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Story of an hour critical analysis
Analysis of story of an hour by Kate Chopin
Story of an hour kate chopin analysis
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Kate Chopin presents themes of female discovery and identity in her work “Story of an Hour.” The time period of the story represents how women didn’t have freedom; better yet it’s almost like women were some sort of property. Some women put up with the way they were treated, while other women strongly disliked being controlled all the time. In the story, “Story of an Hour”, Louise Mallard hated the power her husband had over her. Her husband didn’t intentionally try to control her but that’s how life was back then. Mrs. Mallard suffers from heart problems so you would think her husband handling everything would relax her because she didn’t have to worry about anything but she didn’t feel that way. One day, Louise receives news that her husband …show more content…
Mallard not only was relieved but she felt free. “Free free free”, where the words exclaimed by Mrs. Mallard in, “Story of an Hour.” While reading, you would expect the uncomfortable tone to turn into pure depression but that wasn’t the case. Mrs. Mallard acted as if a burden was lifted off her shoulders. The story stated, “But 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.” Based on her words, you can portray that she had been waiting for the moment her husband took his last breath and she could finally be in control of her own life. For Louise to be so pleased about the tragedy it makes you wonder how bad life actually was for her. Because Mrs. Mallard wanted her husband dead you could only imagine how hard life was and then it makes you wonder how many other women had the same feeling at the time. Mallard paints a picture that the feeling of her husband getting killed is like “new spring life.” The quote makes you think of something relaxing but it’s actually the complete opposite. Mrs. Mallard feels like she’s been renewed and rebirthed into a better life by saying things like, “new spring life’ and “delicious breath of
In The Story of an Hour, the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is a young woman with a heart condition who learns of her husband’s untimely death in a railroad disaster. Instinctively weeping as any woman is expected to do upon learning of her husband’s death, she retires to her room to be left alone so she may collect her thoughts. However, the thoughts she collects are somewhat unexpected. Louise is conflicted with the feelings and emotions that are “approaching to possess her...” (Chopin 338). Unexpectedly, joy and happiness consume her with the epiphany she is “free, free, free!” (Chopin 338). Louise becomes more alive with the realization she will no longer be oppressed by the marriage as many women of her day were, and hopes for a long life when only the day prior, “…she had thought with a shudder that life may ...
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...
In the beginning of "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard is just a typical wife. It is not until she hears of her husband's death that she then simply becomes Louise, now an individual, no longer overshadowed by her husband. Following her husband's death, Louise feels she will no longer suffer a "powerful will bending her" (14), thus indicating she had lacked a voice in the marriage. Chopin clearly indicates this lack of freedom and individuality in Louise's marriage stating, "[. . .] that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature." (14). This statement reflects how men and women oppress each other, denying one another freedom and a sense of identity. This is in line with the common view that women lost their individuality because their, "legal existence had been extinguished by the status of marriage." (Robson). Next, we learn that Louise actually begins to accept, even enjoy the notion of a life by herself, as Chopin writes the years "that would belong to her absolutely [. . .] she would live for herself." (14). Louise woul...
Mallard realizes that her husband has died, she realizes that she is free, something which was unusual for women in the mid 1800’s. She said it over and over under her breath: “`free, free, free! `” (151). Her husband’s death represents a new life for Mrs. Mallard. Mark, Cunningham notes, “Mary E. Papke has noted that the reader learns Louise’s first name only after Louise accepts her `new consciousness` of freedom; before that Louise is Mrs. Mallard” (1).
Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" demonstrates the highly typical gender roles that could be found in a late 1800's scene as it shows even if the marriage is kind, it could be inherently oppressive. This is clearly shown through the relationship of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard, as when news hits Louise Mallard that her husband has passed on, a large wave of grief washes over her; however, it passes when she realizes that she will be able to bite into the forbidden fruit of freedom. According to Louise, this freedom would mean "there would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-crea...
In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, the struggle for freedom is dominant. The main character, Mrs. Mallard, stands for a woman who is struggling internally and externally for freedom. After the sudden loss of her husband, Mrs. Mallard gets a taste of the freedom she was lacking in her marriage. Like Mrs. Mallard, women throughout history have struggled to find freedom and success away from their husbands. Chopin herself only became successful after the loss of her husband. In “The Story of an Hour”, Chopin shows women’s struggle for freedom during the Victorian period through Mrs. Mallard’s struggle for her own freedom.
Xuding Wang writes in her essay, Feminine Self-Assertion in “The Story of an Hour”, a strong defense for Kate Chopin’s classic work, “The Story of an Hour”. Wang provides powerful proof that one of the pioneering feminist writers had a genuine desire to push the issue of feminine inequality. Even decades later, Xuding Wang fights for the same ground as Kate Chopin before her. She focuses on critic Lawrence I. Berkove, who challenges that Louise Mallard is delusional with her personal feelings of freedom once she discovers the news that her husband has passed away. The story opens with the line “Knowing Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble” (Chopin). [1] Chopin uses allegory to describe
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.
Kate Chopin is able to illuminate her stories with clever language and meaning. As well as an immense criticism as to how society oppresses the individual in the glorified institution of marriage. Through language, she is able to introduce the thought of deeper meanings. “The Story of an Hour” being a prime example of the individual that has a need for freedom for herself. Through symbolism and straightforward comments, the freedom that Mrs. Louisa Mallard is notable just as her marriage is oppressive.
In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the main character of the story, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is oppressed by her husband. Chopin’s works focus mainly on feminism, the relationships between classes, and the relationships between men and women, specifically between husband and wife in “The Story of an Hour” (“The Story of an Hour” 264). Mrs. Louise Mallard lives under her husband for her whole marriage. Mrs. Mallard gets news through her two best friends that Mr. Mallard was in a railroad accident and did not survive. Mrs. Mallard was hit with waves of guilt, agony, sorrow, fear, and grief. Mr. Mallard later comes back home, as he was mistakenly not involved in the accident. Throughout “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin demonstrates how the repression
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.
Kate Chopin, author of “The Story of an Hour” written in 1894 was the first author who emphasized strongly on femininity in her work. In the short story, Chopin writes about freedom and confinement Chopin is an atypical author who confronts feminist matter years before it was assumed. The time period that she wrote in women were advertised as a man’s property. The main idea in the short story is to illustrate that marriage confines women. In “The Story of an Hour” the author creates an intricate argument about freedom and confinement Mrs. Louise Mallard longing for freedom, but has been confined for so long freedom seems terrible. Mrs. Mallard wife of Brently Mallard instantly feels free when her husband dies. The reason she feels this way
Chopin demonstrates Mrs. Mallard’s realization of freedom throughout this short story in multiple scenes. Louise, as she is in the process of mourning and thinking, she thinks and says to herself “free, free, free” (10). Noticing the weight that has been lifted off her shoulders, she becomes happy, relieved, and free. Clearly, she is heartbroken over her loss, but now she has new chances and new beginnings for herself that could potentially lead to a new life for herself.
Society that often holds marriage as a subjugation of freedom - results in oppression from both sides and affects the vulnerability that the body carries. The Story of an Hour, suggests that key structures in society; marriage, and family, result in the loss of freedom and independence. Freedom is an important aspect of life, the effects of it taken away and suddenly given back, is shown heavily in The Story of an Hour. The narrative written by Kate Chopin, illustrates the idea of a woman, whose husband is thought to be dead. Throughout the story, Chopin describes the emotions the protagonist, Louise has surrounding the news of her husband’s death, ranging from despair to the anticipation of something new.
Kate Chopin was born February 8th, 1950 and died 54 short years after. Chopin was recognized as a “pioneer in sterner literary realism and an advocate of women’s freedom and opportunity for self-expression” (Gannon). She was a very unique, independent woman for her time as “she dressed unconventionally and smoked cigarettes long before smoking was an approved practice among women in her class” (Kimbel and Grant). She writes the “Story of an Hour” in December of 1894. “Chopin was still exploring the psychology of the independent-minded woman in conflict with herself and her society” during this time, empowering her to write this story of the newly “independent” Mrs. Mallard (Berkove).