Symbolism In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

Written in 1894, “The Story of an Hour” is a story of a woman who, through the erroneously reported death of her husband, experienced true freedom. Both tragic and ironic, the story deals with the boundaries imposed on women by society in the nineteenth century. The author Kate Chopin, like the character in her story, had first-hand experience with the male-dominated society of that time and had experienced the death of her husband at a young age (Internet). The similarity between Kate Chopin and her heroine can only leave us to wonder how much of this story is fiction and how much is personal experience.

Situational irony is used in "The Story of an Hour" through Mrs. Mallard's reaction to her husband's death and the description of the settings around her at this time. Upon

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.

Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour is a brilliant short story of irony and emotion. The story demonstrates conflicts that take us through the character’s emotions as she finds out about the death of her husband. Without the well written series of conflicts and events this story, the reader would not understand the depth of Mrs. Mallard’s inner conflict and the resolution at the end of the story. The conflict allows us to follow the emotions and unfold the irony of the situation in “The Story of an Hour.”

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.

First, Chopin explores situational irony in “The Story of an Hour” by calling attention to Mrs. Mallard’s heart problems. At the beginning of the story, Chopin pens that “…Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (547). Knowing of Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition, her family takes great care to tenderly deliver the news of her husband’s death due to the railroad exit. Her family fears the tragic news will send Mrs. Mallard into a frenzy, which would intensify her heart condition. Ironically, the news of her husband’s death does not affect her heart condition, but the news that he is still alive causes the heart attack that kills her.

The Story of an Hour takes place in the beginning of spring, and that plays a very important role in symbolizing the renewal of life. When one thinks about Spring they imagine flowers blooming, leaves reappearing, and the animals coming out of their dens. Spring is when all the flowers, plants, and trees come back to life after staying dead in the cold and harsh winter. The winter symbolizes Mrs. Mallards life before her husband “died”. It was very cold and dull no flowers to bring out the color and joy in life. Then, when she heard the news winter was finally over and her Spring was finally starting. She began to feel like she was coming back to life. She felt as if there was an explosion of joy that had suddenly come into her

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” focuses on a woman named Louise Mallard and her reaction to finding out about her husband’s death. The descriptions that the author uses in the story have significance in the plot because they foreshadow the ending.

Mrs. Mallard’s roller coaster continues to climb to the peak as she begins to feel “something coming to her”, she does so “fearfully”, as she is not clear on what “it” is that is coming. In her article Jamil indicates, “The ‘it’ that [Mrs. Mallard] feels emerging from nature is the vision, or perception, of [Mrs. Mallard’s] freedom, which occurs through [Mrs. Mallard’s] aroused emotions” (217). Chopin thoughtfully deduces that Mrs. Mallard’s actualization of self is “too subtle and elusive” to be grasped with rational thought and that “it” can only be initially “felt” intuitively and then “it” can be processed emotionally (1). As Mrs. Mallard begins to acknowledge what

Although she tried to deny the emotion approaching her, when Louise looks out the open window she experiences a feeling of liberation. Chopin describes the liberation of the window by saying, “she could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (236). While looking outside of the window, Mrs. Mallard relates to nature’s new spring life as she now experiences new emotions of freedom from her marriage. Since Mr. Mallard’s death ends the confinement Mrs. Mallard feels, the open window demonstrates her now free, open life full of new opportunities. As Wimmer states in his article, “this 'openness,' then, is really itself a symbol of the boundless possibilities Louise can experience with her newfound independence.” She realizes she can live her

“The Story of An Hour” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young nineteenth-century woman, Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences an epiphany about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive. Mrs. Mallard’s actions cause the reader to cogitate a hidden meaning weaved into Kate‘s short story. Chopin had an idea that women felt confined in their marriages, and the idea is brought out through the protagonist’s initial reaction, excessive joy, and new perspective of the world following the upsetting news.

While Mrs. Mallard is a young woman that is used to her life being in the hands of her husband, she quickly begins to realize that there is more to life than a marriage where she feels confined. Just as quickly as she learns what her new life could be, it is ripped away from her and her life is literally over. Within a short period of time, her world opens and she can view a new life ahead. In “The Story of an Hour”, there are many pieces that are symbolic throughout the story. Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble, the open window, the chair, and the closed door. These symbols have a meaning to Mrs. Mallard’s story. They all tell what her life is like and what she really wants it to be like, all in a quick hour.

Kate Chopin is the author of many short-stories and novels. Her short story, “The Story of an Hour,” is about a woman named Mrs. Louise Mallard with a fragile heart that suddenly and unexpectedly loses her husband in a train accident. Throughout the story, Mrs. Mallard learns to embrace the accident because for her it meant she finally obtained freedom from her demanding life that she has been wanting to break away from. Freedom and independence is one of the themes of “The Story of an Hour” and appears in the story when Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband is in a train accident, when she secludes herself from everyone in her room, and when she learns that her husband is actually alive.

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

After reading “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin the reader can see that the text reveals a major theme about freedom with the use of a few characters, a basic setting, and plot. This text was written to address the crisis of the restricted lives women were forced to live during that time period. In the beginning of the story, the narrator is discussing how they were being careful to break the news of Louis husband’s death because she had a heart problem. In the middle of the text, we learn how the news was accepted. Finally, in the end of the text, the author adds an interesting plot twists that brings the meaning of the story together. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” is the best story because it developed the theme of the loss of freedom can be detrimental through her use of plot, setting, and character.