In Kate Chopin’s unraveling story The Story of an Hour, shows Mr. Mallard’s marriage behind closed doors and in the public. Mrs. Mallard has just found out that her husband has passed away in an accident, and her sister fears that it’s something that she will not be able to handle with her failing heart. After she finds out she find out from her sister, Josephine, Mrs. Mallard weeps a little but behind closed doors she ponders the idea. She comes up with the idea that she can be free and happy again. Mrs. Mallard get excited about the fact that she can now live her life as her own, but then something shocking happens. Her husband walks through the door, and she is beyond shocked, so shocked that her heart actually gives out. The doctor said it was “… of the joy that kills” (Chopin 58). In this story Chopin exhibits symbolism, the spring that represents her new life and her new found happiness, the armchair represents a place of rest and letting go of her old life, and the heart trouble that represents her the emotions of her marriage and the freedom being ripped away when Mr. Mallard returns, to show how Mrs. Mallard had been oppressed and unhappy in her marriage
First, the symbol of spring represents new life and new found happiness. To Mrs. Mallard now that her husband has died she sees a new future for herself. “Patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds” (57). This is the hope of new life even though the past was dark. The sun peeking through the clouds shows that even at the darkest moments there is still light, there is still hope of getting through everything regardless of the doubt that appears. She begins to think about his death and then she finds all the opportunities that are ahead of her. She wants...
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...ally wasn’t, and seeing him literally killed her. The doctors said it was the “ joy that kills”, but the reality of the situation is that the fact that her freedom was ripped away without even getting to live it broke her heart to the point of a death. Spring was the hope of a new life and the happiness that she found after the “death” of her husband. The armchair was where she got to rest her exhausted soul and where she was comforted. The heart was the a unhappy marriage, and the oppression that she dealt with her whole marriage. Although the roles were reversed at the end of the story with Mr. and Mrs. Mallard in a sick way Mrs. Mallard got her freedom that she always wanted.
Works Cited
chopin,kate. "the story of an hour" literature for composition.
ed. sylvan barnet, william burto, and william e. cain
9th ed. new york: longman.2011 45-47. print.
“Story of an Hour”, Kate Chopin unveils a widow named Mrs. Louise Mallard in which gets the news of her husband’s death yet, the audience would think she would feel sorrowful, depressed, and dispirited in the outcome her reaction is totally unusual. Meanwhile, day after day as time has gone by Mrs. Mallard slowly comes to a strange realization which alters a new outlook over her husband's death. "And yet she had loved him- sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!" (Chopin, 2). The actuality that she finds a slight bit of happiness upon the death of a person who particularly is so close to her is completely unraveling w...
Like in many tragically true stories, it would seem Mrs. Mallard 's freedom came too late. Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour” begins by introducing Mrs. Mallard as a person afflicted with heart trouble. The story builds on this by having Mrs. Mallard’s sister Josephine and her husband Richard explain the situation in a very sensitive manner. Their efforts would prove to be in vain however as Mrs. Mallard then proceeds to emotionally break down. The news shocks Mrs. Mallard to her very core and has her at odds with how she should feel now that all was said and done. After coming to terms with her situation, fate delivers its final blow in a cruel and deceitful ploy towards Mrs. Mallards. And with that, Mrs. Mallard 's dies. In her hour of change Mrs. Mallard 's was delicate, thoughtful and excitable.
In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, is a clear example of how Mrs. Mallard will not recognize that she feels like a prisoner, but the moment she knows that her husband is “dying”, she feels freedom instead of sadness. Mrs. Mallard has a heart disease and Richards try to tell her the news carefully so she won’t suffer an attack. The house is her place but she feels like a prisoner and after the news she feels like is she is release from the house. She is happy but when she sees her husband on the door she feel like everything will go back to the way it was. Mrs. Mallard is a women with thoughts about her freedom, she will imagine about what she will ever want, she will look outside the window and look at the new life. explore the men’s world.
In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard, who suffers from heart trouble, is notified that her husband had been killed in a railroad disaster and she falls into her sister’s arms weeping. At one point, she truly was in love with her husband. This
Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour, was written in 1891, a time when married women were essentially the property of their husbands. Women were considered inferior to their husbands. All they were good for for was cooking, cleaning, and caring for their children. Thier opinions and desires often went unheard. The Story of an Hour is centered on a woman, Mrs. Mallard, who has just received the news that her husband was killed in a trainwreck. Mrs. Mallard reacts in the same way any woman would, in fact she is so consumed with grief that she retreats to her upstairs bedroom. However, she soon realizes that her husband’s death opened up a pathway for her to live her own life, without the restraints that came with marriage in the late 1700’s. Mrs. Mallard returns to the entryway of her house to find her supposedly deceased unlatching the front door, causing Mrs. Mallard to mysteriously pass away. The doctors said she died of “a joy that kills”. Chopin implements literary and structural elements such as metaphors, foreshadowing, and dramatic irony to highlight the theme of freedom and enhance the drama
To be inconsistent with traditional communities beliefs it is hard for many to accomplish. Nevertheless, writer Kate Chopin fights that conflict to deliver the readers a few of the greatest thought vexing literature that a human can get their hands on. Applying to her improvement reflections of narrative stories, such as plot control, irony, and character development, Kate is capable to take the reader towards a world of feelings that humanity would despise. Chopin shows her unbelievable literary ability in “The Story of an Hour” by joining character development and plot, with her use of thought-provoking vocabulary and narrative irony.
In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin shows the reader Mrs. Mallard’s monstrous joy towards her husband’s death. After receiving the news of her husband, Brently Mallard’s, death she wept, but was also overwhelmed with a certain sense of freedom. Suddenly, Mrs. Mallard dies of heart disease, the joy that kills, but is then revealed that Brently is still alive. In “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin reveals the character of Mrs. Mallard through the use of diction, detail, and irony.
Another example of how Mrs. Mallard was more uplifted than brought down by the news of her husband?s death is the description of the window. As Mrs. Mallard looks out Chopin explains ?she could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all a quiver with new life?. This is telling the reader about the new life that Mrs. Mallard can see in the distance that symbolizes the new life she saw that lay ahead of her now that she was free of her husband. This thought being supported by Hicks in saying "The revalation of freedom occurs in the bedroom"
In her story “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin (1894) uses imagery and descriptive detail to contrast the rich possibilities for which Mrs. Mallard yearns, given the drab reality of her everyday life. Chopin utilizes explicit words to provide the reader a background on Mrs. Mallard’s position. Chopin uses “She wept at once,” to describe Mrs. Mallard’s emotional reaction once she was told her husband had been “Killed.” Mrs. Mallard cared for and loved her husband; being married was the only way of life that she knew.
In "the story of an hour" Chopin discuss how getting married can lead you to live a life of anguish. In the beginning of the short story Mrs. Mallard revives terrible news that her husband has been recently killed, she "Wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment." This intense reaction is how society would expect her to act if your husband dies. Mrs. Mallard then goes into her bedroom to grieve alone: "She could see in the open square before her house the tops of the trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life." Seeing the open square makes her crave freedom, something she doesn't remembering having. The new spring life will eventually represent her new-found freedom and happiness. As she stares outside the window she thinks, but "It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought." She is critically thinking of what will come and what has just happened, she has not ever has to think for herself, her husband always did that for her. This is the first time her feelings start to stir, she tries to process the information more to figure out what they mean.
Kate Chopin’s story, "The Story of an Hour," may seem to be about Mrs. Mallard’s unexpected and ironic reactions to the news of her husband’s untimely death due to a railroad disaster. At least that’s what I thought when I read the story. It seemed to me that she led a normal life with a normal marriage. She had a stable home life with a kind, loving husband who cared for her. She seemed to love him, sometimes. She had some kind of "heart trouble" (Chopin 25) that didn’t really affect her physically, until the very end. I thought Mrs. Mallard would have been saddened and filled with grief for an adequate period of time after her spouse died, but her grief passed quickly, and she embraced a new life that she seemed to be content with. Therefore I believe there is good evidence that Mrs. Mallard was an ungrateful woman who did not appreciate her husband or his love for her. That evidence is found in her selfish behavior after the death of her husband, Brently Mallard.
“The Story of an Hour” was a story set in a time dominated by men. During this time women were dependent on men, but they always dreamed of freedom. Most people still think that men should be dominant and in control. They think that without men, women can’t do anything and that they can’t be happy. Well this story has a twist.
To start off, this short story is packed with an abundance of symbolism that further highlights the emotions that Mrs. Mallard was feeling after hearing the devastating news of her husband’s death. Although she is instantly overcome with grief upon hearing the news, there were ‘’patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds…” (Chopin 476). These patches of blue sky represent the plethora of opportunities that await Mrs. Mallard now that she has been given a fresh start, with total and unrestricted freedom. Shortly after, Louise begins to comprehend how her husband’s death has in turn completely changed her life for the better. In addition, Mrs. Mallard’s heart troubles also bear a symbolic significance. Her physical heart complications symbolize her discontent with her lack of freedom in her life and marriage. In contrast, when Mrs. Mallard initially realizes the liberty and independence that she now possesses, “her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood w...
Mrs. Mallard’s repressed married life is a secret that she keeps to herself. She is not open and honest with her sister Josephine who has shown nothing but concern. This is clearly evident in the great care that her sister and husband’s friend Richard show to break the news of her husband’s tragic death as gently as they can. They think that she is so much in love with him that hearing the news of his death would aggravate her poor heart condition and lead to death. Little do they know that she did not love him dearly at all and in fact took the news in a very positive way, opening her arms to welcome a new life without her husband. This can be seen in the fact that when she storms into her room and her focus shifts drastically from that of her husband’s death to nature that is symbolic of new life and possibilities awaiting her. Her senses came to life; they come alive to the beauty in the nature. Her eyes could reach the vastness of the sky; she could smell the delicious breath of rain in the air; and ears became attentive to a song f...
In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard has a heart trouble. People think she will have a heart attack if they just tell her the truth. But after they tell her that her husband is dead, she unlike many women that with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance, she just weeps once and goes back to her own room and locks the door. But after she meditates for a while, she realizes that the death of her husband can bring her freedom. And a monstrous joy appears, she knew that there would be no powerful will bending her and she could be free no matter in body and in soul. Kate Chopin wanted to show us a long term marriage can “kill” the romance. For example, in “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. and Mr. Mallard loved each other before they married. But after their marriage, Mrs. Mallard didn’t love Mr. Mallard anymore, maybe sometimes she did. But in most of the time, their marriage became a trap of Mrs. Mallard. She thought she lived for her husband but not herself in this marriage and she was young, with a hair and calm face before they were married, after his death, she can live for herself, this is the “freedom” that Mrs. Mallard thought of.