Analysis and Symoblism in "The Story of an Hour"

In the Woods are related to each other through various similarities. Both describe a woman with despair and misery. Kate Chopin had experienced the same situation that was told in the short story. They also portray a situation that women go through and in many cases that they never get out of. Through the metaphor of color and the use of literary technique and images portrayed a sense of elation and a subtle depression.

The portrait of the woman alone in the woods shows her standing their in solitude. The look in her face is of a type of contemplation. It is hard to determine whether it is a sad or happy inspiration or maybe both. Mrs. Mallard she instantly cried with sudden desertion and went off into the room all alone. Both women are alone in these examples. When Mrs. Mallard first sat down in her in the chair by the window her eyes were dreary with a suggestion of intelligent thoughts. The women in the painting and Mrs. Mallard share a similarity that they are looking out into the world.

One lady looks from the view of her window and one from the view from within the forest. This may be symbolizing that they both are looking for something. It could be a new life, a lost love, or for some sort of in depth thought. The painting In the Woods shows the woman holding a single rose. This reminds me of the story because Mrs. Mallard is now a single woman and also it could be a rose for her lost husband. Even though I believe she did not love her husband she still mourned for him.

The colors described in The Story of an Hour are colorful and bright even though the story was a heartrending one. The setting illustrated bright blue skies, birds chirping, and a sense of spring in the air. The pai...

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...in the door. The two women are both young with fair faces symbolizing their innocence. Mrs. Mallard died too young and the lady in the painting looks as though she may of encountered some tragedy.

Both "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and the painting In the Woods by Jeanne Gockley have shared the same kind of meaning. Mrs. Mallard was a very lonely wife who waited at home for her husband. She needed to free herself from monotonous way of life. With her husbands death she realized she was liberated from her predetermined life. With his return she realized that she is being held captive in a life that she does not want to live. The painting illustrates this perfectly by showing a woman alone in vast forest with so many opportunities lying just outside her borders. Women need to take hold of their lives and seize the opportunities that await them.