Story Of An Hour Tone

Mallard is unsatisfied with the limitations of her marriage, however, like Desiree, she is submissive and believes that the end of her duties as a wife will come at the death of her husband and her freedom will be given to her. Also, she experiences little or no feelings because of her marriage. This is shown when Mrs. Mallard, after hearing of her husband’s death, cries, but ironically she senses a moment of euphoric pleasure at the awaiting freedom in her remaining life. “She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” Mrs. Millard is now aware of things that were not noticeable before such as: the beginning of spring, patches of blue sky through clouds, the twittering of sparrows and the smelling of the pending rain, which may signify the nature of her freedom. Mrs. Mallard would now be able to live her life outside the home and find her identity.

     The background of the story gives us the idea of what Mrs. Mallard’s marriage meant to her. We see a picture of a young well-to-do wife who seems to be very pleased with her life. We also get the impression that she was deeply in love with her husband.

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

(Gilman 548). The woman in “The Story of an Hour” sees her husband’s death as a freedom in her life, by saying, “Free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin 1175). The time era also plays a role in which showing the women were dependent on their husbands for a lot of things in life.

This personal confession shows that Mrs. Mallard, though she will mourn at first, now is free to “live for herself,” (228) not for her imposing husband. Before her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard believed she was in a healthy, normal marriage. This death revealed to her how while she cared about her husband, she despised the lack of freedom her marriage had given her. All of the realizations that Mrs. Mallard reaches during her time of reflection shows the readers exactly why she will no longer mourn the death of her husband.

Throughout the story, the author displays the transition of Mrs. Mallard being in an unhappy marriage, to the joyful thought of being able to escape from her bonds

In the early 19th century, women were oppressed, and marriage was a social status, not a choice. Mrs. Mallard was a wife during 19th Century and her home was where she would spend most of her days. She also suffers from a heart condition. She learns of the tragic news on the first floor of her two story home. Her sister Josephine was the one to tell her “ in broken sentences, veiled hints that revealed in half concealing.”(287) The news was revealed as delicate as possible, due to Mrs. Mallard's heart condition. Mrs. Mallard heard the news, she wept, a sense of grief comes upon her. Once she removed herself from her sister Josephine's arms, she went off to her room. It reads, “ When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. No one to follow her”(287). During this time, women were looked down upon if they were not married. Most women were given away by their

Mallard being a bad husband, the author makes no implications to such a thing. In fact, we are told that he “had never looked save with love upon her,” (CITE) which would imply she had no real ill feelings toward Mr. Mallard. That is, she had no real grounds for her negativity towards him. She even tried to appeal to her own emotions by pointing this reasoning out to herself, but in the end, she put up a poor defense of how she deserved to feel elated over her husband’s death. “What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion…” (CITE) Mrs. Mallard allowed her selfish emotions to take over, “her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her.” (CITE) This possibly even ruined a good thing between her and her husband. Then again, the love in the relationship seemed very one sided as Mrs. Mallard admitted that her love for her husband was not complete. The way she tosses aside a relationship like she did makes it challenging for one to sympathize with Mrs. Mallard's character.

When Mrs. Mallard is finally offered the opportunity to throw off the burdens of marriage and accept a new life of independence, she “breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long”. This suggest a strong contrast between Mrs. Mallard’s view of the position of the married and non-married woman. In one case she would almost rather die; in the other, she embraces life with zeal. This truly proves that Howard’s characterization of the roles and duties of the nineteenth century married woman are precise and well reflected in the case of Mrs. Mallard.

In the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin uses tone to indicate to the reader what she is trying to tell the audience. Kate Chopin uses a variety of tone in the short story through Mrs. Mallard who is the protagonist in the story. In the short story “The Story of an Hour,” the authors describe several tones such cruel, positive, and mysterious tone throughout the story.

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.

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.

They was confined with living through a man, a woman was never seen as an equal even in an loving relationship. Woman in this time was basically living there lives through their significant others, they wasn’t expected to live life how they wanted just to live life how their men wanted and would end up loosing their selves in the process. The confinement in the story "the Story of an Hour" portrays that Mrs. Mallard was controlled by this marriage. Even though Mr. Mallard Treated her fairly, and she loved him occasionally, she still wanted and out. She wanted to escape this marriage because she felt like she was being controlled by it and she wanted to be herself . She believed that marriages robes people of independence, she also believed that all women and men oppress one another even if they do it out of the goodness of their heart. Everyone needs a break at some point which is why she was so over joyed that she thought that her husband had died. She felt like she was in control again of her life. Usually persons would just say why not get a divorce, but in that time back in the day divorce wasn’t anything easy. Society back then is also a confinement because it didn’t like change. As we can see that Mrs. Mallard is free different in her conformist society, which is a great taboo. In the story Mrs. Mallard never given a first name throughout the story, Mr. Mallard is given a

Next, Mrs. Mallard was a woman who suffered from the times where women were treated with less value and importance. She lost her own life because rejoice at her husband’s tragedy. Her uncontrollable desire to be free made her become a frivolous woman, who let his personal longing’s end with his own life. When she realized that her husband was alive all his plans vanished. Her happiness was a temporary happiness which lasted less than an hour.

Mrs Mallard's awkward attitude after learning of her husband's death establishes an irony- somebody who is really happy in marriage will not enjoy nature in peace and have mixed emotions; the person will feel genuine grief upon hearing of the death of her husband. Here, Mrs Mallard's reaction portrays the extent to which her thirst for freedom was strong. Kate Chopin allows us to visualise the moment that Mrs Mallard is able to shed the bondage of marriage: "free, free, free!." She feels liberated through her husband's death. Much emphasis is laid on her joy upon finding freedom- "there would be no one to live for." The author also points out that "she knew that she would weep again.....folded in death." This only highlights the fact that it is not an expression of love but seems more like a duty that