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Analysis of story of an hour by Kate Chopin
The story of an hour kate chopin analysis
The story of an hour kate chopin analysis
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In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, Louise Mallard suffers from many different emotions after hearing about her husband’s death. Her husband Brently was reported to have died after a railroad incident. Mrs. Mallard has suffered from heart issues, but shortly after hearing about the death of her husband they started to get worse. The author uses symbolism throughout the short story by using objects to symbolize her new beginnings. Kate Chopin symbolizes the theme by experiencing her personal freedom. In the short story after Mrs. Mallard’s husband dies she finds her new self and independence. Instead of being overpowered by her husband, she is now able to live more freely and without burden. The symbolism in this story is represented immediately …show more content…
Mallard sits in after immediately finding out about her husband’s death symbolizes her freedom and wealth. In “The Story of an Hour” Kate Chopin wrote, “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair” (Chopin 1). The descriptive words used to define the chair prove that the chair symbolizes the new beginning and freedom. The word comfortable that Chopin uses can show that Mrs. Mallard is now able to relax. “Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (Chopin 1). Mrs. Mallard was previously pressed down by the physical exhaustion of her stressful, overwhelming life that she had been living. “She has had to strive for social perfection: to be the perfect wife, to be the perfect upper-class wife, and to be the perfect woman in general” (Williams 7). How Chopin describes the chair is also symbolising her wealth. Their wealth in the story was described as her sitting in an over sized chair in her bedroom on the second story. “Their financial status is implied in the description of their home, since Mrs. Mallard looks out on an open square from a comfortable, roomy chair in her second-floor bedroom” (Durrer 93). As Mrs. Mallard sits in at her window she witnesses the struggling peddler outside below her window. At that moment as she is sitting in her oversized chair she realized how good she has it. Mrs.Mallard had been trying to live up to her husband’s standards and …show more content…
While Mrs. Mallard’s husband is dead she feels more free and at peace with herself and also life. She feels as if weight is lifted off of her shoulders. Her husband is not there pressuring her, she is independent and experiencing a new life without him. Also, she feels as though it might be hard without him. As much as it might be hard on her she feels as if it will be equally if not more enjoyable. She will find herself within these new steps and experiences in her
...d not passed was to overbearing for her. Her husband Brently was alive and although, Mrs. Mallard was free so was he. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, provides more than an unhappy marriage, it delivers her ideas on marriage, love and a woman independence from a structure of male dominance. Many would still describe Mrs. Mallard as a selfish, lonely, and sympatric wife, again, there is a disconnect between the outer world and her introverted self. Some of her emotions are described as monstrous; she is
Though Kate Chopin recounts to Mrs. Mallard's story, she does not do so in first person. Chopin reveals the short story through a narrator's voice. The narrator is not simply an observer, however. Louise Mallard, in ‘'The Story of an Hour’', is an average lady and protagonist of the 1890s who enjoys little in her quest for individual flexibility. When she learns of her significant other Brently's passing in a railroad disaster, in any case, she rapidly starts to understand the new potential for her own self assertions.With him gone, Louise senses feelings that change her, and with her quiet repetitive chant of the word 'free,' the reader soon learns just what that thing is. She finds herself feeling independent, but feeling guilty for having such reverence for herself, after her husbands passing. She then exposes the idea of feeling guilty. She is
The setting of the story takes place in the Mallards house. It seems to me that the house is old and very comfortable. I think this because after Mrs. Mallard finds out about her husband’s death she goes to her room and the narrator says “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank.”(157) This shows that the furniture is old and worn because most furniture takes a while before it can be worn is so when sat on it will sink in.
Why would a married woman go out, spend the night with a man whom she barely knows, when she has a wonderful, devoted husband and child? Mrs. Mallard's cry of ultimate relief and the joy she felt when she learned of her husband's deathis intolerable.
The symbols and imagery used by Kate Chopin's in “The Story of an Hour” give the reader a sense of Mrs. Mallard’s new life appearing before her through her view of an “open window” (para. 4). Louise Mallard experiences what most individuals long for throughout their lives; freedom and happiness. By spending an hour in a “comfortable, roomy armchair” (para.4) in front of an open window, she undergoes a transformation that makes her understand the importance of her freedom. The author's use of Spring time imagery also creates a sense of renewal that captures the author's idea that Mrs. Mallard was set free after the news of her husband's death.
In the third paragraph of the story, Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard as she goes into her room and sits on an armchair. Chopin describes how Mallard?sank pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted the body and seemed to reach into her soul?. In this point of the story Chopin uses symbolism connecting Mrs. Mallard and the chair, the chair representing the death of her husband and her feelings about it. How was?a comfortable roomy chair? , she is showing us how Mrs. Mallard was?comfortable?
Situational irony is used in "The Story of an Hour" through Mrs. Mallard's reaction to her husband's death and the description of the settings around her at this time. Upon hearing the news of her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard "wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment" (Chopin 213). It appeared to everyone that as a result of her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard was incredibly sad. She insisted upon being alone and retreated to her room. The sort of reaction she had seems like one typical to someone who had just lost a loved one. She experienced grief and shock. However, once she is alone in her room, the reader discovers another side of her emotions. Once she calms down, she whispers "Free, free, free" (Chopin 214), and the reader realizes that she is not having a typical reaction. Instead of being saddened by the loss of her husband, Mrs. Mallard is relieved. "She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome" (Chopin 214). Mrs. Mallard, instead of wondering who will support her in years to come, realizes that she will have no one binding her a...
... This woman suffers a tremendous amount from the commitment of her marriage, and the death of her husband does not affect her for long. A marriage such as this seems so unbelievable, yet a reader can see the realistic elements incorporated into the story. This begs the question of how undesirable marriage was during Chopin’s life. The unhappiness felt by Mrs. Mallard seems to be very extreme, but Chopin creates a beautiful story that reflects upon the idea of marriage as an undesired relationship and bond to some women in the nineteenth century.
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 uses settings to convey particular moods, character qualities and features of theme. Firstly, the author uses time setting to reveal Louise' inner desire and her restrictions.
Written by Kate Chopin, the short story “The Story of an Hour” follows Louise Mallard, a woman from the nineteenth century who has just received the news that her husband, Brently Mallard, has passed away in a horrific train accident. Immediately Mrs. Mallard is overcome with grief and sorrow, but her mood quickly shifts when she realizes the independence and free-will she will now have. At the climax of her elation for the future, her husband walks through the door. Mrs. Mallard, shocked and speechless, dies of a heart attack. In the short story, "The Story of an Hour," author Kate Chopin utilizes symbolism, diction, and irony to emphasize the effects of Mrs. Mallard's newfound sense of freedom, and how that ultimately results in her death.
The armchair in the story in which Mrs. Mallard sits after secluding herself in her room upon hearing of her husbands' death is described as "comfortable" and "roomy." The chairs' location is also important, it is facing an open window, this symbolizes being open to change, and the fact that it is open shows that it is somewhat warm out suggesting life rather than the cold of winter symbolizing death. The adjectives "comfortable,"" roomy," and "sank" symbolize a feeling of being embraced by the chair, a feeling of love and warmth.
Mallard at the end of the story stands for the suffrage of women during this time to be free. She would rather die than lose her newfound freedom. Chopin’s biography before the story states “[t]he loss of her husband, however, led to her assuming responsibilities…Eventually devoting herself entirely to writing” (30). Her success was found only after she was free from her marriage; Chopin herself could have been hinting to the fact the she would have rather died than lose her own freedom. Chopin also uses the heart condition to kill Mrs. Mallard. She writes “the doctors…said she had died of a heart disease—of the joy that kills” (32). The metaphor of the heart condition standing for the weakness put on women returns with her husband. She is no longer strong and free; she is weak and trapped by her marriage. Chopin uses this purposely to show that women are weak in marriage and need to be set
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” focuses on a woman named Louise Mallard and her reaction to finding out about her husband’s death. The descriptions that the author uses in the story have significance in the plot because they foreshadow the ending.
In the short story, “The Story of an Hour,” author Kate Chopin presents the character of Mrs. Louis Mallard. She is an unhappy woman trapped in her discontented marriage. Unable to assert herself or extricate herself from the relationship, she endures it. The news of the presumed death of her husband comes as a great relief to her, and for a brief moment she experiences the joys of a liberated life from the repressed relationship with her husband. The relief, however, is short lived. The shock of seeing him alive is too much for her bear and she dies. The meaning of life and death take on opposite meaning for Mrs. Mallard in her marriage because she lacked the courage to stand up for herself.
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.”