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The Story of an Hour Analysis
The Story of an Hour Analysis
The Story of an Hour Analysis
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“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin shows a pessimistic aspect of marriage by showing the reader with a woman who is apparently happy to learn that her husband has died. Louise has been consumed by her marriage so much that when she learns the death of her husband, all she could think in that moment is that she finally going to be free. She no longer has to please anyone but herself. Kate Chopin applies emphasis of fear, excitement, and hope to bring her ideas of her newfound freedom and living a new future for herself. Kate Chopin was raised in the time that women did not really have any rights. She wrote the story for women who were dealing with the same situation, so they can connect to her. She was well known for writing short stories that focus on women who are dealing with these forms of society bricks. In the late nineteenth century, women were bound to their husband’s power and status, but if they are widows, nobody expects them to have the responsibility of finding a husband to follow, so they have more …show more content…
Women become invisible with no voice, no desires, and no identity. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills” (Chopin, 477). This last phrase consciously ironic because Louise probably felt both joy and intense sadness at Brently’s return, having her husband’s back and the loss of her freedom due to her marriage. Mrs. Mallard died because her newfound identity was taken from her when her husband walked into that room. Her freedom was suddenly snatched from her, and she could not bear it. She was finally going to be free of her duty as wife, and of what society expected of her, but now there is no place for her anymore, so there is nothing left but
The Major theme in “Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is the forbidden pleasures of freedom for women. This story was written in a time where women had no independence. They lived their lives for their husbands and not for themselves. While reading we see the oppression women faced in marriages, and the guilt they faced when desiring their freedom from the lives that they lived.
“To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.”(Lao Tzu). In Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour”, it tells of a heart trouble married woman, Louise Mallard, who learns that the man she loved and married, Brently has died. Mrs. Mallard’s behavior and emotions have shocked her entire family as she finds it a joyful and powerful event that may change her life for the hour that she has remaining to live. Mrs. Mallard considers his death as a freedom that she has yet longed for over so many years. As many readers begin to express their judgment towards Mrs. Mallard, the aspects of personal relationship may seem to convince those that maybe she was a bit selfish with her response. In the agony of a bitter marriage, “The Story of an Hour” portrays the reality of being in love, being married and finally having female independence.
Kate Chopin is a master of descriptive prose as the language she uses evokes strong emotion in the reader in “The Story of an Hour.” Chopin’s expressive diction leaves the reader feeling bittersweet – joyful for Louise’s future and pity for the restriction she felt in her marriage. This feeling is best described at the moment when Louise has succumbed to the idea of a new, free life: “Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.” (Kate Chopin 307). Chopin’s powerful, emotive prose pulls the reader into the world of Louise’s complex emotions and ultimately enables the reader to identify with her perception that marriage is repressive and confining, which is contradictory to the social norms of the late 19th century.
When Louise marries Brently she becomes Mrs. Mallard; she loses her identity and assumes a new and strange one. While it seems very normal and average for a wife to assume her husband s name in marriage and in that time, become the property of him, it cannot be ignored that a certain part of the self is lost.
The number of marriages that end in divorce in America is one out of every five; the number of marriages that end in death is about eight hundred thousand per year. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is the tale of a married woman who finds herself on an emotional rollercoaster after learning that her husband was killed in a train accident, only to have him walk through the door within the hour. At first, she mourns the loss of her husband. However, as she realizes the breadth of the freedom she now possesses, this sadness soon transforms into joy, and she emerges from her upstairs bedroom a changed woman. Then, when her husband unexpectedly walks through the front door, she is all at once overcome with a sense of grief, and she collapses on the foyer floor, unable to bear the thought of returning to her marriage. Chopin, a controversial author, explores the negative side of the construct of marriage. Maintaining one’s independence can, in fact, strengthen a marriage, by promoting equality within the marriage, bolstering one’s
In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, it talks about marriage and a woman’s life in the 1800’s. This story illustrates the stifling nature of a woman’s role during this time through Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death. When Mrs. Mallard obtains news that her husband is dead, she is hurt after a brief moment and then she is delighted with the thought of freedom. This story shows how life was in the mid 1800’s and how women were treated around that time.
Kate Chopin wrote a short piece called “The Story of an Hour” about a woman’s dynamic emotional shift who believes she has just learned her husband has died. The theme of Chopin’s piece is essentially a longing for more freedom for women.
Most women in Mrs Mallard’s situation were expected to be upset at the news of her husbands death, and they would worry more about her heart trouble, since the news could worsen her condition. However, her reaction is very different. At first she gets emotional and cries in front of her sister and her husbands friend, Richard. A little after, Mrs. Mallard finally sees an opportunity of freedom from her husbands death. She is crying in her bedroom, but then she starts to think of the freedom that she now has in her hands. “When she abandoned herse...
Kate Chopin’s early life was characterized by a lack of male role models in her life, at a young age she lost her father and two brothers and moved in with her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother whom all were widows. All of these were strong, independent women and so Chopin hardly ever experienced male subjugation towards females which was the usually the case for women in the current society. Years later she married Oscar Chopin and had six children but still never fulfill a conventional role of wife or mother, she was able to enjoy privileges that other women didn’t have. Despite Chopin’s unusual background, her works reflect the struggles faced by the majority of women with great insight and consequently, this allows us to see how
In the short story " The story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, she writes about the impact of being in the social institution of marriage. The author masterfully describes the Protagonist, imagery and irony that captures the readers' attention, and emotions of grief, hope, and joy. As author Kate Chopin brings our attention to these exquisite feelings, she addresses the conflicts one might face as they join into the joys of marriage.
Kate Chopin's story, "The Story of an Hour", focuses on an 1890's young woman, Louise Mallard. She experienced a profound emotional change after she hears her husband's "death" and her life ends with her tragic discovery that he is actually alive. In this story, the author uses various techniques-settings, symbolism and irony- to demonstrate and develop the theme: Freedom is more important than love.
“There is no perfect relationship. The idea that there is gets us into so much trouble.”-Maggie Reyes. Kate Chopin reacts to this certain idea that relationships in a marriage during the late 1800’s were a prison for women. Through the main protagonist of her story, Mrs. Mallard, the audience clearly exemplifies with what feelings she had during the process of her husbands assumed death. Chopin demonstrates in “The Story of an Hour” the oppression that women faced in marriage through the understandings of: forbidden joy of independence, the inherent burdens of marriage between men and women and how these two points help the audience to further understand the norms of this time.
Mrs. Mallard who says her husband was loving and nice, still feels a sense of joy and freedom when she thinks he has died. Louise feeling this way suggests that all marriages are oppressive in some way and take away independence from those in them. Louise is introduced as “Mrs. Mallard” at the beginning of the story and referred to as “she” up until she becomes “free” after her husbands death. This lasts until the reader figures out Brently is not dead and her status as a wife is reestablished. The very last sentence in the book, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills” (Chopin 301) .The fact that the doctors, who happen to be men, had the last say in Mrs. Mallard’s life is another example of men dictating the way she lives. Chopin makes the setting confined to one hospital room to illustrate the confinements Mrs. Mallard is living in due to her marriage. She finally escapes from that room at the very end of the story but only for seconds before discovering her husband is still alive and it destroys everything she was looking forward
Kate Chopin is able to illuminate her stories with clever language and meaning. As well as an immense criticism as to how society oppresses the individual in the glorified institution of marriage. Through language, she is able to introduce the thought of deeper meanings. “The Story of an Hour” being a prime example of the individual that has a need for freedom for herself. Through symbolism and straightforward comments, the freedom that Mrs. Louisa Mallard is notable just as her marriage is oppressive.
“The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin, is a story that has been controversial since its publication in 1894, with reviews ranging from highly critical to great acclaim. The story follows Chopin’s character Mrs. Mallard who is introduced at the same time she is receiving news of her husband’s death. The story is largely a mixture of radical views for its time, subtle meanings, and symbolism. While modern day readers read this story with an open mind, many men - of the 1890’s and much of the 1900’s - would have been outraged at its surface meaning. However, even today Chopin’s story receives criticism for being a gross portrayal of a woman's loss. This is due to the fact that many individuals continue to view the story at face value. Nevertheless, readers of Chopin’s story will find themselves reacting either one extreme or the other. But it is this reader participation that is crucial in determining what the story will be. Despite all beliefs, Mrs. Mallard is a woman who is stuck in her time trying to escape society’s constraints, develop her own identity, all while “coping” with the loss of her husband.