The Rapid Transition of Emotions: Analyzing Character in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” the main character goes through a rapid fire of emotions. At the beginning of the hour, Louise Mallard is a woman who is tied by the beliefs of the society, to stay in a marriage she does not want. After she finds out that her husband passed away, Louise reacts with sudden grief. However, when she realizes that her husband’s death has let her free from the marriage she does not want to stay in, she eventually becomes elated. She becomes happy because Louise wants to live for herself and does not want to rely on anyone. The unexpected return of her husband causes Mrs. Mallard to die unexpectedly. During the hour,
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Mallard’s grief is shown twice in the story. Firstly, Louise mourns the loss of her husband. She cries because she knows how a woman behaves when she loses her husband. She “[weeps] … with sudden, wild abandonment” (66) that shows that she felt strongly about losing her husband and it is the most intense of the emotions she experiences so far. According to Selina Jamil, Louise’s “life seems devoid of emotions [until the moment she is told that her husband has passed]” (1). It is a strong claim to say that Mrs. Mallard feels nothing. However, it is true to say that Louise’s emotions toward her husband are shallow. Her response to Mr. Mallard’s “kind and tender hands,”(67) is only that “she had loved him sometimes … ”(67). Secondly, Louise grieves when she loses hope. For example, Louise’s hopes get shattered when she finds out that her husband is alive (68). This loss of hope is because not only will she be unable to fulfill her dreams about being a single, independent woman, but also because she would be going back into the repressive marriage she was in: as the narrator says, “she [is] young, … whose lines [bespeak] repression …”(67). She is also “pressed down by a physical exhaustion the haunts her body and seems to reach her soul”(66). This is to say that her marriage does not allow her to be open and express her emotions freely that Mrs. Mallard held every thought inside. Mrs. Mallard grieves as a result of the loss of a spouse and then the loss of …show more content…
She is joyful because she is liberated and she sees hope as a result of her liberation. After her husband passed away, she thinks about her marriage and “...recognizes self-assertion as the strongest impulse of her being” (67). Xuemei Wan quotes “… Mrs. Mallard feels it more important to be an individual than to be a woman (or at least a mother-woman)…”(168). To show this desire of selfhood, the narrator uses Louise’s first name right after Louise recognizes what she wants—her freedom (68). Before Mr. Mallard died, Louise was identified as Mrs. Mallard—someone’s wife; after she realizes the positive aspects of being a widow, Louise is no more someone’s wife, rather an independent woman. In addition, Louise’s liberation leads her to “... embrace visions of the future” (Wilson 266). For example, she sees “ … the new spring life [in the open square]”(66). For Louise, the new spring life is a possibility “... of a life without her husband …”(Wilson 266) where she would not have to rely on a husband anymore. She is also free from the repressive marriage she was in and she “she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely, and she opens and spreads her arms out to them in welcome”(67). Louise is ecstatic about her husband’s death because she is free from the marriage she does not want to stay in and she will get to do whatever she
Louise had a heart condition that left her sister, Josephine, wary of breaking the news of her husband’s death to her in fear that it could cause her problems. To the reader’s surprise; however, Louise had the opposite reaction. While weeping and showing glimpses of sadness, she is suddenly overtaken by a calming presence. “Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.” [11] When first reading this part, I visualized an evil woman who hated her husband. After finishing the story, I now believe this symbolizes reality setting in on her and she is
Louise, the unfortunate spouse of Brently Mallard dies of a supposed “heart disease.” Upon the doctor’s diagnosis, it is the death of a “joy that kills.” This is a paradox of happiness resulting into a dreadful ending. Nevertheless, in reality it is actually the other way around. Of which, is the irony of Louise dying due to her suffering from a massive amount of depression knowing her husband is not dead, but alive. This is the prime example to show how women are unfairly treated. If it is logical enough for a wife to be this jovial about her husband’s mournful state of life then she must be in a marriage of never-ending nightmares. This shows how terribly the wife is being exploited due her gender in the relationship. As a result of a female being treated or perceived in such a manner, she will often times lose herself like the “girl
Although the net neutrality debate didn’t come into the spot light so long ago, it has sparked controversy in the communications world. This concept provides a positive impact to the consumers, competition and network owners/internet service providers. It broadens the aspect of equality, which the open Internet was first based on. The profound effects on the aforementioned players provide a supported purpose to regulate the notion of net neutrality.
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.
Unfortunately, her hope for long years and many beautiful spring days was abruptly ended in an ironic twist. Unbeknownst to herself and her company, Mr. Mallard had survived, and within an hour the promises of a bright future for Mrs. Mallard had both began and came to an end. Her grievous death was misconstrued as joy to the others: "they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills" (Chopin 471). This statement embodies the distorted misconception that a woman lives only for her man. The audience, in fact, sees just the opposite. To Louise her life was elongated at the news of her husband's death, not cut short. Throughout the story, one hopes Louise will gain her freedom. Ironically, she is granted freedom, but only in death.
As Mrs. Mallard lets her realization take root she begins to chant, “free, free, free” (Chopin, 75). This shows that she accepts her new fate and knows that she will be okay without her husband. Louise becomes aware that she has been dictated by social expectation and requirement, but now can live for herself once again with no one to answer to. Louise admits, “she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death” (Chopin, 75), but sees her future beyond that now. Social expectations no longer obligate her to be the woman she was. Louise is now able to do what she feels is most beneficial for her as an individual, and not what would be expected in her monogamous
In "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, we are introduced to Mrs. Mallard. She is portrayed an unloving, heartless, woman who is overjoyed by the passing of her husband- or at least that is the common misconception. Mrs. Mallard although perceived as inhuman, is actually more human than most would like to believe. While her actions may seem questionable or even to be condemned, they are hardly unthinkable in light of the issues involving marriage and the woman's role throughout history. The story itself presents a valid argument in favor of Louise as she is portrayed as the oppressed wife finally set free after her husband's death.
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.
“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.
She has now found a new desire for life. However, without warning, the tone abruptly reverts back to its grief stricken “ horror.” As Mr. Mallard walks in the door, her thoughts, dreams, and aspirations, quickly fade away. Louise’s heart, so weak, simply stops and all bliss transfers into extreme heartache. The drastic changes of tone reveals that freedom can be given and taken from someone in a heartbeat and the heartache will always remain.
Many people interpret that Louise passes away from shock and disappointment from discovering her husband is actually alive. They feel that when Louise finally accepts that her husband is deceased and she discovers freedom, that seeing her husband alive causes her to get depressed, go into shock, and die. On the other hand, a more unique interpretation of Mallard’s death would be that she passed away from excitement and anxiousness from being completely independent, and having various opportunities in store for herself. Mallard may have not been able to handle the new exhilaration directly after experiencing deep depression and grief from the news of her husband’s accident. Some supporting evidence that Louise did not collapse from seeing her husband alive, is that the passage never directly states that she actua...
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.
Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. 11th . New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. 476-477. Print.
Analysis of “The Story of an Hour”. 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 with 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.”
Upon seeing her husband alive and well Louise realizes that the life she has imagined is not to be. The return of Brently signals a return of the patriarchal oppression in her life, and after imagining herself as an individual and then to be denied the chance to live freely is a punishment far worse than the crime. Louise loses her identity and once again becomes "his wife." Richards once more tries to protect her, a helpless woman, by attempting to block her view from her husband, because of the fragile state of her heart. Mrs. Mallard's strengths are gone, never to be acknowledged by the men in her life. For one, brief hour she was an individual. Now she finds herself bound by masculine oppression with no end in sight, and the result is death.