The Story Of The Hour

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The Story Of The Hour, by Kate Chopin, is about woman who struggles with oppression brought on by her husband and her secret desire for freedom. Mrs. Mallard doesn’t know how truly unhappy she is until she is told that he has died in train accident. The story is limited to a third-person point of view, but is not short on drama thanks to the structure and style of Chopin’s writing. Her theme of oppression is reveled by the irony of the story, in which she discovers a sense of freedom quickly after her husbands death. Chopin uses symbolism to emphasis this newly found feeling. The main character Mrs. Louise Mallard is a very easy to relate to.

The structure and style that Chopin uses in The Story Of The Hour, is used to exaggerate the drama of what is taking place. She uses very short paragraphs the majority being only two to or three sentences a piece. The story is about the hour after Louise find out her husband is dead. It bring us quickly from a state of morning to a place where she realizes that she is “free” from the bondage of her husband. The structure of the story is reflects the intensity of emotions she exhibits. The length of the story leaves no room for a drawn out exposition, we shoot quickly from the that to the climax and end just as quickly after that. There is a lot of repetition through out the story, which she uses to emphasize the importance of certain points she makes. The word “open” is repeatedly used through out the story, “open window”(69) , “open square”(69). “opened and spread her arms out”(69) and many more. She also repeats the word “free”, "Free! Body and soul

free!" (69). She also repeats phrases such as “might be long” like when she says “She breathed a quick prayer that...

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...esn’t seem to be a bad guy, he is the antagonist in the story. He is the character that keeps Mrs. Mallard from living the life she dreams about. It is the very presents of Mr. Mallard, that ends killing his wife. We can only speculate that it was the though of having to live the life she once lead was the real cause of Mrs. Mallards death.

Though The Story Of An Hour is very short, it is very powerful. I imagine that there were many women in the 1800’s that wondered what life would be like if there husbands weren’t around. Though Mrs. Mallard is treated as if she is weak because of her heart condition, she is strong in character. I think that even women of today’s world can relate to this to this story in in some way, which is why it has with stood the test of time.

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