The Story Of An Hour Essay

Mallard, they get the idea that she is a small, frail woman who would do nothing more than rest for most of the day. Upon receiving news that her husband has died, it would be expected that she may cry or sob. However, after a brief moment of mourning, she begins to feel excited about her husband’s death. “Free! Body and soul free!”( ). At first, someone may be startled by this response, as it appears that she has no reason to be acting this way, but if you look between the lines, you realize why. Ms. Mallard was a woman who felt trapped in her marriage. She craved freedom and was never to reach it until the death of her husband. When she first feels it, she likens it to something vial or sinister, but soon after she compares it to an elixir of eternal life. While this reaction appears to be extreme, it is important to realize that divorce was not an accepted practice at the time of this story. This means that she was essentially stuck in her marriage until one of them died, which is why she was so untroubled by the demise of her

The story of an Hour by Chopin is about Louise Mallard desire for freedom. Throughout her life Mrs. Mallard was incapable to leave her home due to a heart illness. The doctor explained how although a sudden shock could kill Louise she would be able to leave the house. Louise was beyond happy to finally be given the chance to leave her home. Brently Mallard did everything in his power to stop her from leaving by using the sickness as a justification. Mr. Mallard would only dedicate little time and affection to his wife. The newspaper had reported a railroad disaster in which Brently Mallard’s name appeared. Louise sister’s Josephine and Brently’s friend knowing of her heart condition gently broke the devastating news to her.

As she beings to consider all of the opportunities that will soon await her, Mrs. Mallard becomes Louise. She blossoms into a free, relaxed woman who was ready to begin her life on her own. During the hour which Louise believes Brently is dead, her heart beats strongly. She opened and spread her arms out, welcoming her new life. She whispers to herself repetitively, “Free! Body and soul free!” (158) A statement that shows her new independence really is for her. Louise soon becomes a woman aware of her own desires, enjoying the anticipation of being freed from the confines of her marriage.

When Mrs. Mallard hears the news of her husband’s death she weeps and feels abandoned while she falls

The story continues to reveal a conflict Mrs. Mallard may have had in the relationship with her husband. Though she speaks about him lovingly and knows that he loved her, there is something deeper that is brought to the surface in

At the beginning of the story no one wished to tell Mrs. Mallard about the death of her husband due to her heart condition. Her heart trouble is a symbol for the way she feels crushed or hurt by her marriage. During this time period women were expected to live under the control of their husbands, so while being married to Brently, she begins to lose her identity. In the story, she is only referred to as Mrs. Mallard she isn’t referred to as Louise until after her husband’s death. She is an accessory to her husband is forced to live in the shadow of her husband and as a result of this she has lost herself over the years. Louise’s character is used as a symbol to represent the women of this time period and show the sacrifices they make for their husbands and the troubles that come along with the inequalities they experience in marriage.

In the short story, “The Story of an Hour,” author Kate Chopin presents the character of Mrs. Louis Mallard. She is an unhappy woman trapped in her discontented marriage. Unable to assert herself or extricate herself from the relationship, she endures it. The news of the presumed death of her husband comes as a great relief to her, and for a brief moment she experiences the joys of a liberated life from the repressed relationship with her husband. The relief, however, is short lived. The shock of seeing him alive is too much for her bear and she dies. The meaning of life and death take on opposite meaning for Mrs. Mallard in her marriage because she lacked the courage to stand up for herself.

Even though she will lament her significant other's demise, inside she feels happiness. It was "only yesterday she wished that life would be short, now she wishes that life will be long." Mrs. Mallard is anxious to come back to her vivacious soul that she was once fondly familiar with. Be that as it may, she truly loved her husband, her

“The Story of an Hour” is a short story in which the author, Kate Chopin, presents an interesting view on women 's feeling in marriages. Louise Mallard is the main character of the story and rather than mourn her husband’s death, she fills with a confuzed joy as she feels freedom from her boring life. Once she finds out that her husband, Mr Brently, is still living, Mrs. Mallard’s heart explodes and she dies from sadness.While the idea that women can feel oppressed in marriages is most definitely true, in the story it does seem a little exaggerated. This is most likely because of Mrs. Mallard’s unnatural depression-like symptoms, as well as her failure to realize woman can be more than just wifes, even at her time.

In "The Story of an Hour," I can relate to so many different things that go on in this short tragic story. After reading the story I almost felt like Louise Mallard and I were living the same life with different events and a different outcome. Everything about the two of us comes down to being always misunderstood and just wanting to be free.

As a result, the use of symbolism helped the illustration of independence as an essential piece to joy. Furthermore, after Mrs. Mallard’s husband, Brently Mallard, enters the house and revealing to everyone that he is not dead, Mrs. Mallard dies from the “joy that kills” (2). This suggests that Mrs. Mallard did not die from the “joy” of seeing her husband alive, but because of having the joy of independence that she had achieved when thinking that her husband had died taken away from her. Having her freedom separated from her caused her death because she had “opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome” (2), implying that she had accepted her new independence and now there is no going back. Along with this, earlier in the story she was contemplating the “blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (2) and compared this action to a “crime” (2), indicating that she frowns upon the acts of subjection and doesn’t desire for her husband to be alive as she had been oppressed by him.

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.

Firstly, we, and Louise Mallard herself, expect her to be very upset about her husband, Brently,’s death, and for a little while she is, but soon she comes to believe that she is better off single than married and then only cries because she had started and could not stop. Secondly, she believes her husband dead, but he really is not. Thirdly, her sister believes that she is very upset about her husband’s “death” but she is not and is really celebrating in her room. Lastly, when she dies from the shock of seeing her husband alive again, the doctors proclaim her dead of joy at seeing him alive again, and say that it was because of her heart problems, but she really died of a broken heart. "

While Mrs. Mallard remembers Mr. Mallard as a kind and tender man who loved her, she also viewed him as the oppression that marriage put upon women and men. While Mr. Mallard was kind and loving to his wife, he was also controlling and overbearing. Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister and Richards, Mr. Mallard’s friend is there to break the news of Mr. Mallard’s death. Richards has learned of Mr. Mallard’s death at the newspaper office, not wanting to believe the information that was received, Richards waited for the new to be delivered for a second time before enlisting the help of Josephine. They are both there to support Mrs. Mallard and their support shows that they care for Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.

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