallard, receives false news of her husband’s passing due to a tragic train accident. Mallard represents the many unprivileged women of her time, bound to a marriage they may or may not be happy with. Mallard’s character is reflected through her peculiar response to the appalling message, as it was not what one the reader would expect from a woman of Mallard’s era. This aspect reveals that not everything in her life was ideal. Therefore, Chopin must set this character free from the shackles that chain her to a life in an unhappy marriage and dependency of a housewife on her husband for everything, by killing her. Chopin could argue that no other solution was accessible for Mrs. Mallard. She

When first reading “The Story of an Hour” the first thing learned was the fact that “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble” (Chopin, 1894). It was stated that she had needed news broken to her gently. Having read that statement, it appears as if Mrs. Mallard was an elderly woman, needing to be coddled with care. It has come to light that her husband, Mr. Mallard, has died in a tragic railroad accident.

"The Story of an Hour" is a short story in which Kate Chopin, the author, presents