Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

In the short story “The Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin weaves many facets of storytelling into a few short paragraphs such as irony, character development, and symbolism all emphasizing how Mrs. Mallard, after learning of her husband’s death, transforms grief into something much greater. The story takes place in the time of only an hour and it’s inferred that Mallard lives more in this hour than she has in her entire lifetime. Chopin includes many different symbols to the transformation of Mrs. Mallard; this is shown with the symbolism of her heart trouble, the open window representing her new life, and the final transformation before her death.

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 “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin illustrates the mood and setting to express how Mrs. Mallard feels after she is notified of her husband; Brently Mallard’s death. Chopin describes different objects Mrs. Mallard comes in contact with in the story to give the reader a great sense of how she feels. The author depiction of Mrs. Mallard portrays how calm she is.

In this life, there’s nothing more important than freedom. In Kate Chopin’s story, “Story of an Hour,” Louise Mallard discovers that her husband has been killed in a railroad accident. Louise is shocked and sad, and goes to her bedroom so she can be by herself. As she sits by the window in her room, she realizes she’s free to do whatever she wants, and doesn’t have to submit to anyone’s wants, needs, or will. Later that same day, Louise sees her husband, alive and well, downstairs. The instant she saw him, she died of what the doctors say was heart disease and joy. Even though the character’s think otherwise, Louise died of disappointment that she wasn’t free anymore. The characters, especially Louise, show that only freedom can make you happy, not love. While the story is interesting, it contains a larger meaning. In Kate Chopin’s piece, “Story of an Hour,” the theme that autonomy shouldn’t be replaced for love is illustrated by the character’s thoughts and experiences.

In today’s society, more marriages are ending in divorce than ever before. Could this be because marriage has proven to be an oppressive institution? In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” it is evident that the protagonist, Louise, feels chained to her husband Brently through marriage and yearns to be free of him. The theme that marriage is repressive and infringes upon the freedom of those restrained by it is developed throughout the story by the internal struggle Louise experiences, the way Chopin characterizes Brently, and the symbolism she uses to express Louise’s feelings.

In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the main character is named Mrs. Mallard. Her internal conflict exists in her feelings about what would make her happy and what she knows society will allow. Times were much different back then.

In The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, the plot twist is almost as shocking as the female suppression and emotional irony of the female character, Mrs. Mallard. Chopin writes to us on a woman experiencing the limitations society has forced upon her only due to her gender. Living in the eighteen hundreds, the role of a woman was short and sweet, and was to not exceed their allowed influence. Once married, your identity was enmeshed to your husband and therefor little to nonexistent. Kate depicts the mental struggle of Mrs. Mallard as she deals with an array of emotions after she hears the news of her husbands death.

In The Story of a Hour by Katie Chopin, a woman deals within internal conflicts with facing the reality of her time period and how the view women. Mrs. Mallard is a married women with kids. She believe some her dark dreams will come true when she gets the news of her husband death. Allowing her own ambitions to take over in her head. Mrs . Mallards sister comes to her with the news that her husband had died on a train accident.

In “The story of an hour” the author introduces the audience to the protagonist Mrs. Mallard hearing about her husband’s death and locking herself in a room. After that, she dreams of being free and happy for one hour. The protagonist Mrs. Mallard also has experienced oppression and her unhappiness from her marriage leads to depression and ultimately, heart disease and loss of life. In the “Story of an hour” author Kate Chopin uses imagery, irony and symbolism that an unhappy marriage takes away a woman’s individual freedom and happiness.

In the short story, “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard has to deal with the death of her husband. Her feeling after her husband died was joy, a happy feeling. Joy isn't something most people feel when they are dealing with the death of a family member. Mrs. Mallard however, seemed to enjoy the freedom that she got as a result of her husband's death.

​In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” marks the narrow passage between life and death. Mrs. Mallard finds out that her husband, Brently Mallard dies. His death was confirmed by the brother-in-law. The brother-in-law finds about the tragedy through a telegram; then confirms the death by a second telegram. The looming task of telling Mrs. Mallard of her husband’s death was delivered by her sister Josephine. Josephine did not think that her sister Mrs. Mallard would take the news well. After hearing the news Mrs. Mallard was sad and wept with despair. Mrs. Mallard went to be alone and retreated to her room. In the story a comparison is made when Mrs. Mallard was in her room and the differences of the comfy chair that Mrs. Mallard sought solace in, and the physical exhaustions that hearing of death plays on opposite sides of the spectrums. In death, in the form of tragedy, there is no comfort. Often people are left with holes and what if’s. Death in the form of illness usually shows comfort. In the story, there is a conflict of comfort and exhaustion.

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.

In “The Story of An Hour,” by Kate Chopin, the protagonist Mrs. Mallard, finds out that her husband Brently dies in a train wreck. However, the way that she deals with this news is much different than most people. Mrs. Mallard suffers from a previous heart condition and the people around her are very careful how they relay the message of her husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard locks herself in her room to give herself a chance to process the news. However, when she emerges from her room and makes her way downstairs again, her husband suddenly walks through the door. The shock of her husband’s return from the dead, coupled with her heart condition, results in her sudden death. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour,” Mrs. Mallard embodies a typical woman living in the 19th century through her struggles of being forced into a marriage, her lack of freedom, and having no legal rights.

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

Kate Chopin published “The Story of an Hour” in 1894. This short story presents how a sick woman named Louise Mallard dies of a broken heart but not over the loss of her husband but over the loss of her recent independence. She appears distraught about Mr. Mallard’s death but realizes when one door closes, another door opens. She puts aside this time of mourning to instead rejoice about the days ahead of her. Louise’s weak heart does not falter during any of the commotion until she sees her not so dead husband in her doorway. In “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin shows how Mrs. Mallard handles the news of becoming a widow, finding her new freedom, and when she discovers these two concepts are not entirely true.