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Symbolism in story of an hour by kate chopin research paper
What is the symbolism in the story of an hour
Symbolism in story of an hour by kate chopin research paper
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Louise Mallard husband just past away from a tragic accident. Her sister, Josephine, and friend Richard was there to mention the sad news. They had to break this story to her as soft as possible. "...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." (Chopin 01) She wept the death of her husband and fell to her surprise the greatness of her freedom.
"...the railroad disaster was received with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed"." (Chopin 01) The news was said to be that the death of her husband would strike his wife. His death was a symbol of Louise Mallard's pride, joy, and life. It was an answer to her life and the future it holds within. Everyone thought that she would weep after she heard the news and of course she did until there was an understanding. The understanding of how she felt.
I believe that Mrs. Mallard was so overwhelmed with the news that she ran upstairs to her room. "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms." (Chopin 01) That was how Mrs. Mallard felt when she first heard the news. She thought of how her life would be and outcome. "...when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dream." Every wife would feel how she felt at first instant. In that room Mrs. Mallard sat on her seat and thought about what had just happened. She was looking out her window with thoughts and sobs. I think that in this reference to the new spring life, breath of rain and blue sky has something to do with her life and what was about to happen. It seem like it was a meaning of something.
"free, free, free!" was the words that came upon her lips in moments. It was powerless to hold back those words that: she couldn't even hold it back. It was something that she must of have been wearing for a long time now. Mrs. Mallard mention that sometime she loved him only sometime. There was not enough love for her to feel sad and overwhelmed after the death of her husband. It was the happiness of her being free from him forever of his death.
They hear the key turning in the front door and Mr. Mallard walks in the door. He was not on the train that he was always on, so he did not die, and it was only speculation from Richards that he had died. Mrs. Mallard was in shock when she saw her ‘dead’ husband walk through the door, and she died right then and there. The doctors said that she died from the “joy that kills”(Pg. 280). But it seems that is not true because she became glad that her husband had passed
Can you hear the voices? In a story there is always more that just one voice to be heard. Can you hear them? It is only necessary to look closely and read the text, then you can hear them. In Kate Chopin’s story, “Story of an Hour,” there are four distinct voices that can be heard. You are able to hear the narrator, author, character, and yourself as you read.
Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to the sad news was natural, but her time spent to overcome her melancholy feelings passed too rapidly. All of a sudden she was eager to start her widowed life. Immediately after she heard the sad news of her husband’s death, "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms" (Chopin 25). This is acceptable and understandable to me because I feel that anyone who had just lost his/her spouse would want to be comforted by a close family member. The story then reads, "When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her" (Chopin 25). I found it to be odd that she would just get up and head straight for her room. The t...
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
Right from the moment Louise Mallard hears of her husband's death, Kate Chopin dives into a her vivid use of imagery. “When the storm of grief has spent itself” introduces a weather oriented theme (para.3). This imagery depicts a violent and dark setting that denotes death and grief. Her reaction to her husband's death ideally what society would expect. Her acute reaction instantly shows that she is an emotional, demonstrative woman. Even tho...
Mrs. Mallard is the example of a typical housewife of the mid 1800’s. At the time, most women were not allowed to go to school and were usually anticipated to marry and do housework. During that time, the only way women could get out of a marriage was if they were to die or their husbands was to die. In that time period, the husband had control of all of the money, so it would not be wise if the wife were to leave the financial freedom that was provided by the husband. This is most likely why Mrs. Mallard never leaves her husband’s death, she is sad at first but then experiences an overwhelming sense of joy. This shows that she is not in a fulfilling marriage as his death means she will finally have own individual freedom, as well as financial freedom being the grieving widow who will inherit her husband’s wealth. In the words of Lawrence I. Berkove he states, “On the other hand, Chopin did not regard marriage as a state of pure and unbroken bliss, but on the other, she could not intelligently believe that it was desirable, healthy, or even possible for anyone to live as Louise, in the grip of her feverish delusion, wishes: to be absolutely free and to live totally and solely for oneself.” (3) Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death is Chopin’s way of expressin...
Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour. Kate Chopin was a Victorian writer whose writing manifests her life experiences. She was not happy with the principles of the time, because women had fewer rights, and they were not considered equal to men. Afraid of segregation from society, people lived in a hypocritical world full of lies; moreover, Kate Chopin was not afraid of segregation, and used her writing as a weapon against oppression of the soul.
In Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour" the author portrays patriarchal oppression in the institution of marriage by telling the story of one fateful hour in the life of a married woman. Analyzing the work through feminist criticism, one can see the implications of masculine discourse.
Mrs. Mallard is an ill woman who is “afflicted with heart trouble” and had to be told very carefully by her sister and husband’s friend that her husband had died (1609). Her illness can be concluded to have been brought upon her by her marriage. She was under a great amount of stress from her unwillingness to be a part of the relationship. Before her marriage, she had a youthful glow, but now “there was a dull stare in her eyes” (1610). Being married to Mr. Mallard stifled the joy of life that she once had. When she realizes the implications of her husband’s death, she exclaims “Free! Body and soul free!” (1610). She feels as though a weight has been lifted off her shoulders and instead of grieving for him, she rejoices for herself. His death is seen as the beginn...
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 was supported by Hicks in saying "The revelation of freedom occurs in the bedroom"
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.
Looking through the lens of the open window, Mrs. Louise Mallard was able to use the open window to metaphorically represent the life and happiness she longed for throughout her marriage. For this reason, Mrs. Louise Mallard narrates, “ 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 new possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!”(Chopin, Page 2) Evidently, it is her knowing that above everything what she wanted more than anything is to be her own person. Thus the open window brings a fresh new start to life for her. It is what takes away her fear at the very beginning of the story, of her life changing. The open window evolves to serve as a long life which, in the beginning of the story, the thought of having a long life would bring fear. The more she looked out, the more she realized that life is good. Therefore, the moment Mrs. Mallard does turn away from the open window and leaves the room she was in, her new revelation that her husband is alive, that all of her endless possibilities were shattered and that her independence was short-lived makes her die out of disappointment. Ironically enough, instead of being the one to survive, she is the one that is dying, suffering from a tragic heart attack just as the beginning of the story
The main character in this story, Louise Mallard shows us her dream of freedom and proves these people wrong when her husband, Brently Mallard, dies. Louise’s husband was on a list of people that died in a railroad disaster. They tell her carefully since she has a heart condition. She starts crying, but afterwards she begins to think of all the positive things that come from his death. Her sister, Josephine goes upstairs to make sure she is okay,and once she finds out she is they come down. As they walk down the stairs she sees the door being opened and her husband comes in. Having her heart condition, she dies. The doctors thought “she had died from heart disease-of joy that kills.” However, she didn't die from the joy of getting to see her living husband but from losing her future filled with freedom.
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, ...
Mallard heres the news, she reacts quite normally for a newly made widow. When she heres the news, "She wept at once, with sudden, wild, abandonment, in her sister's arms"(Chopin 1). The diction used to describe her "sudden, wild, abandonment" suggests that she is overwhelmed in her feelings of grief. Mrs. Mallard is understandably upset. This sets the tone of sadness and pity for Mrs. Mallard. When she recovers however she locks herself away: "When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her" (Chopin 1). This sets a tone of mystery and makes one curious as to what her next move might be. She is off on her own now to feel her emotions