In the short story, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, it tells you about a woman with an internal and external conflict. In this story a woman is told about the “devastating” news about her husband’s death, how she reacts explains to the reader what her internal and external conflicts are. Mrs.Mallard has several conflicts in the story including her inner feeling, her outer feelings, and her conflicts with society. Mrs.Mallard’s first conflict, is internal, with herself and how she feels. Instead of most women who had just lost their husband, she looked out the window and saw not sad things, but all the beauty in the world, such as, “the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life,” and “The delicious breath of rain was in the air.” The reader can infer that Mrs.Mallard acts this way because she believes she is now free. She even whispers the words “free, free, free!” even though she knows that feeling this way isn’t right and she even believes that she will weep again when she sees “the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead.” So, even though Mrs.Mallard is …show more content…
When her sister first slowly breaks the news to her, she does as anyone who has just been told something so tragic would do, she falls into her sisters arms and starts to cry. She also says to her sister “Go away. I am not making myself ill.” which could lead the reader to believe that instead of needing the love and support from her family during this time in her life she isn’t upset so she doesn’t need it like her family assumes she does. She doesn't carry herself like a broken woman would, instead she “carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory.” Even though Mrs.Mallard knows that she should be upset, she can’t bring herself to act like
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.
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.
Initially, Mrs. Mallard reacts with great sadness over the news of her husband’s death. Knowing that Mrs. Mallard suffers from “heart trouble”, Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister decides to “hint” her the news of Brently’s death in “broken sentences”. Josephine assumes that Mrs. Mallard “[loves]” her husband, and naturally
When she hears the news of her husband 's death, Mrs. Mallard 's obliviousness to the beauty of life breaks down under the powerful impact of emotion. Until this moment, Mrs. Mallard hardly thinks it worthwhile to continue her existence; as the narrator of the story says, "It was only yesterday [Mrs. Mallard] had thought with a shudder that life might be long" (194). Her life until this point seems devoid of emotion, as the lines in her face "besp[ea]k repression" (193). Upon hearing the news, her sorrow gushes out in a torrent: "She wept at once with sudden, wild abandonment" (193). The narrator points out, however, that Mrs. Mallard is not struck, as "many women" have been, by "a paralyzed inability" to accept the painful sense of loss (193). On
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.
The story continues to reveal a conflict Mrs. Mallard may have had in the relationship with her husband. Though she speaks about him lovingly and knows that he loved her, there is something deeper that is brought to the surface in
Upon hearing the news, Mrs. Mallard is overwhelmed with grief, which swiftly turned into hope. Mrs. Mallard’s reaction upon receiving the news of her husband 's death is considered to be unusually by society’s standards. In the beginning of the story it is revealed that Mrs, Mallard suffers heart problems; however, when it is revealed that her husband is dead her heart is relieved. She was thrilled that she was able to be her own person again. It was revealed through her reflection on her marriage that she “had loved him - sometimes” (16). Mrs. Mallard overcame is quick to overcome her grief after the realization that she has been set free of her horrible marriage. As a married woman, Mrs. Mallard is miserable, but as a widow she feels a sense of relief that she is free of her marital vows. At the end of the story Mrs. Mallard dies of a failing heart which it ironic because typically a woman would be filled with joy to find out
The story unviels its theme at this point: Mrs. Mallard, for the first time in her life, experiences a new-found freedom. Instead of dreading the future without her husband, "she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely". She could now live her life and be absolutely free of the imposing will of her husband: There would be no one to live for her during the coming years; she would live for herself. There would be now powerful will bending hers in the blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature.(15)
My next source discusses the emotions that took place throughout the short story. When informed about her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard is unaware to the beauty of life breaks down under the powerful impact of emotion. She thinks it worthless to continue her existence (Jamil 216). In the story the narrator states, “It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin 338). The narrator also points that Mrs. Mallard is not struck, as “many women” have been, by “a paralyzed inability” to accept the painful sense of loss. This “storm” that “haunts her body seems to reach her soul” ultimately purges her of the sufferance of a meaningless life, as it becomes motivation that leads to her new freedom (Jamil 216).
I think Mrs. Mallard felt trapped in her marriage, a marriage where communication no longer existed. I believe this caused her to feel very alone and restless in her marriage. In the late nineteenth century, women basically had little or no rights. It was thought that women’s sole purpose in society was to marry, have children, and to care for their family and household. Women of this era were not allowed to satisfy their own wants and desires. Therefore, we can assume that Mrs. Mallard got married at a young age. This fact, along with the crumbling of her marriage caused her to feel lost in a world where she knew not even herself. The fact that she was unable to experience life for herself resulted in her yearning desire for independence. These explanations contributed to Mrs. Mallard’s overwhelming enjoyment of her newfound freedom.
In the short story “The Story of an Hour,” the author Kate Chopin writes about a wife with heart trouble that loses her husband in a railroad disaster. The text tells us that the wife, Louise Mallard, has an internal conflict due to her unhappy marriage. There are many times the text reveals this internal conflict. There are many examples of symbolism throughout the story. After finding out her husband is dead, Louise goes up to her room alone.
“The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin is a story about Louise Mallard, who finds out that her husband is potentially dead. When Louise is given the news she weeps. When she stops crying she goes to her room alone and sits staring out the window. She realizes the freedom that comes with her husband's death and plans out her long life in freedom. After her moment of realization in her room, someone is at the door, it is her husband. In her response of her husband being alive, Louise she dies at that moment. Chopin uses setting and third person omniscient point of view to show women's inherent oppression in marriage.
While Mrs. Mallard is enjoying her view and trying to forget about her husband’s death, the author starts to talk about her past and present and how she use to look when she was young and how she looks now. Also the author questions readers what Mrs. Mallard was trying to understand when she was by the
The short story “The Story of An Hour” written by Kate Chopin is a story centered around the main character, Mrs.Mallard. The main character, Louise Mallard, also known as Mrs.Mallard, is finally set free from a miserable and sorrowful marriage and is able to grasp a hold of the freedom she was in search of during her times of misery. Mrs.Mallard had three major issues in this short story; 1.) She disliked her husband 2.) She struggled with heart/ health issues and 3.)
Mrs. Mallard feels tied down and trapped in her marriage. The lines of her face "bespoke repression" (paragraph 8). Once Mrs. Mallard receives the news of her husband's death, she knew that there will "be no powerful will bending her" (paragraph 14). There now would be no husband who believes he had the "right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature"