Would there be only sadness for a woman who lost her husband? Would it be wrong for her to feel a bit of happiness? In The Story of an Hour written by Kate Chopin, the main character Mrs. Mallard is a woman with heart trouble who hears that her husband has died. However, instead of wallowing in her sadness deep in her feelings, she feels happiness and freedom from her husband and wishes for a long blessed life for herself. In this story, Kate Chopin shows that perception does not equal reality by using extreme ironic situations in the contradictory setting, other character's perspectives, and plot twists based on the main character First, the author uses an ironic setting to hint that current sad situation can have glimmer
The short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a story about a widowed woman. Through the story, Chopin explains what emotions and what Mrs. Mallard is going through. Mrs. Mallard is told that her husband was killed in a wreck. She was overwhelmed with emotion and had to rush to her room to be by herself, the readers see a different side of Mrs. Mallard that no one knew she had. What her true emotions are is not what the readers are made to believe at the beginning.
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. This story mainly follows a woman with heart trouble. Her husband’s name appears at the top of a list of people killed in a railroad accident. The story than explains her reaction upon finding out about his death.
The story “Eveline” by James Joyce and the story “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin touch upon the timeless themes of love and death. “Eveline”, a story about a woman who is about to marry a man named Frank, discusses the struggle that women in the early 1900s felt between holding onto the difficult past and moving forward toward a bright future. “The Story of An Hour” is a story about an ill woman who discovers that her husband passed away, and feels a great sense of freedom from his passing. The stories are in contrast with one another in both themes, as death was symbolic of freedom in “The Story of An Hour” while it was restrictive in “Eveline”; and love was restrictive in “The Story of An Hour” while it was freeing in “Eveline”. The
Marriages were not always about being devoted to your spouse. We see this when Louise thinks “There would be no powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature”(Chopin). It was as if neither women, nor men had their own personal freedom. At first Chopin has us thinking that Louise is an old character, but when we continue reading, Chopin tells us differently: “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (Chopin). Now the widow sees all her possibilities at a new life and her youth is beaming through her.
Mallard supposed to be with her husband by his side and giving him advice she was not. This also lead to the news that they gave her husband had died and she was happy , she felt free. Her sister thought Mrs Mallard was crying in her room or very sad but she was not. “She said it over and over under her breath: Free, Free, Free!”(Kate Chopin 's View on Death And Freedom in the story Of An Hour,1).This was unexpected and weird in many ways . It was expected that Mrs Mallard was going to react differently as she really did.
Mrs.Mallard reveals that she does love her husband, but the the independence that she is now going to get is what is driving into a surge of sudden happiness and motivation. Ironically, Mrs.Mallard was not allowed to enjoy her new found independence in the end. In the short story “The Story Of An Hour”by Kate Chopin, Mrs.Mallard hears about the death of her husband from her sister Josephine. Mrs.Mallard cries in her sister 's arms from the sudden shock, and the fear of being alone. After Mrs.Mallard went to a room to be alone she began to realize that because of her husband 's death she is now independent.
In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, Louise Mallard suffers from many different emotions after hearing about her husband’s death. Her husband Brently was reported to have died after a railroad incident. Mrs. Mallard has suffered from heart issues, but shortly after hearing about the death of her husband they started to get worse. The author uses symbolism throughout the short story by using objects to symbolize her new beginnings. Kate Chopin symbolizes the theme by experiencing her personal freedom.
There are also thoughts and ideas that show Mrs. Mallard realizing that love is by no means a substitute for independence. When Mrs. Mallard was told of her husband’s death she "did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance" (Chopin 25). This shows that Mrs. Mallard was not utterly grief-stricken or she would have had this so-called "glazed-over look." She also did not deny her husband’s death, which is another natural reaction to the loss of someone you deeply care about. After Mrs. Mallard is told of her husband’s death, she retreats into her bedroom.
Her sister Josephine was careful to tell her sister of the tragic loss of her brother-in-law, since her sister was "afflicted by heart trouble." Upon the first reading of this sentence, readers might infer that Mrs. Mallard suffered from a broken heart and may have even dabbled in extra martial activities, or she may have suffered from a previous heart attack. It is unclear to the reader whether this outburst that Mrs. Mallard experiences is due to grief or joy. Only after reading further into the short story would one understand the importance of Josephine kneeling at the bedroom door requesting admission (paragraph 16). Kate Chopin skillfully places these words at the opening of her story to allow readers to envision Mrs. Mallard as frail.