Story Of An Hour Critical Analysis

“But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely” (Chopin 157). She feels free from the obligations to her husband that was forced upon her during the Victorian era and she is looking forward to the years of independent freedom that are yet to come. “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” (157). Mrs. Mallard did not want to submit to the oppressor, who in this case, was her husband. She wanted to make her own decisions and didn’t want to take orders from her husband. She was forced to live that way because her husband controlled her. Once she found out that he was supposedly dead, she felt free from the male oppression that she had been a victim of since the day she and her husband exchanged vows. Mrs. Mallard would rather live for herself and not have to live for her husband, and his alleged death allowed her to live for herself without getting a divorce, so her society wouldn’t look down upon her.

Mallard’s emotions towards the “death” of her husband because of outside inspiration that took apart in her epiphany. When she first discovered her new emotions and did not know that they were tied to how she had felt in her marriage, she had questioned what she was actually feeling “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” (Chopin 476).The emotion that she had of the liberation her husbands “death” gave her was reaching out to her from the window and the forethought of a life where she lives as her own

I n the Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin gives us the feeling that Mrs. Mallard is unhappy in the by telling us “she was presses down by physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (227). We learn right off that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition and should be treated tenderly. When she heard the news of her husbands death, she was at first upset and distraught. She did not begin to feel better until she had time to sit and think, with “the delicious breath of rain was in the air” (227). Mrs. Mallard felt lonely and did not know what to do with herself anymore. She realized that there would no longer be someone there with her to be there when her life expired. She often had the feeling that life was too long and that the end would never come for her. That was a sign that Mrs. Mallard was a lonely and isolated woman. She was sitting there in the chair when it came to her in a sudden rush. That she is “Free! Body and soul free” (228). Mrs. Mallard knew then that life was not short after all. Life was short and she should live it to the fullest. She is now free to do as she pleases. Mrs. Mallard has a feeling of freedom, freedom form the loneliness and isolation that she has felt for a very long time. She is now free to be herself

In Chopin’s short story, she demonstrates how men in the late ninetieth and early twentieth century treated their wives more as possessions than individuals, thus when the protagonist Mrs. Mallard learns her husband Brently Mallard just unexpectedly died, she feels “free, free, free!” (15). Since, Chopin published this short story in 1894; women often got married while they were quite young and typically to men much older. Likewise, divorce was never usually an option for unhappy marriages. Subsequently, Mrs. Mallard appears unhappy in her marriage, after learning about her husband’s death, she pictures how much better her life is going to be, “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that persistence with which men and women believe they have the right to impose a private will upon a

While such a practice may be perceived as normal, according to Deneau (210), the woman in such a scenario feels like the property of her husband and it can therefore not be overlooked that the woman felt a loss of part of herself. Such a scenario is portrayed in “The story of An Hour” when Louise, who, despite the fact that she has a heart condition, she becomes hysterical and she weeps as she retires to her bedroom when she receives the ‘good news concerning her husband’s death through an alleged train crash. The feeling of freedom becomes unavoidable and pleasurable. Documenting Mrs. Mallard’s “monstrous joy” Chopin observes (concerning Louise)

Mallard after her sister tells her the news of her husband is not the common reaction expected when someone suddenly dies. Her reaction quotes, “She did hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment” (Chopin 653). This quote indicates the fact that she does not react the way that a spouse would when he or she’s spouse has passed and having the utter feeling of denial. Though uncertain of her own feelings, Chopin begins to describe Mrs. Mallard’s decaying thoughts of her former lifestyle into something more

Chopin addresses emotional freedom through small waves of fear and insecurity which are ironically surpasses by great waves of joy. When told about her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard “did not hear the story as many women heard the same, with paralyzed inability to accept its significance” (Chopin 65) instead she was immediately filled with grief. The idea of her husband being dead was not unbelievable, possibly because she had thought, or even fantasized about it before. Mrs.Mallard

Her love for life and the desire to live long, take an ironic twist when she sees that her husband is actually alive. Watching the husband alive in front of her is indeed the real shock of her life. It strikes with such a force that it takes her life. It is very likely that her weak heart simply could not bear, what indeed was for her, the most tragic news. Her husband’s death meant life to her which she hoped would be long enough. “She says a prayer that her life might be long to enjoy all the seasons in her life”. (Chopin 262).

To support what Chopin is trying to say here is a description of what Ms. Mallard is feeling like at the time of her husbands death: “They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body” (para, 11). Now if your significant other passed away would your body be relaxed? In this case, it seems like she is feeling a feeling she has never felt before, very relaxed and calm. In addition, al though out the story Ms. Mallard is caught stating “Free Body and soul free!”(para, 16). This only shows that Ms. Mallard’s is more satisfied that her husband has died, than she is upset.

For example toward the end, we get the quote “And yet she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! 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!"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering”(Chopin,16).The Audience gets to see her her true emotions to her husband's death.In this quote we get to see inside her mind and how she now realizes that she is free ,that her marriage was restricting that now because her husband is dead she is now her own person.That is why she has a positive reaction ,she is happy because she is free not because her husband is dead, but what she gets because her husband is dead.Living in that society she was basically under her husband not only that but during that time we can say that she got married young making losing her freedom young,but now after so many years she is her own person her soul and body is literally

Mrs Mallard's awkward attitude after learning of her husband's death establishes an irony- somebody who is really happy in marriage will not enjoy nature in peace and have mixed emotions; the person will feel genuine grief upon hearing of the death of her husband. Here, Mrs Mallard's reaction portrays the extent to which her thirst for freedom was strong. Kate Chopin allows us to visualise the moment that Mrs Mallard is able to shed the bondage of marriage: "free, free, free!." She feels liberated through her husband's death. Much emphasis is laid on her joy upon finding freedom- "there would be no one to live for." The author also points out that "she knew that she would weep again.....folded in death." This only highlights the fact that it is not an expression of love but seems more like a duty that

In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin describes the series of emotions a married woman with a heart condition, Mrs. Mallard, endures after hearing about the death of her husband, Mr. Mallard. She assumes that she will be a mournful widow, but she ends up silently rejoicing. It turns out that she was not happily married and the thought of freedom from her attachments of marriage gave her

The last example occurs during and after Mrs. Mallard watches the “tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (Chopin 1). This shows that the character’s image of the world is already changed since she was informed of her husband’s death. In the twelfth paragraph, Chopin uses her character’s new perspective of the world to exemplify the confinement women felt. The character understood she had “no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself” (Chopin 2). Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts revolve around her limitations during marriage. She soon realizes that she would have “no powerful will bending hers” (Chopin 2). Mrs. Mallard was likely controlled her entire marriage; and now she is released from her husband’s dominance. Before opening the door for her sister, she was thinking about “all sorts of days that would be her own” (Chopin 2). The character looked forward to her new life ahead of her because of the new freedom she has gained; she thought about the future that involved her freedom from marriage. Mrs. Mallard eventually says a prayer to herself

In the short story "The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin, the author, presents the reader with an obscure view of marriage. Chopin's main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, experiences the excitement of freedom instead of the devastation of loneliness after she receives the news of her husband's death. Mrs. Mallard disturbingly finds out that Brently, her husband is still alive. She know knew that her only chance at freedom is gone. The disappointment instantly kills Mrs. Mallard. Published in the late 1800s, the overbearing nature of marriage presented in "The Story of an Hour" may very well reflect, but not restricted to, that era.

Mallard should have been in tears but it did not bother her. “ She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.” ( Chopin, 4 ) . Her marriage aged her, she was no longer the young woman she once was. The news of her husband's death did not upset or make her mad it gave her a sense of peace. Mrs. Mallard had a taste of freedom which gave her strength.