Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

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An Hour of Freedom December of 1894 Kate Chopin published "The Story of an Hour". The main character Louise Mallard is a wife during this time period and could be described as a suppressed, fragile, and unconfident woman due to the world she lives in. Mrs. Mallard lives in a male-dominated world where it is difficult to find female independence. Once Mrs. Mallard hears that her husband has supposedly died, "The Story of an Hour" becomes a Person versus Person as well as Person versus Society tale. Chopin undoubtedly gets her point across throughout the development of Mrs. Mallard in the only hour the readers know her.
Considering the story is only an hour long there is much development in Mrs. Mallard who starts out as a repressed and unconfident housewife that was typical for this time period. Considering she has a heart condition, Mrs. Mallard is viewed as a fragile creature. When she is told that her husband is dead Mrs. Mallard locks herself in her room to mourn her husband as was deemed appropriate for the times. During the next hour, readers enter Mrs. …show more content…

Mallard's thought process but by using the conclusion of the story as well. The theme is made clearest when she does not die of grief over the supposed death of her husband; but instead, grief over the loss of her independence and freedom when her husband death proves to be untrue. Once Mr. Mallard came back, Mrs. Mallard knew that everything she had just discovered would be gone. She knew that he would not allow her the freedom she had just discovered. The loss of that new found freedom broke her heart more than the death of her husband. Freedom was her true desire. Mrs. Mallard had accepted the joy independence gave her and recognized the strength that freedom gave her. The realization that she truly wanted that joy and strength hits her once she sees her husband. She would rather die than live without this newfound

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