Kate Chopin’s use of irony in “The Story of an Hour” is quite clever in the way she allows it to flow ever so smoothly with the story’s plot. Situational, verbal, and dramatic irony are all three used in Chopin’s work. It is a story that is built around the hour of which Mrs. Louise Mallard learns of Bently’s, her husband, presumed death and everything that follows leading up to her own demise. “The Story of an Hour” is not about just any hour, as you will see, but of Mrs. Mallard’s final. In short, irony can be defined as “saying one thing and meaning another” (Wheeler). There are several different forms of irony, three of which are prevalent throughout “The Story of an Hour.” First, there is situational irony, which is defined as “a trope
In fact, Chopin’s use of verbal irony in the beginning could be argued that it encompasses the entire theme of the story. In the short story, the narrator says “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble” (Chopin 1). However, the narrator does not mean the literal heart, but rather her soul. Mrs. Mallard is troubled in her mind, body, and soul. She is afflicted due to her loveless marriage. She does not feel as though she is able to be her own person and to truly live her life due to the tyranny of her husband. The story makes way to show the lack of unconditional love that Mrs. Mallard has towards her husband, which further proves Mrs. Mallard has faced grave heartache from the repression Mr. Mallard placed upon her. She does not view Bently Mallard as her lover and partner, but rather as her dictator and
Mallard, is making herself sick from despair. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door—you will make yourself ill” (Chopin 17). Josephine believes Mrs. Mallard is so distraught with grief of her husband’s death. She fears her sister has locked herself in her room and is inconsolably heartbroken. The audience knows that to be far from the truth. Mrs. Mallard locks herself in her room to stare out the window and ponder at what her life will be like without the domination of her husband. “Free! Body and soul free” (Chopin 16)! Mrs. Mallard is not sorrowing, but instead she is quietly rejoicing her new found freedom. The one thing she did not have with Mr. Mallard alive was precisely that, her
There are four types of irony, verbal, situational, cosmic, and dramatic. There are situations in life that are ironic and it sometimes compares to a story. “Richard Cory” and “The Story of an Hour” are two stories that compare in the irony given.. The two stories resemble each other and they also resemble life in some situations.
1. Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used very effectively in her story. Situational irony is used to show the reader what is assumed to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to hint to the reader something is happening to the characters in the story that they do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.
If any other characters in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” were to read Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts, they would surely be horrified. What sort of sane, caring woman would feel joy and relief at the death of her husband? She must be a terrible person, despite her reasoning for those feelings. How could Mr. Mallard have chosen such a woman for his bride? She’s a gem, truly; note the sarcasm. Though, one does have to consider what else there is to Mrs. Mallard. She is a human and there is much more to her than her seemingly ill feelings toward her late husband, such as her desire for freedom, her genuine care for Mr. Mallard, and her capacity to exhibit strong emotions.
A very dull and boring story can be made into a great story simply by adding in something that is unexpected to happen. When the unexpected is used in literature it is known as irony. An author uses irony to shock the reader by adding a twist to the story. The author of “The Story of an Hour” is Kate Chopin. Her use of irony in the story is incredibly done more than once. Irony is thinking or believing some event will happen but in return the unexpected or opposite occurs. Kate Chopin uses two types of irony in this short story. Situational irony refers to the opposite of what is supposed to happen, and dramatic irony occurs when the audience or reader knows something that the rest of the characters in the story do not know. Kate Chopin does a great job in placing irony into this short story and makes the reader understand that the unexpected happens in life.
In "The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin tells the story of a woman, Mrs. Mallard whose husband is thought to be dead. Throughout the story Chopin describes the emotions Mrs. Mallard felt about the news of her husband's death. However, the strong emotions she felt were not despair or sadness, they were something else. In a way she was relieved more than she was upset, and almost rejoiced in the thought of her husband no longer living. In using different literary elements throughout the story, Chopin conveys this to us on more than one occasion.
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.
To begin with the first display of symbolism in the story is Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble representing her dissatisfaction with her marriage and unhappiness. Chopin lets the reader know in the beginning that Mrs. Mallard is ill. “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (57). ...
Kate Chopin employs the tool of irony in "The Story of an Hour" to carefully convey the problem inherent in women's unequal role in marital relationships. Chopin develops a careful plot in order to demonstrate this idea, one not socially acceptable at the end of the 19th century, and unfortunately, a concept that still does not appreciate widespread acceptance today, 100 years later as we near the end of the 20th century. Louise Mallard's death, foreshadowed in the initial line "Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble" takes on quite a different meaning when the plot twists and the context of her sudden death is presented unexpectedly, not upon her shock at her husband's death, but instead in her inability to endure the fact that he lives.
One of the first ways Chopin embodies various ironies in “The Story of an Hour” is the representation of verbal irony. Verbal irony is defined as “irony in which a person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning” (“verbal irony”). This type of irony
Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour is a brilliant short story of irony and emotion. The story demonstrates conflicts that take us through the character’s emotions as she finds out about the death of her husband. Without the well written series of conflicts and events this story, the reader would not understand the depth of Mrs. Mallard’s inner conflict and the resolution at the end of the story. The conflict allows us to follow the emotions and unfold the irony of the situation in “The Story of an Hour.”
Various authors use rhetorical devices to emphasize the plot or theme in their writings. Many use symbols to convey ideas or meanings. Others use irony to make the reader analyze or paint a vivid picture of the unexpected. We see symbols in our everyday lives. For example, in religion, the cross symbolizes hope and faith to the Christians. In astrology, there are numerous of symbols, called zodiacs that identify one’s destiny and are used to determine one’s horoscope. Furthermore, in ancient times, Egyptians used symbols to communicate with one other or for religious rituals; the scriptures were called hieroglyphics. On the other hand, irony can best be described when the unexpected happens. For instance, it’s strange when a police man gets arrested or when a firehouse catches on fire.
Mallard through the acts of forbidden joy and the oppression of marriages contributes to the understanding of the work and the time that it was written. The story opens with the reader knowing that Mrs. Mallard was, “afflicted with heart trouble” (Chopin, 15), suggesting a more symbolic notion that she is ambivalent towards her marriage and expresses her unhappiness towards he lack of freedom. Mrs. Mallard ultimately throughout the story questions the meaning of love and rejects it as meaningless. It is arguable to say that Chopin was influenced by women’s roles and other writings at the time, which contributed to her understanding of the meaning of love and courtship. This understanding could be said that it was altered and became more dejected. When Mrs. Mallard dies in the end of the story, it is ironic that she was to die of “heart disease.” This particular death proves that Chopin’s claims of the loss of joy and the return to oppression would kill a woman in this time since independence was a right to be given through the death of their husbands. Another symbolic figure that Chopin uses is the use of the open window, which Mrs. Mallard sees, “blue sky showing here and there through the clouds” (Chopin, 15). The window is Mrs. Mallard’s salvation, ultimately concluding that Chopin doesn’t see any other way for women to be free of their prison during this time. This window acts as a barrier between life and death itself. Once Mrs. Mallard turns away
Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.
I read a story, after I finished reading it my mind was still reeling over what I had just read. Stories like this are quite impressive magnificent; they draw the reader into the story and leave them with a strong impact. How we interpret a text is in itself impressive, as every person is different, every interpretation is too. As I read “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, I could not help but notice that Kate Chopin uses the window to symbolize the future that Mrs. Mallard has been pinning for all her life. Chopin also uses Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition as a symbol of Mrs. Mallard’s marriage. The short story is consequentially the story of an oppressed woman who had to confine herself to the social norms of marriage. Through Formalism Criticism, we will explore the various symbols that Chopin uses to describe how Mrs. Mallard yearns for freedom, and through the Feminist Criticism, we will explore how the institution of marriage oppresses our heroin.
Chopin describes her as a fragile woman. Because she was “afflicted with a heart trouble,” when she receives notification of her husband’s passing, “great care was taken” to break the news “as gently as possible” (1). Josephine, her sister, and Richards, her husband’s friend, expect her to be devastated over this news, and they fear that the depression could kill her because of her weak heart. Richards was “in the newspaper office when the intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard’s name leading the list of killed” (1). He therefore is one of the first people to know about his death. 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, ...