Story Of An Hour Symbolism

At the beginning of Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour” the young, yet physically frail protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, is tactfully informed of her husband’s recent demise. Immediately after receiving the grim news, she makes it perfectly clear how she feels about the circumstances. Mrs. Mallard “…wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms” and subsequently isolated herself inside of the privacy of her bedroom. Reflecting on the events alone, she displays a welling of despair; however Mrs. Mallard notices that, unlike her husband, the world outside of her bedroom window appears vivid and alive. When cogitating about her external observations, and dissolving her finite trepidation, Mrs. Mallard comes an epiphany:

Kate Chopin's ideas of feminism were seen in this story through Louise Mallard's reaction after the death of her husband. I will prove that the repression Louise Mallard felt was so intense she would rather die than spend another day in servitude. Also I will cite an example of how the author's feelings of repression were seen through Louise Mallard.

In my research paper I want to discuss the concept of freedom for a woman in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, and how the wrong news can make the happiest person in the world and then cause her death.

The symbols and imagery used by Kate Chopin's in “The Story of an Hour” give the reader a sense of Mrs. Mallard’s new life appearing before her through her view of an “open window” (para. 4). Louise Mallard experiences what most individuals long for throughout their lives; freedom and happiness. By spending an hour in a “comfortable, roomy armchair” (para.4) in front of an open window, she undergoes a transformation that makes her understand the importance of her freedom. The author's use of Spring time imagery also creates a sense of renewal that captures the author's idea that Mrs. Mallard was set free after the news of her husband's death.

Kate Chopin is known for being criticized for empowering the subject of female sexuality and independence. In Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, it is placed in a time where men were known as being the head of the household while women were only in charge of raising the children and caring for the home. In the 1890s, women didn’t have so much power to themselves compared to today’s society where female empowerment is frequently encouraged. Chopin’s story narrates a sequence of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions that goes within the motion of the story. As she overcomes the sudden death of her husband, her emotion of grief soon turns into the sudden feeling of freedom, later on emerging into a strong independent woman.

The “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman who struggles with the oppression she experiences at the hands of her husband and her secret desire for independence. Louise Mallard didn’t realize how upset she was in her marriage until she found out about her husband’s death. She grieves for only a short period of time before mentally creating a new life for herself. This new life she envisions help her to see the silver lining in a tragic event. Chopin uses symbolism throughout the story to portray the theme of a quest for identity.

The paper copy of “The Story of an Hour” symbolized the open window in a more complete manner than the movie. In the paper copy, the open window symbolizes a new beginning, which can easily be determined by the view outside the window and Mrs. Mallard’s actions. In paragraph number 5, the author wrote, “ She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. “ By using the words aquiver, new, and life, the author indicates a more positive view and explains how Mrs. Mallard looks forward to a new life. Also, on page 2, Mrs. Mallard begins to whisper the words “free, free, free”. By the end of the page the author states that, “... she (Mrs. Mallard) was drinking in a very elixir of

Traditionally, women have been known as the less dominant sex. They have been stereotyped as being only housewives and bearers of the children. Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men. This tension is derived from men; society, in general; and within a woman herself. Kate Chopin‘s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, focus on a woman’s dilemma near the turn of the 19th century. Contradicting the “normal” or sad assumption of death, “The Story of an Hour” illustrates the significance of death representing freedom. The Story narrates about an hour of Louise Mallard’s life, as she tries to understand, and deal with her feelings of her husbands death.

The short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin was published in the year 1894. Chopin tries to recreate in the story about the live in the late nineteenth century, and how this affected couples. The believes in this years is that the women must stayed home and serve to her husband. During the story, the author catch the reader attention by mention the conflict of emotions that occurred in the story. Beside this, there are a couple of several elements that the author use to maintain the reader’s attention. The main elements that the author emphasize are the conflict, symbolism, and irony. These three are presented along the story to refer about Louise Mallard, and any other women, that lived in the late nineteenth

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin has many different analyses. One analysis being that the main character Louise Mallard, truly begins to feel freedom over her life. Critics often argue about Louise Mallard’s humanity and consider her a bad person because of her reaction to her husband’s death. Chopin only describes this brief hour of Louise’s life, leaving the readers in the unknown about her marriage with her husband. Given the literary evidence “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. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination” (The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin) you can see that Louise almost despised her marriage, but why? In this essay we will look at different ways to prove Louise Mallard was a good person just in the wrong marriage, whether it was a bad marriage, or she just felt trapped.

The death of the main character Louise Mallard is a commonly debated topic when discussing “The Story of an Hour.” In Mark Cunningham’s article “The Autonomous Female Self and the Death of Louise Mallard in Kate Chopin’s ‘Story of an Hour’” he makes arguments for the common interpretations of Mrs. Mallards death. He states that “it is critical commonplace” to assume that the sight of her husband alive kills her (n.p.). Even though the story never directly states that Mrs. Mallard sees her husband, it is easier for ones brain to jump to the conclusion that her

Throughout this short story, Louise Mallard’s personal strength becomes apparent to the reader. Mavis Chia-Chieh Tseng states, “the text indicates that Louise’s life is extremely restricted because of her domestic confinement and also suggests that she must have been secretly yearning for a life of her own” (29). This statement reveals Louise’s strength in the short story because she dealt with her husband, even though he took away much of her personal freedom. By taking away her independence, Louise’s husband, Brently, set the tone for her profound outlook on life. Kate Chopin wrote, “and yet she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being” (237). This statement confirms that Mrs. Mallard became aware that her well-being should place higher than her fading love for her abusive husband.

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a short yet complex story, describing Mrs Mallard’s feelings. It focuses on the unfolding emotional state of Mrs Mallard after the news of her husbands death, and has overflowing symbolism and imagery. It is an impressive literary piece that touches the readers’ feelings and mind and allows the reader to have a connection to Mrs Mallard’s emotional process. Although the story is short, it is complete with each word carrying deep sense and meaning. It is written in the 19th century, a time that had highly restrictive gender roles that forbade women to live as they saw fit. Mrs Mallard experiences something not everyone during this time has the luck to have; the happiness of freedom that the reader only

Chopin uses common household features as a metaphor for Mrs. Mallard’s exclusion from the outside world. When she first learns of Brently’s death, Louise looks out an open window into an open square. Next, Chopin chooses to use treetops a quiver with new spring life as the first thing Louise sees prior to having her revelation, with a description of the delicious breath of rain in the air. Spring, of course is when things grow anew, and we know that water, as a a symbol cleanses ill pasts. This type of rich symbolism, returning to form, helped Chopin to make her story into simply “an hour”. As well, Chopin, makes use of parting clouds to provide Louise a blue sky, again, freedom like the

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin describes an hour in the life of an oppressed woman bound by marriage in the nineteenth century. It is only when Mrs. Mallard’s husband dies in a sudden railroad accident that she realizes she is no longer tied together by the ropes of man. At first she is shocked and horrified by the tragedy, for she did say “she had loved him – sometimes” (Chopin). However, once the tears were wept, a new bountiful life of freedom was now in the eyes of Mrs. Mallard. Chopin uses imagery, third person omniscient point of view, and concepts of relief and joy in “The Story of an Hour” to convey the true feelings of Mrs. Mallard as she is freed from the strenuous and unjust oppression of women due to society’s expectation of gender roles.