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Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

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The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin allows for an in-depth look at the feelings and lives behind the relationship of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard. This story also showcases the idea that freedom can come with an unexpected cost. This cost is outlined throughout Chopin’s use of imagery and characterization. When the news of Brently Mallard’s death is revealed to Mrs. Mallard it is done with extreme care. Due to Mrs. Mallard’s “heart trouble” (Chopin, 1) they fear what the news could do to her. The reaction that occurs however is not what anyone is expecting. With her husband’s death comes freedom. Mrs. Mallard has fallen out of love with her husband and this is shown through her response to the news. Upon reflection of her life she “knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death” (3) which shows that she still cares for him despite the lack of romantic love she felt. For Mrs. Mallard losing her husband means gaining her freedom, further building on the idea of the unexpected cost of freedom. It is through her husband’s death that Mrs. Mallard character is shown. After understanding her initial …show more content…

Mallard looks out of her bedroom window upon learning about her husband’s death. One might expect her surroundings to be equally as gloomy and ominous as the news that has just been broken to her however that is not the case. Looking out she could see “the tops of trees that were all quiver with new spring life” (2) which juxtaposes the strong presence of death in this story. With her husband’s death comes a chance for Mrs. Mallard. Most people associate death with gloominess and sadness but for Mrs. Mallard her husband’s death means life. This offers her a chance to be happy and free despite the cost of it. No longer loving her husband as much as perhaps she used too gives her the opportunity to find something or someone that brings her the joy that she has been missing all this

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