“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

Knowing about Mrs. Mallard’s heart, he realizes that they need to take caution in letting Mrs. Mallard know about it. Josephine told her because Richards feared “any less careful, less tender” person relaying the message to Louise Mallard (1). Because of her heart trouble, they think that if the message of her husband’s death is delivered to her the wrong way, her heart would not be able to withstand it. They also think that if someone practices caution in giving her the message, that, ... ... middle of paper ... ...that Chopin describes her eyes in this story shows elation. The author describes her joy over her husband’s death as monstrous to give the reader the idea that she feels extreme joy over an event that would normally elicit the opposite reaction in a person.

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... ... middle of paper ... ...dition, so the doctor thought that this weakness was the reason she died.What really killed her was being put back into the role that was forced and expected of her. When her husband walked in, all of her feminine freedom vanished. Women weren’t given the same rights as men.

After coming to terms with the news and actually being happy about having her freedom, her husband walks through the door, the shock causes her to drop dead. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” she uses a disturbing scenario to shed light on the way women were trapped in their lives during the turn of the century. In “The Story of an Hour” “The Story of an Hour” is a tragic tale of loss, the loss of a loved one and the loss of freedom which is a key point in this story. Kate Chopin weaves an intricate tale and uses a view point that most people do not when their husband is perceived dead. The thoughts of the freedom that our main character Mrs. Mallard feels as she learns the tragic news is definitely not the emotion that would be expected but for her it truly is release.

The death gave her freedom both physically and emotionally. Louise Ballard is breaks down later when her husband comes home. She collapses when she finds that the husband is alive. Yet she had thought she is free! (Kate,1894) ​Response to the story ​I liked the story especially the gentleness with which the sister breaks the death news to avoid causing suffering to the protagonist.in addition, the ironical ending of the story when the dead husband comes home and the wife collapses because she thought he was dead.

She does not give herself time to think upon the subject, but immediately starts sobbing because that was the reaction she thought she should give. She is grieving, but is over come with an immense sadness. Chopin writes; " she did not hear the story as many women have heard the same…she wept at once" (paragraph 3). This was not a reaction of just emotions, but also of how she thought she should react in front of her family and friends. After locking her self in the solitude of her bedroom she begins to recognize things that one would not think of after a loved one just passed away. "

This heart condition in a young woman shows the amount of anxiety Mrs. Mallard deals with in everyday life. A friend of Brently Mallard, Richards is the first to find out about the railroad disaster, so it must be assumed that Richards told Josephine who is Mrs. Mallard’s sister. Both Richards and Josephine went to break the news to Mrs. Mallard. Richards “had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message,” (Chopin 293) which indicates Brently Mallard may not be well liked. The narrator hints about the ending when they surround the word killed with parenthesis, which indicates it had is said but may have not be a fact.

She would have no one follow her” (Chopin 443). This quotation eloquently depicts Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death that most of us would expect. She cries holding nothing back, and can not fully grasp what she has just been told. However, she quickly composes herself and walks into th... ... middle of paper ... ...out her husband, but her emotions throughout the story show that she is happy her freedom is given to her. Mrs. Mallard was just taking in her new life that was beginning and she was exclaiming to herself that she was finally free from her husband.

The objects and spring time help her confront her guilt. When she is pulled away from the window her freedom is also ripped away. When she learns her husband is alive she can’t bear the thought and soon her whole world “descended”. (489) Saldivar4 In “The Story of an Hour” Chopin uses irony in a way that gives the ending a shocking surprise. According to the University of Hawaii the character Louis feelscontrolled as “She sometimes loved her husband, but in a way she has been dead, a body subjected t... ... middle of paper ... ...ve been the cause of her death.

The main character feels floods of relief when she hears of her husbands death but it turns out to be untrue. When she sees him she has a heart attack and dies. Divorce may have been a possibility during the time frames of these two stories but it was rare and looked down upon. The main differences are that the two characters are of different genders and the roles are reversed. In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty his wife is a constant nag.

Kate Chopin's, "The story of An Hour" is about Louise Mallard discovering the death of her husband Brently Mallard. The way the message was to be communicated was to be soft-hearted since Louise had a pre-existing heart condition. We were told right off the bat that she had this heart condition. She was taken by surprise hearing that her husband had passed, she went through the stages of grief quickly to come to a realization that his death meant freedom for her, and her gaining back power that she lost when they had wed. But, Louise Mallard's death was not what everyone thought it seemed to be.