Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

In the beginning of the story, The Story of an Hour, Chopin describes the scene of Louise Mallard’s husbands’ death. Throughout the story, Mrs. Mallard is said to sad, but eventually realizes that she is free, on her own to do the things she wants to do, and to be her own person. She explains how “patches of blue sky” started appearing (6) and began noticing that this could be a new beginning for her. Even though she is going to mourn over the death of her husband, she does eventually get to come to the mindset of happiness and freedom. The skies were grey and depressing until the “patches of blue sky” started to show up (6) and it opened her eyes to the new life she was soon going to receive. Chopin illustrates for the reader the excitement Mrs. Mallard has to become free and happy again, and quickly takes it away to have an awfully sad ending, showing her freedom and the loss of the freedom, in just an hour of someone’s life.

Chopin demonstrates Mrs. Mallard’s realization of freedom throughout this short story in multiple scenes. Louise, as she is in the process of mourning and thinking, she thinks and says to herself “free, free, free” (10). Noticing the weight that has been lifted off her shoulders, she becomes happy, relieved, and free. Clearly, she is heartbroken over her loss, but now she has new chances and new beginnings for herself that could potentially lead to a new life for herself. The happiness she must have been feeling in her newly discovered freedom, is something many people experience, but not very often, and this was one of those times. It is a very important for the reader to understand why and how she is “happy” over this