The Open Window In Kate Chopin's Short Story Of An Hour

Foreshadowing creates a fascinating story. Frequently, authors will use it to make their stories more engaging and ironic. The use of foreshadowing increases the use of other literary devices which adds to the total effect. Foreshadowing in Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of An Hour,” hints at what might happen, makes the story ironic, and adds detail and description throughout the story.

The author’s use of the open window to represent the independence of her bright future, tells the reader that they never foresaw the death of Louise Mallard. “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (Chopin 19). An open window is usually a sign of a bright future and usually leads into something better. This is ironic because she should be in a state of grief but is excited for what the future holds. This throws off the reader’s prediction that she will probably not die. When Brently Mallard was called dead, Mrs. Louise Mallard had awakened. However, the narrative suddenly changes the plot and that the opposite occurs; Mrs. Mallard was the one who died and her husband who lives. “She breathed a quick prayer that life might go long… [with] triumph in her eyes… carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory… [with a] piercing cry [dies]” (20-21). This is very important because the plot of the story suddenly changed. Mrs. Mallard was really looking forward for her future, but the opposite occurred. Mrs. Mallard is now understood-she did not grieve for her husband but rather rejoiced for hearing about his death and contemplates about the future; however, she suffered from what really

Immediately after Mrs. Mallard receives the news about her husband she races to her room where she sits in “ a comfortable, armchair”. The chair symbolizes her oppressive life she had and freedom from society’s expectations. Since it was a tradition to be married by a certain age their marriage was probably planned. So she may have been obligated to marry Bentley. Sitting in the chair and looking out the window Mrs. Mallard starts to indulge in her thoughts. An open window is also a form of her freedom. Her paying attention to the blue sky, and describing it as a blue sky, big clouds, tree tops and the smell of fresh rain. By describing all the senses imagery was also being used the image representing on how she imagined her new life without her husband. The open window is a symbol for her bright future and her husband that won 't be there anymore to change her decisions. Imagery is shown throughout the story by showing how

Throughout the story, she uses detailed passages to describe how Mrs. Mallard feels about her husband and his death. Chopin uses scenic and beautiful words to describe the way Mrs. Mallard is feeling after the news of her husband’s death. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves. There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window”(Page 498). This use of imagery allows the readers to picture how Mrs. Mallard feels and how she looks at life now. Chopin also uses other passages to describe, in detail, how Mrs. Mallard looks, after all, this chaos. “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought (Page 498). This use of imagery allows the reader to grasp a full picture, in their minds, of what she looks

Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble is symbolic of her broken relationship with her husband, Brently. Of all the possible health issues that Mrs. Mallard could have been battling, it is heart trouble that she if faced with. It is noted that Josephine speaks “in broken sentences; veiled hints” (Chopin, “The Story”), so that the news of Brently’s death is revealed to Mrs. Mallard as carefully as possible. However, the news of her husband’s death actually brings a new life to Mrs. Mallard: “Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body” (Chopin, “The Story”). Mrs. Mallard’s marriage has confined her to her home and has caused the loss of her freedom, which is represented by her heart trouble. Her death is not caused by the joy of seeing her husband like the doctors thought, but rather due to a loss of joy, as she loses her newly found independence upon seeing Brently walk through the front door. Chopin shares: “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills” (“The Story”). The window in Mrs. Mallard’s bedroom also serves as an important symbol in the story, representing Mrs. Mallard’s freedom. Upon seeing the beauty throughout the streets as she looks out her window, Mrs. Mallard is finally able to realize that the rest of her life is full of countless possibilities (Rosenblum,

While Glaspell communicates women’s view of marriage through significance of the canary and setting, Chopin makes use of the symbolism in Mrs. Mallard’s room door along with the front door of her home to illustrate the struggles that women during her time. After news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard retreats back to her room, having no one accompany her. She resides there long enough that her sister, Josephine, must “implor[e] for admission” with “her lips to the keyhole” (Chopin 16). Josephine is convinced that grief has consumed her sister who was making herself ill. Although she does weep over the death of her husband, Mrs. Mallard “was drinking in a very elixir of life” (Chopin 16). The door that divides her and the rest of the characters represents a separation from her ordinary life and the life that she must keep private. Only behind this door does Mrs. Mallard feel safe to confide in her feelings, which was that of joy and a profound desire for a freedom that “would belong to her absolutely” (Chopin 16), without concern for what others will make

Margarita Engle, a poet, and novelist, once said, “Marriage without love is just one more twisted form of slavery.” In the eighteenth century, marriage was the exit door of many women from their homes whether they believed in love and filled their hearts with hope, or had no choice, and they were sold to men as if they were cattle. In The Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin shows complex issues such as marriage, independence, symbols, and ironies. After hearing the news that Brently Mallard was dead in a railroad accident, Richards, Mr. Mallard’s friend, went to the house to be next to Mrs. Mallard and to help her at this difficult moment. Contrary to what everyone was worried about, Mrs. Mallard knew that she would lament her husband’s death, but she was full of hope, dreaming of her freedom, appreciating life beyond the window, and a new beginning. Unfortunately, Mrs. Mallard’s dreams faded when she went downstairs and her husband arrived alive, and she could not stand it and died. Focusing on The Story of an Hour, there are three main points related to women in the early eighteenth century, such as oppressive marriages, women’s new perspective and ways of liberation, and women’s submission and obedience that demonstrates how women survived, even though they were not heard.

Provided that the “open window” is a symbol of her identity, Mrs. Mallard longingly glares out the window hoping for freedom from her husband. With that being said, Mrs. Mallard had an uneasy relationship with her husband because she felt trapped behind her husband’s persona, as if she herself had to share his identity. Given that, Chopin states: “But now there was a dull glare in her eyes whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of these patches of blue sky”. Chopin utilizes imagery to give a visual image of what Mrs. Mallard is viewing; she recalls “rain, scents that filled the air, and colors, which implies the season of spring.

As she looked through the window, “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life… There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window,” (5, 6). Her attention on what she sees as she looks out the window, particularly the “tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life”, denote her new life of freedom and her recently discovered inner well-being. It is clearly shown, through the use of symbolism, that with her husband’s death she now has been given a new life, one without restraints and full of opportunities. These sensations continue as she begins to drink in the “very elixir of life through that open window,” (16). The life that came through the open window was the freedom and opportunities she now had with her husband gone. The open window provides a clear view into the distance of Louise’s new future, which was no longer obstructed by the demands and obligations of her husband. With the freedom and new life she received through the window, it is therefore no surprise that when she turns away from it she soon loses both as well (18, 20). Because the open window symbolized her freedom, opportunities, and new life, her turning away and leaving it symbolized her losing all she had gained from the window. By taking those away from Mrs. Mallard when she leaves the window, it further goes to show the open window symbolized her receiving them with the loss of her husband. The open window shows all the possibilities she had in her new life without her husband, showing Chopin’s views on how marriage in the nineteenth century constrained women, successfully delivering what she intended to show through the story by using symbolism in the open

Chopin tells the story through the narrator's voice. The narrator isn’t a spectator, however. The narrator, for example, knows that Mrs. Mallard, did not love her husband (paragraph 15). It is made clear that the narrator, knew more than what could be easily noticed by the reader. Chopin, never informs the reader what Mrs. Mallard is feeling. Instead, as the reader one is forced to observe all Mrs. Mallard's words and actions to understand how Mrs. Mallard feels.

Mrs. Mallard suffers from a heart condition; thus, her sister Josephine gently and carefully breaks the news of Mr. Mallard’s death. Richards, a close friend of Mr. Mallard, is the first to discover the news of Mr. Mallard’s railroad tragedy. When hearing the news, Mrs. Mallard collapses in grief into her sister’s arms and retreats upstairs into her room. While her sister begs Mrs. Mallard to open the door, Mrs. Mallard reflects on her feelings. She sinks into an armchair facing an open window noticing the “new spring life, the delicious breath of rain in the air, the peddler in the street crying his ware, the notes of a distant song which someone was singing and countless sparrows twittering in the eaves” (Chopin 556). This signifies a new blossoming life: a life that she would live for herself. Although her husband is loving, and she knows that she will weep again when she sees his dead body, she realizes how confined marriage is for her. Robert Evans, author of “Literary Contexts in Short Stories: Kate Chopin's “‘The Story of an Hour,’” claims that Mrs. Mallard looks forward to a bright future rather than a dreadful life. She becomes aware that she must live alone rather than being imprisoned by marriage. As these thoughts circulate in her mind, she keeps whispering, “Free! Body and soul free!” (Chopin 557).By conveying the story through Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts, Chopin portrays how women actually feel compared to what they present in society. While Josephine and society expect Mrs. Mallard to be grieving, Mrs. Mallard is actually looking forward to the days ahead of her: “Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own” (Chopin 557). When Mrs. Mallard discovers that the news of her husband’s death was inaccurate, Mrs. Mallard dies from a heart attack after seeing her husband alive. The

This is where the story takes a positive turn and where Mrs. Mallard begins to recognize her freedom for the first time. The open window is symbolically Mrs. Mallard’s connection to the world and fresh start at life. Sometimes we open windows to let new fresh air in and let the old air out. She was getting rid of her old life and was finally accepting and loving her freedom and the new opportunities to come after the death of Mr. Mallard.

There are myriad levels of symbolism which Chopin invokes in order to express the principle theme of this work. The very fact that the protagonist of the story, Mrs. Mallard, learns that her husband has died symbolizes the fact that she is now free from his will and influence upon her life. However, Chopin chooses to express this notion most efficaciously by expressing Mrs. Mallard's newfound liberty or what she believes is her newfound liberty through the symbolism of spring, as the

Initially, a short story begins with an exposition. This is the laying out of important background information, characters, and setting. Chopin’s story is only a few short paragraphs in length, so her exposition is almost overlooked. However, she does provide one detail that is essential to appreciating Mrs. Mallard. Louise is described as needing

The use of imagery is displayed heavily throughout the story to reflect the feelings of Mrs. Mallard following the news of her husband’s abrupt death. The setting outside her window is very descriptive and allows the audience to connect this imagery to the future that Mrs. Mallard is now seeing opening for her. As she is looking out of the window in her bedroom, she sees “trees that were all aquiver with new spring life” as well as sparrows “twittering in the eaves” (Chopin). This represents the joy and realization of a new life for Mrs. Mallard. She can now start over as a free woman instead of living as a man’s property trapped inside the house; this is where the woman’s place was during this period while only