Story Of An Hour Situational Irony Essay

In “Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin uses irony to emphasize her theme of the unhappiness of women during this time period. The symbols and imagery give the reader a sense of Mrs. Mallard’s new life, a life filled with new possibilities and endless opportunities. On the surface, the story, told within a few pages and spanning only one hour of time, seems quite simple. It is the story of Louise Mallard, a woman with a history of heart problems, who learns from her sister and friend that her husband, Brently Mallard, has lost his life in a train wreck. On instinct she weeps, before retiring to her room. Later, upon exiting her room and descending the stairs, Louise is greeted by the site of her supposedly dead husband entering the home. Louise immediately falls to her death, which the doctors accredit to heart failure. Although seemingly simple, Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is actually a deeply symbolic work, fraught with daring irony used to achieve major themes of liberation and self-awareness.

In the “Story of an Hour” we observe many instances in which irony takes place.

Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

The definition of irony is a contrast between two things. One example is verbal irony. It is a contrast between what someone says and what one means, while dramatic irony is a contrast between what the characters know to be true and what the readers know to be true. Many writers use irony in their short stories to prove a dramatic point, or just to develop a story for upcoming use. These short stories by Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” (140), Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” (183), and Stephen Crane’s “The Blue Hotel” (229), spin a tale of symbolic irony. Each tell a tale paradoxical twists with sublime contradiction where one is led to believe one side of an event, yet it is dragged down a twisted trail of mental sarcasms coupled with death. It is a known fact that many tales of irony require many major events to twist the order they are written in to create a viewpoint that stride away from the main topic or where the author wants the reader to end up.

In the stories “Story of an Hour”, “Everyday Use”, “The Necklace”, and “The Lottery” it is evident that irony was quite a large part of the short story. There is situational irony, which is when the situation turns out differently than expected. Also, dramatic irony is present, which is when you as a reader knows more than the character. The authors seem to base their whole story around irony to surprise their readers.

Kate Chopin uses irony in her stories to show true emotion. It is also used to show feelings as well. Throughout her short story "The Storm," several examples of irony come forth, whether it be verbal, situational, or dramatic, it aids us to stay focused on the story by keeping it interesting.

Both Mrs. Mallard and Desiree come to a tragic end in a world dominated by males. In “The Story of an Hour” the reader is made to believe that the story might have a happier ending, however, Mrs. Mallards life had the same ironic ending as that of Desiree. In Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour,” there is a lot of use of irony. When Louise Mallard is about to be told about the death of her husband, Brently Mallard. The reader expects such news to have a toll on the health of a woman who has a heart condition. It is at this point that the reader start noticing the irony in the story. Upon hearing the news Mrs. Mallard retreats to her room and stares out her window. It is her thoughts and view from the window that make this story ironic. As she looks through her window, Mrs. Mallard sees “the tops of trees that were all aquiver with new spring life.” (653) This statement is ironic because it meant she was about to begin this new life and now felt as though she finally had the freedom to live her life the way she had always wanted. Mrs. Mallard saw “beyond the bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome” (654). She was about to start living this life she had only dreamed of and it is at this point that Chopin shocks the reader when Mrs. Mallard

“The story of an hour” by Kate Chopin is described as a story of great irony having many unexpected twists and turns. Situational and dramatic irony is used throughout the story. This is a story of a woman who finds out her husband’s death in a train accident and reacts with sadness in the beginning, but then realizes a freedom and relief from her repressive life. She experiences a complete joy over the death of her husband and dies from the shock of discovering that he is still alive. The first type of irony encountered is a situational irony, where there is a contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. Mrs. Mallard’s discovery of her lost freedom and regaining her

In order to explore the theme of irony, Kate Chopin in "The story of an hour" use as example Louise’s reaction to the news of husband's death. In most of the cases the widow feels sad, and depressed by her lost. But Louise feels happy and hopeful. She sees it as an opportunity to be free. The end of the story is another example of irony, because Louise suffers a heart attack when she hears the arrival of her husband. All her dreams of freedom disappeared in that moment. In addition, her heart could not take it. Another example of the ironic theme in the story is

Kate Chopin used irony often throughout her story, “The Story of An Hour”. Her use of irony settles around how women were treated during the 19th century and its effect on the main character, Mrs. Mallard. In the late 19th century, women always knew their place: at home taking care of the household and the children. They were the ones who tended the gardens and made the meals.

In Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour the reader receives a glimpse of many forms of irony, in the setting and in the story in general. The story opens in the home of the Mallards, where Mrs. Mallard just learned of the death of her husband. The story is set during an age where women were dependent on their husbands to care for them.

Kate Chopin's "The Story of a Hour” has an ironic ending. Mrs. Mallard dies exactly when she is starting to have a sense of freedom. At first reading, the ending appears to be excessively irony for belief. When rereading the story in any case, one sees that the ending is reasonable incompletely in light of the fact that it is reliable with alternate ironies in the story.

In the short story, Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin chronicles the short journey of a woman who has recently learned of the death of her husband from a railroad accident. Kate Chopin is known for her stories which revolve around women and the world from their perspective, and Story of an Hour is no exception. As a writer, Chopin utilizes and employs many rhetorical devices to add emotion and depth to her world. Though Story of an Hour is riddled with rhetorical devices in almost every sentence, the two that tend to stand out the most are the use of irony and foreshadowing.

In passage of ‘‘ The Story of an Hour’’ by Kate Chopin.An irony s that the author incorerating in the story is sititutonal irony is when something unaccaspected happen to someone in the story. ‘‘The story of an hour is about Mrs Mallard and her sister Josephine and her husband ‘s friends husband dies then they slowly tells the accident since Mrs Mallard has a heart disease.Then went up stairs started crying,she realized that she was finally free Mrs Mallard felt bad and when her husband walked in the room he headed upstairs and when she saw Mr Mallard she past away.

Kate Chopin’s impressive literary piece, The Story of an Hour, encompasses the story of an hour of life, an hour of freedom. We must seize the day and live our lives to the fullest without any constraints. This very rich and complete short story carries a lot of meaning and touches a readers feelings as well as mind. Throughout this piece much symbolism is brought about, which only helps us to understand the meaning and success of Kate Chopin’s work. Kate allows her reader to think and allows us to understand the meaning of her story with the different uses of symbols such as heart troubles, the armchair, the open window, springtime, and the calm face and goddess of victory. We eventually realize little by little that Mrs. Mallard